The White House Reportedly Passed On The Chance To Nab A Benghazi Terror Suspect

Earlier this month, U.S. Special Operations commandos had a crazy weekend, nabbing a terror suspect in Tripoli and missing their guy on a daring sea shore raid in Somalia within the span of a few hours.

A new report from Barbara Starr at CNN reveals that Spec Ops guys passed on a third raid that would have taken place during that same time window - one where the target was a suspect believed to be involved in last year's attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, CNN reports that commandos were poised to assault the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi and capture Ahmed Abu Khattalah, a leading figure in the Ansar Al-Sharia militia, but the order never came.

The report states that the White House neglected to pull the trigger, apparently nervous about how the Libyan people would react to two raids in such a short period of time:

With the Libyan government dealing with public outcry about the U.S. incursion into Libya, the White House became worried any raid in Benghazi could destabilize, and potentially bring down the fragile Libyan government.

The Sept. 11, 2012, attack by Muslim extremists on the facility in Benghazi killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stephens. It has been a huge stain on the Obama administration, and an enormous point of contention with Republicans.