The Iranians “Arrest” Our Sailors, “13 Hours” Gives You Dots To Connect

Last night, we went to see a preview of the new documentary movie about Benghazi, “13 hours.” The audience was one of those Washington groups that contained real expertise, including at least two retired generals and three retired colonels. It was particularly moving, since we watched it against the background of the Iranian arrest of 10 American sailors. The two events, one virtual and the other all too real, reinforced each other and although the film is long (2 ½ hours), no one left for the restroom. Very exciting, and very infuriating, as you watch gunfight after gunfight and the good guys are telling the US government that they are going to be killed unless they get some support.

“13 Hours” is all the more powerful because it leaves it to our imaginations to fill in the dots. We see that troops were mobilized to undertake a rescue or support mission, some of them less than an hour away at the big base in Sigonella, Sicily. They don’t ever arrive, and at the end of the story the staff of the “diplomatic facility” flies out on a Libyan aircraft. We couldn’t provide an American plane for them. What went wrong? The movie carefully avoids accusations. There is no Obama, no Hillary, no Panetta.

On the way out, there were many fascinating conversations. “It makes me furious,” a young woman said. “If you’re not angry, you weren’t paying attention,” came back. They were right. It’s infuriating to watch brave Americans fighting against heavy odds to save their countrymen, knowing that help is nearby and ready to join the battle, only to watch the good guys get killed by a bunch of savages. By the way, one of the members of the audience, a man who was in a position to know, told me that the evil man who organized the assault had been released from Gitmo. I hadn’t known that.

While we were gnashing our teeth in the movie theater, ten American sailors were being humiliated by thugs from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps on little Farsi Island just off the coast. The following day they were released, but the Iranians released videos showing them on their knees, hands behind their heads, guns aimed at them. Secretary of State Kerry declared it was a diplomatic triumph. They were unhurt, they were “treated well,” and had even been given blankets and food. Such a triumph! And just imagine, we were told, how much worse it would have been in years past, before the Obama Administration undertook the long negotiations that have produced some sort of nuclear deal, and established easy communications between Washington and Tehran. The Wall Street Journal tells us “Mr. Kerry noted that until recently, the two sides hadn’t spoken in 35 years.”

This could hardly be further from the truth. Iran and the United States have had extensive diplomatic contacts ever since the Revolution of 1979; every president has approved them, and countless American diplomats have negotiated with their Iranian counterparts for decades.

The movie and the “arrest” of our sailors are both part of Iran’s ongoing war against us, and the “deal” has certainly not ended the state of war, at least as far as the Iranians are concerned. Hardly a day goes by without a declaration of enmity from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei or one of his henchman, and the capture of our sailors comes shortly after an Iranian ship fired a couple of missiles near our aircraft carrier, the Harry S. Truman.

It was hardly a triumph of any sort, at least for our side. And I shall forever think of it conjoined with “13 Hours,” which you should see.

Along those lines, did you see that Trey Gowdy, who chairs the Benghazi Committee in the House of Representatives, announced that several witnesses have testified that a “stand down” order was given to U.S. forces who might have saved our men in Benghazi?

Maybe it’s true; other witnesses say it’s not. But it will give you even more to think about when the lights come up.

Michael Ledeen is the Freedom Scholar at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

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