Movie Review—13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

by Peter J. O'Connell

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Released: Jan. 2016. Runtime: 144 mins. Rating: R for strong combat violence throughout, bloody images, and language. 

A tattered U.S. flag floats in a filthy pool filled with debris. This is one of the concluding images of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. That may be the ultimate fate physically of this particular flag, but in a symbolic sense that flag, like the one at Fort McHenry in 1814, flew proudly “through the perilous fight.” It is the flag that flew over a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, where on the night of September 11, 2012, a small band of American warriors fought off wave after wave of  attacking Islamists. 

The warriors were “security contractors,” civilians but veterans of the Navy SEALS, Army Rangers and the Marine Corps. Their job was to protect a clandestine CIA outpost located near the U.S. diplomatic compound in tense, teeming Benghazi during the chaotic aftermath of the overthrow of dictator Moammar Khadafy.

13 Hours is directed by Michael Bay, previously noted mainly for the popular but critically reviled Transformers series of computer-game-style movies. Though 13 Hours is action filled, it is grittily realistic rather than a fantasy film. 

The film begins with the arrival of Jim Silva (John Krasinski) in Benghazi in July of 2012. Incidents that occur even before Silva gets to his post establish that danger is everywhere. However, once Silva gets to the CIA compound and begins interacting buddy style with the other “contractors” and cybernetically with his family back home, a more relaxed mood prevails for a time. An irritating factor, though, is the elitist attitude of Bob (David Costabile), the bureaucrat in charge of the CIA outpost, who tells the burly, bearded contractors:”You're hired help. There is no real threat here,” He contrasts the security team with the CIA staff: “We have the brightest minds from the Farm—educated at Harvard and Yale.” 

The relaxed mood ends suddenly, and the “hired help” become heroes, however, on the evening of September 11, 2012, when the diplomatic compound comes under fierce attack, obviously preplanned, by heavily armed terrorist mobs while the idealistic U.S. ambassador, Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher), is visiting there from the American embassy in Tripoli, Libya's capital city. 

The security team wants to go to the aid of the diplomatic compound immediately, but Bob tells them, “Stand down.”  They ignore his order, however, and rush to the diplomatic compound, where a horrific battle rages for hours. Appeals to Washington for help from U.S. forces in Europe and the Mediterranean prove fruitless. Eventually, Ambassador Stevens and some other Americans are killed, and the vastly outnumbered security team returns from the burning diplomatic compound to the CIA outpost, which then comes under attack itself. Several members of the security force die in the ensuing battle. Eventually, day dawns, and evacuation in a private plane chartered by CIA staffers in Tripoli takes place. 

Michael Bay, you are forgiven for Transformers! The depiction of the night of fighting in Benghazi is riveting—we are right there with those warriors, not just visually but viscerally. And that riveting experience is realistic, not exaggerated. The rapid-fire editing of the constant fighting creates a kaleidoscopic effect that sometimes makes the action hard to follow—it's the “fog of war” after all—but not hard to feel. All the actors are utterly convincing in their roles.

13 Hours is not political. It does not deal in any detail with events in Washington before or after the night of fighting, except for the bare facts of the turndown of the requests for aid. Nor does the film demonize the Libyan people as a whole. Some Libyans are shown assisting the Americans, and actual footage of a large pro-American rally that took place a few days after the battle is shown. 

Michael Bay deserves a salute for this patriotic but not jingoistic work. And, of course, those who fought the good fight deserve many salutes and accolades. Those who fought and died deserve particular honor. As for what history's judgment may eventually be about the role of politicians and bureaucrats with reference to the Benghazi events . . . 

“Footnotes” to the film: (1) The phrase “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Hymn indicates that the battle at Benghazi in 2012 was not the first time that American warriors have fought in Libya. In 1801 the U.S. decided that it could no longer tolerate the actions of North Africa's Barbary states, which were seizing Western vessels, enslaving and holding for ransom their crews and passengers, and demanding tribute. The U.S. declared war on the Bey of Tripoli's domains, which included Benghazi. The war did not go well for the U.S. in its first years, but in 1805 a dramatic turn of events occurred. William Eaton, a U.S. consul in Egypt, organized a ragtag force of Arab rebels, Greek mercenaries and six U.S. Marines to attack the important city of Derne in Libya. Rather than going by the usual route, Eaton's force marched deep into the Sahara and then launched a surprise attack on Derne from an unexpected direction. Several Marines were killed. Eaton then planned to attack Tripoli itself, but another U.S. diplomat suddenly made a deal with the Bey, who would probably have surrendered to Eaton, to end the war without American goals being achieved. In 1815, aided by Britain, the U.S. Went to war again with the Barbary states to end their piratical depredations. This time the conflict had a successful conclusion. (2) With regard to cinematic history, rather than military or political history, 13 Hours is, appropriately enough, in the tradition of “outpost movies.” This genre of films, which flourished particularly in the 1930-1970 period, depicted the stalwart stand of an outpost of Western civilization, or law and order, or the family against assault by an enemy force, usually indigenous peoples. For example: In Beau Geste (1939), the French Foreign Legion fights off attacking Tauregs. In Unconquered (1947) and Fort Apache (1948), American settlers or cavalry battle Native Americans. In 55 Days at Peking (1962), Charlton Heston and an international force save Westerners from Chinese “Boxer” rebels. In Zulu (1964) British troops hold off the eponymous African tribe. In Khartoum (1966) Charlton Heston again, this time as a British general, seeks to defend the Sudanese city against attack by Muslim fanatics. In The Green Berets (1968), John Wayne and the eponymous unit fight off Vietnamese communists. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, as attitudes toward Western colonialism changed, the nature of the outpost and its enemies also changed. Examples: Zombies assault a farmhouse in Night of the Living Dead (1968). Lowlifes attack a family's home in Straw Dogs (1971 and 2014). A street gang besieges a police station in Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), and the gang is joined by corrupt cops in the 2005 remake. Extraterrestrials invade a farmhouse in Signs (2002).