Reports the FBI has still not started investigating the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi half a month after it occurred suggests that they’re really not going to. The real crime of interest is not the murder of Ambassador Stephens but something else. While the ambassador’s death was tragic it may have been incidental. Collateral. The real objective of the Benghazi attack may have been US intelligence operations in North Africa and the Middle East.
“It’s a catastrophic intelligence loss,” said one U.S. official who has served in Libya and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the FBI is still investigating the attack. “We got our eyes poked out.”
The CIA’s surveillance targets in Benghazi and eastern Libya include Ansar al-Sharia, a militia that some have blamed for the attack, as well as suspected members of al-Qaida’s affiliate in North Africa, known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
These would have been the second set of eyes they got poked out. According to Michael Scheuer, former head of the Bin Laden search unit, the “Arab Spring” dealt a major blow to US intelligence efforts in the region because it disrupted the CIA’s ability to render suspects to Arab intelligence services.
“The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up – either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse.
“The amount of work that has devolved on US and British services is enormous, and the result is blindness in our ability to watch what’s going on among militants.”
Scheuer it will be recalled advocated US custody of detainees in the aftermath of September 11 because it was receiving bum information from the detainees tortured by the foreign intelligence agencies. With the decomissioning of Guantanamo it was back to that high minded and humanitarian mode of questioning that Bush wished to reduce but which Obama caused to restore: rendition.
But he screwed that up too and some capability was probably being rebuilt from the ground up, perhaps by using militias and other subnational units in the role that Arab national intelligence agencies formerly performed. The Independent was one of the first to suggest that intelligence assets had been targeted in the Benghazi attack.
The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”.
Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.
CNN found Ambassador Stephen’s diary among the Benghazi ruins suggesting that none of the bad guys were interested in it or they would have scooped it up already. None of the attackers has been publicly describe as having been captured. They’re not hanging around the ruins of the the Benghazi consulate, which is probably a dry hole now, waiting for the FBI to spot them.
One of the reasons why the administration clung to the story that an anti-Muslim video sparked the attack for so long was because it could not admit to itself the more catastrophic alternative: that the attacks on the embassies were part of a big counterintelligence operation against the US. James Clapper apparently came to the reluctant conclusion some hours after the attack that it was his bailiwick not Hillary’s which was in the crosshairs.
Shawn Turner, spokesman for Clapper’s office, said that in the immediate aftermath of the attack, U.S. agencies came to the view that the Benghazi attack had begun spontaneously after protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo against a short film made in California lampooning the Prophet Mohammad.
Turner said that as U.S. intelligence subsequently learned more about the attack, “we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.”
If Benghazi were an offensive counerintelligence operation then Clapper’s admission is is a half-truth at best. The organizations which mastermind such things are other intelligence agencies, only a handful of which would have been capable of carrying out something on this scale. Neither the rag-tag militias nor the remnants of al-Qaeda would have been able to do it. But some Arab intelligence agencies, or Iran’s or the ISI — might. If so then the attack may not have been masterminded by “al-Qaeda”, but it was for the benefit of al-Qaeda.
The whole thrust of what Roger L. Simon has called “Benghazigate” — an organized pattern of lying to lay the blame on the wave of attacks on an unknown video producer has been designed to avoid answering two questions:
1) who masterminded the attacks;
2) what help did they have from persons inside the United States.
These questions are probably being asked in parallel and explain the involvement of the FBI, whose remit is domestic counterintelligence.
The FBI is probably not asking “who killed Stephens”. It is probably asking who knew where the safe house was? Who knew what the contingency plans were? And above all, when did you first hear about what must have been the cover story, the anti-Mohammed video.
Answers to either or both of these questions would open a whole can of worms.
The biggest possible can of worms would be that the CIA had its “eyes poked out” to prevent it from seeing some dangerous operation that is even now hatching in the intelligence shadow of the ‘Arab Spring’: the possibility that there is something out there which has to be kept secret from US intelligence. How better to do it than to disrupt a major center of US intelligence operations in the area?
So it’s better for the public to think that an unknown video producer was the cause it all. The alternative, explanation: that the enemy intelligence agencies destroyed the CIA’s efforts to recover from the ‘Arab Spring’ and that America is now flying blind in the Middle East would be a hard thing to admit.
House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday where she sat down for a wide-ranging interview. The Minority Leader addressed the ongoing scandal surrounding President Barack Obama’s administration’s response to the September 11 attacks in Libya which left four dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Pelosi said that Republicans in Congress withheld $300 million in funds for Libya which would have provided for enhanced security around the Benghazi consulate. When Blitzer asked if she thought Republican calls for an investigation into the incident in Benghazi were political in nature, Pelosi replied “One might suspect that.”
