FORT WORTH, TEXAS —
It’s still hard for Kris “Tanto” Paronto to share all of what happened in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012.
Some parts are easier than others.
But the 13 hours he and other private military contractors spent fighting, trying to defend the U.S. compound in Libya from a terrorist attack, are etched in his memory forever.
“Parts are still hard for me to talk about,” Paronto, a former Army Ranger, told a crowd of around 200 gathered at The Fort Worth Club on Thursday. “Politics had a lot to do with what went on that night.
“The State Department failed us.”
That has been an issue of so much debate that a special House committee studied the Islamic militant attack on the U.S. State Department Special Mission Compound in Libya — and the response from Paronto and others on the CIA annex security team — that occurred on the 11th anniversary of 9/11.
Four Americans — including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens — were killed.
The committee issued an 800-page report spreading blame through several governmental agencies for failing to better respond.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article102222852.html
