When I received Ethan Chorin’s book Benghazi! I had expected it to be a great tome on Libya’s recent political history. Chorin is an expert on Libya and a well-known translator of Libyan authors. However, what I got instead was a book on the killing of an American ambassador, Christopher Stevens, on Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi and a dissection of its aftermath.
Chorin shows us that, to Americans, this strangely named city in a far-off land served as a perfect canvas for disinformation and division within. It brought to the surface a wellspring of conspiracies built up over decades. The fiasco was peddled mercilessly among the media, politicians and conspiracy theorists. When the book was completed, the U.S. appeared unrecognisable. The Capitol had been taken over and ransacked by Trumpists, five people had died and there stood a bizarre Jamiroquai lookalike complete with horns and tattoos calling himself the QAnon Shaman and howling. You can’t but ask yourself, how did it come to this? Chorin’s book tries to make sense of where the events in Benghazi sit in America’s recent political history and beyond. And what makes it even more personal is that on the day the ambassador was killed by militants, Chorin was due to meet him. Do purchase it here.
For those reading this as a forward, my name is Tam Hussein an award winning investigative journalist with a particular focus on conflict. The Blood Rep is my newsletter that covers security, jihadism, militancy and criminal networks. Do read my latest book The Darkness Inside.
Interview with Ethan Chorin author of Benghazi!