Blitzer read portions of a letter sent by House Oversight Committee members Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to Sec. Hillary Clinton in which they reveal their knowledge that the mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security after having come under attack several times in recent months. They say that those resources were withheld by Washington.
“It’s also important to note that the Republican appropriation Congress gave the administration $300 million less than it asked for for the State Department, including funding for security,” said Pelosi.
“Are you suggesting that there was a financial aspect to what happened in Benghazi, Libya,” Blitzer asked. “That the U.S. was not enough money to protect American diplomats?”
Pelosi said that the Congress has the power of the purse, and that no one would know exactly what happened in Benghazi in the near future. “But we also have to look to ourselves in terms of that funding question,” said Pelosi.
She went on to slam Republicans for not holding a full hearing on the events on Benghazi and said that Democrats had held a hearing on Medicare without Republicans.
“So, are you saying this is political from their perspective,” Blitzer replied.
“One might suspect that,” said Pelosi.
Watch the clip below via CNN:
October 3rd, 2012, 12:33
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Today on Fox News, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) laid rhetorical siege to the Obama administration’s response to the attack on a Libyan embassy that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Blackburn left no stone unturned in her indictment, claiming that the administration had bungled not just the aftermath of the attack, but the lead up to it as well.
October 3rd, 2012, 21:00
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
The US military and intelligence agencies are preparing to capture and kill militants involved in the attack on the US consulate in Libya, despite the Libyan government’s demand that no foreigners will fight on their country’s land.
The top-secret Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is currently gathering information on the attack that killed a US ambassador and three other Americans, planning to launch drone strikes or raids against the suspects, the New York Times reportes.
“They are putting together information on where these individuals live, who their family members and their associates are, and their entire pattern of life,” an unnamed American official told the news organization.
While President Barack Obama has not yet ordered strikes on suspects, the JSOC is preparing what senior military officials call “target packages” in the case that he does make the order.
“Make no mistake, justice will be done,” the president said last month, making a promise to take action against the consulate’s attackers.
The dossiers come at a time when the Obama administration has faced criticism for its failure to accurately describe the cause of the attack. While the White House claimed the killings were a violent response to an anti-Muslim YouTube video, the attack was later determined to have been a terrorist attack planned for the Sept. 11 anniversary. The administration has also been condemned for providing inadequate security at a site that already had fears of rising terrorism.
But as the US contemplates administering drone strikes and raids, it may harm relations with Libya.
Strikes against the suspected attackers would require the US military to enter Libyan territory against the wishes of the national government. While Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur called the assault on the US consulate “a cowardly, criminal and terrorist attack,” he said extremists in the country were a small minority that does “not number more than 100 or 150.” The prime minister expressed his opposition to having any foreign troops on Libyan soil.
“We will not accept anyone entering inside Libya,” he said. “That would infringe on sovereignty and we will refuse.”
Aside from 50 additional US Marines sent to guard the US embassy in Tripoli and two other diplomatic residences, Shagur said he would not tolerate more US troops entering the country.
The potential situation in Libya closely resembles US actions in Pakistan. The US has often faced criticism for violating Pakistan’s sovereignty by entering Federally Administered Tribal Regions (FATA) without permission. In June, Pakistan condemned the US for administering drone strikes on its territory, killing 27 people in just three strikes. The foreign ministry considers these kinds of attacks, which go against the wishes of the national government, illegal.
While infringing on the country’s sovereignty, the CIA-led drone campaign and raids also fuels anti-American sentiment, leading to further civilian deaths. The US has now damaged relations with its former ally, which causes speculation whether the situation Libya could become a second Pakistan.
October 3rd, 2012, 22:08
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Hey, let's tell them what we're doing, ok? LOL
Idiots - then again, it's the Russians advertising it, right? I mean don't the Sov... er... I mean Russians control the Islamic freaks now? LOL
October 4th, 2012, 16:37
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
CBS/AP/ October 4, 2012, 11:36 AM FBI team examines site of deadly Libya attack
The damage inside the burnt U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is seen Sept. 13, 2012, following an attack on the building Sept. 11, 2012. / AFP/Getty Images
More than three weeks after a deadly assault on a U.S. Consulate in Libya killed four Americans, FBI have investigators examined the destroyed complex in the port city of Benghazi, CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reports.
According to a U.S. official, the FBI team collected whatever evidence they could from the site to the extent possible.
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the assault, which the White House has referred to as a terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that, according to a House committee, a State Department officer told panel members there were 13 threats made against the consulate during the six months before the attack on the facility on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The officer told committee members that the U.S. mission had made repeated requests for increased security.
