What was Benghazi?

Answer 1

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya and was originally founded as an Ancient Greek colony in North Africa. More recently, it served as the capital of the National Transition Council of Libya during the 2011 Arab Spring Civil War, which the NTC eventually won. As a result of the Second Libyan Civil War, which is ongoing, the city is mostly in the hands of the Libyan Government, but some sections are under control of ISIL, which has branched out into Libya.

In terms of recent politics, "Benghazi" refers to the scandal promoted by US Republicans concerning the September 11, 2012 attack by Islamic militants of the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and some other US diplomatic servicemen. The scandal primarily revolves around (1) how the Obama administration did not have effective intelligence to foresee the attack, (2) that the administration hesitated to call it terrorism immediately, and (3) that the administration blamed the conduct as a reaction to the Islam-baiting movie the "Innocence of Muslims".