Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya

Benghazi has been much in the news because of the long-awaited testimony by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As important as it is to understand what led to the loss of four American lives on September 11, 2012, when the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was attacked, understanding the context is critical as well.

The U.S. policy choices and executive decisions and misjudgments that led to Benghazi is the subject of Monday’s Heritage Foundation event “Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya,” featuring former Member of the House of Representatives Pete Hoesktra.

In his new book, Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Hoekstra offers a thorough analysis of how a disastrous foreign policy led to Libya becoming a failed state on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Now serving as the Shillman Senior Fellow with the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Hoekstra details how America’s tragic intervention in the North African country turned an island of relative stability into a nexus of radical Islamist terrorist training, ideology, and weapons transfers; sowed the seeds of ISIS in Syria and Iraq; and led to the humanitarian crisis in Europe.

Hoekstra reflects on the truth behind Hillary Clinton’s shifting claims before the House Select Committee on Benghazi and whether a spontaneous anti-Muslim video or well-coordinated al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists were behind the attack on the Benghazi consulate.

Drawing on insider sources and a depth of experience, Hoekstra offers a penetrating look at how a naïve foreign policy resulted in catastrophe.