Both the CIA and Ambassador Stevens had placed their lives in the hands of an inadequate American response team and a local militia that simply melted away during the assault.

Perhaps out of deference to the dead, there are few who have raised the question of why Ambassador Stevens had such faith in this unreliable militia. In the months leading up the assault, despite growing violence in Benghazi, Stevens repeatedly refused offers by the U.S. military to place more American security forces nearby.

It might have been misplaced trust. Ambassador Stevens was the primary liaison between the U.S. and the Libyan resistance, which largely began and was headquartered in Benghazi. It’s possible he thought that, given his strong ties to the Benghazi militias and the role he played in Gaddafi’s downfall, he would be untouched by the low-level violence roiling the city.

But we don’t know. No one is asking the question.