According to a new book written by former Navy SEAL Jack Murphy and former Army Ranger Brandon Webb, Obama’s counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan was directing secret raids on militias in Libya which ultimately led to a retaliation in the form of the Sept. 11 attacks on the Benghazi Consulate that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Fox News:

“Brennan waged his own unilateral operations in North Africa outside of the traditional command structure,” the book says, calling it an “off the books” operation not coordinated with Petraeus and the CIA. The authors then claim that these raids were a “contributing factor” in the militant strike on the U.S. Consulate and CIA annex on Sept. 11. The raids, they said, “kicked the hornets’ nest and pissed off the militia.”

There has been much controversy over the Benghazi incident, but not because anyone suspected what this new book, with apparent inside information, claims. Rather, Congressional Republicans have criticized the Obama administration for not having enough security at the Consulate and for not being up front about whether the attack was a protest gone awry or a premeditated assault.

If the claims in the book are true, it is even more damning than previous accusations. The Republican talking points on the Benghazi incident were never very compelling to me. But Antiwar.com has indeed focused on the fact that the Benghazi attack looked and smelled like blowback, resulting from US interventionism against the Gadhafi regime in 2011.

The allegations of these two Special Operations troops reinforces that thesis, although on the micro scale. Buy the book here.