#267 Benghazi w/ Ethan Chorin
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On September 11, 2012, al-Qaeda-affiliated militants attacked a US mission in Benghazi, Libya and killed four Americans. That tragic loss of life abroad turned into a political fiasco at home, as the story of the attack became interpreted within the context of a Presidential election and a widening ideological gap between America's two major political parties. In this episode, we speak with Ethan Chorin, who has years of experience on the ground in Libya, was in Benghazi the day of the attack, and whose new book, Benghazi! A New History of the Political Fiasco the Pushed American and its World to the Brink, examines the Benghazi attack and what we might learn from it.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the Road to Now. |
| 0:08.5 | On September 11th, 2012, a U.S. mission in the city of Benghazi was attacked by terrorists |
| 0:13.5 | and four Americans were killed. |
| 0:15.5 | The event was a tragedy. |
| 0:17.6 | And a lot of Americans think they know the story. |
| 0:19.9 | But today, we are going to revisit the story of Benghazi. |
| 0:23.3 | Our guest has years of experience inside the country, has worked there both as a diplomat and in private enterprise and as a philanthropist. |
| 0:33.4 | And his new book is entitled Benghazi, a new history of the fiasco that pushed America and its world to the brink. |
| 0:39.9 | Ethan Shoren, welcome to the road to now. |
| 0:42.3 | Thanks. |
| 0:42.7 | Thanks for having me. |
| 0:43.9 | So you've written this new book, and it's a fascinating story that intertwines your own story with the greater history of Libya, the history of the city of Benghazi, and with |
| 0:57.6 | the, what happens on the ground and how that becomes wrapped up into American politics. |
| 1:03.8 | And what I love about this is you've taken your own experience and it's driven you to pursue |
| 1:10.2 | this study, this incredibly well-written book, |
| 1:13.2 | a book that I'm just going to open up by saying was the most accessible and clear-cut story |
| 1:20.7 | of the history behind this, of a very difficult history to write. You've put all this together, |
| 1:25.3 | and it all intertwines with yourself. |
| 1:28.0 | So I think by starting off, could you tell us a little bit about your background and how you yourself ended up in Benghazi on September 11th, 2012? |
| 1:36.5 | Well, in the early 2000s, I was sent to Libya as one of a few diplomats to open a mission, which wasn't actually |
| 1:48.2 | so different from the mission that was attacked in Benghazi. |
| 1:52.8 | So I was there from 2004 to 2006. |
... |
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