9/11 Special - Episode 19: Mark Geist on Benghazi, Afghanistan, and the importance of leadership

Benghazi... Afghanistan... Have we been here before? On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Phill speaks with Mark Geist, a member of the Annex Security Team who fought the Battle of Benghazi on September 11, 2012, when Al Qaeda terrorists assaulted the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Geist lost two comrades in the fighting, and was seriously wounded himself. Geist now works as a security consultant, recently helping to evacuate refugees from Afghanistan amidst the chaotic U.S. withdrawal. Drawing on extensive personal experience and tactical knowledge, Geist talks about how the U.S. could have managed the withdrawal much more safely and effectively by using Bagram Air Base as a departure point instead of the Kabul airport – and explains why the choice to depart from Kabul was the product of bureaucratic decision-making overriding military logic.