EVERY now and again, you get a great movie that tells the story the media don’t get around to doing.
I’m not talking about the sappy George Clooney ‘speaking truth to power’ stuff where ‘brave’ Hollywood types let rip at democratic governments rather than dictators who will kill them, but real heroism and sacrifice.
So if you get the chance, check out ‘13 Hours: The secret soldiers of Benghazi’ to see a modern story that equals the heroism of The Alamo or Thermopylae.
It’s about six contractors/mercenaries employed by the CIA who held off for 13 hours several hundred heavily armed Libyan al-Qaida types who killed the American consul in 2012.
The movie is based on the book by survivors of that awful night. They contractually were not allowed to speak publicly about the attack, but there were so many ‘untruths’ spread by politicians as high up as the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that they decided to hell with it all and broke their silence.
The official version, sanctioned by Ms Clinton, is that the raid was sparked by a street protest against a movie called ‘Innocence of Muslims’.
Although there were repeated calls for help from the beleaguered Americans, Ms Clinton was ‘unable’ to send reinforcement as they would not get there in time.
Two glaring flaws here: one, there were no street protests in Benghazi before the attack; and secondly, how was Hilary to know American soldiers were too far away?
A battle is not like a rugby game that ends after 80 minutes. For all she knew, it could have raged for days.
So it seems pretty obvious that American politicians decided early on to leave their fellow-citizens to their fate.
The movie starts with two contractors, both ex-SEALs, going through a roadblock where a Jihadi leader surrounded by more AKs than fleas on a scabby dog, tells them to get out of the car.
The SEALs draw their pistols and the one asks the Jihadi just how prepared he is to die – because they can settle this now, even if the SEALs are killed.
He then points to the sky where there is a drone above and says all of this is being recorded, and the US will hunt them down.
Wishful thinking
As it later transpires, this was wishful thinking. America may be all-seeing, but that doesn’t mean its politicians are going to do anything about what they see.
In fact, throughout the movie you are acutely aware that the world’s greatest superpower is only a phone call away, but nobody picks up the phone.
Anyway, on 11 September – which is holy both to Americans and Jihadis – a heavily-armed mob storms a house where Ambassador Chris Stevens is staying.
He, an aide and a bodyguard flee to a steel-fortified barricade. The house is set on fire. Stevens and his aide die.
About a mile away in the CIA compound, the six contractors hear the Ambassador’s bodyguards pleading for help over the radio.
They are instructed by their CIA boss not to do anything. They defy orders and storm into the consulate and rescue the remaining staff.
They then speed back to the compound and the six determined men stationed on rooftops repel attack after attack as the terrified CIA staff hunker down below.
The heroism displayed is unparalleled in modern times.
When day breaks, the Libyan militia ‘loyal’ to America deigns to pitch up.
It is too late for two former SEALs who gallantly fought to the bitter end. But in that hellish night, it is believed up to 200 of the enemy died.
In one poignant moment, a CIA agent says to a contractor: ‘We don’t know what kept you alive on the roofs, but we know who kept us alive down below.’
Indeed.
Back in America, the story was obfuscated due to Ms Clinton’s embarrassment and political expediency, until an independent journalist tracked down the contractors and got their story.
Hillary Clinton is currently running for President of the US. She could soon be the most powerful woman in the world.
As the movie graphically shows, she doesn’t deserve it.
