The United States has moved drones into African skies and put special forces, ready to strike Mali and Libya, on standby. U.S. military investigators are searching for further clues on the death of the U.S. ambassadors and three U.S. citizens killed in Benghazi in September rioting.
Diplomatic experts are weighing the possibility of attacking al-Qaeda agents and camps in the weeks before new elections. Such an attack could injure the country’s relations with governments in the region.
Vice President Joe Biden pledged in his debate last week with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan that, "We will find and bring to justice the men who did this…if you do harm to America, we will track you to the gates of hell if need be."
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rudy Attalah told the press, "They are aiming for a small pop, a flash in the pan, so as to be able to say, 'Hey, we're doing something about it...It was a way to say, 'Look, we did something,'" he said.
A Washington-based analyst told the Fox News network:
"The civilian side is looking into doing something, and is running into a lot of pushback from the military side…The resistance that is coming from the military side is because the military has both worked in the region and trained in the region. So they are more realistic…”
Meanwhile, the following quote is also from Fox News, “If America hits us, I promise you that we will multiply the Sept. 11 attack by 10," said Oumar Ould Hamaha, a spokesman for the Islamists in northern Mali. He denied that the al-Qaeda had anything to do with the attack on the US Embassy in Libya.