A spokesman for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is holding a hearing on the controversy next week, said its source is Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom, who was stationed in Libya from September 2011 to June 2012.
According to the panel, Nordstrom has already given a private briefing to members and will be called to testify Wednesday.
Separately, The Washington Post reports one of its reporters found "sensitive documents" that were "only loosely secured" in the burned-out remains of the consulate Wednesday. The newspaper says the discovery "further complicates efforts by the Obama administration to respond to what has rapidly become a major foreign-policy issue just weeks before the election."
The oversight committee has also requested testimony from a second State Department official, Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary for international programs, who is involved in reviewing security requests.
Republicans have accused the Obama administration of being unprepared for the terrorist attack by Muslim extremists on the consulate, then allegedly issuing misinformation about it.
Initially, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice suggested the attack was spontaneous, sparked by an anti-Islam video on the Web.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she's committed to finding out exactly what happened leading up to the assault and whether security requests were made but denied.
"No one wants the answers more than we do here at the (State) Department," Clinton said. It has appointed a review board to investigate the controversy.
A letter to Clinton from the committee chairman, Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and panel member Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, had said the information came from "individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya."
October 4th, 2012, 18:36
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
State Department stayed out of contractors' dispute over consulate security, letters show
Letters obtained exclusively by Fox News appear to show the State Department refused to get involved when the company tasked with protecting the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, raised security concerns, the latest indication that warning signs may have been ignored in the lead-up to last month's terror attack.
The letters pertain to a dispute between Blue Mountain Libya, the security license holder in Libya, and its operations partner Blue Mountain UK, which trained and provided the local guards.
A source with knowledge of two State Department meetings -- one in June and a second in July -- told Fox News that Blue Mountain Libya felt the security provided by the UK partner was "substandard and the situation was unworkable."
But according to the source, when the Libyans tried to bring in a third party -- an American contractor -- to improve security, a State Department contract officer declined to get involved.
"The U.S. government is not required to mediate any disagreements between the two parties of the Blue Mountain Libya partnership," contracting officer Jan Visintainer wrote on July 10 to Blue Mountain Libya, adding that to date "contract performance is satisfactory."
Asked about that letter Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the department's investigation likely would address the issue.
"Presumably, those kinds of questions will have to be looked at in the context of the work that we're doing," she said.
A representative with Blue Mountain UK has not yet responded to a request by Fox News for comment.
The July 10 exchange and the apparent warning that set it off are sure to be examined closely as both the State Department and Congress begin to scrutinize what may have gone wrong in the weeks and months preceding the attack, in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to hold a hearing Oct. 10 on security in the region before the attack. Two members of that committee, Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, fired off a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking a string of security-related questions.
They detailed attacks and other security incidents in Benghazi starting in April and asked the State Department what measures it took to address the threat. Further, they claimed officials have told the committee of "repeated requests" for additional security that were turned down.
"Based on information provided to the committee by individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the ambassador's life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to September 11, 2012," they wrote. "In addition, multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington."
A State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that Clinton plans to respond to the lawmakers' questions.
The letter to Clinton alleges 13 incidents that showed the deteriorating security situation on the ground -- one of which included workers with Blue Mountain. Weeks before the attack, the letter said, Libyan guards employed by the Blue Mountain Group were urged by their family members to quit over rumors "of an impending attack."
The letter included other incidents, which have been well documented, including the June attack on a convoy carrying the British ambassador. And it said "assailants" put an explosive device at the gate of the U.S. Consulate in early June, blowing a hole in the security perimeter.
The State Department, meanwhile, has stood by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice in the face of criticism and calls for her resignation. Rice came under fire for claiming repeatedly the Sunday after the attack that it was a "spontaneous" reaction to protests over an anti-Islam film. The administration now acknowledges the assault was a coordinated terror attack.
(CBS News) Critics have faulted the administration for changing its reporting on the consulate attack in Libya, but senior correspondent John Miller said that the focus should not be on how information was gathered in the midst of crisis, but on what security existed in Benghazi on September 11 in Benghazi: "What was the deteriorating security situation? How much did Washington know, and what did they deliver in terms of protection? It sounds more like they were taking it away than providing extra."
Officials tells CBS News there were repeated requests for additional security before the attack that were denied and multiple security incidents that should have served as red flags.
"What we're learning now is that there were a drumbeat of incidents, about 13 security threats," said Miller, "either directly to the consulate, a handful of those, but then incidents in the surrounding area against the British, the Red Cross and so on, and this was building up."
Among the most prominent security incidents in Benghazi were a June bomb blast that blew a hole in a perimeter wall surrounding the consulate, followed the next week by an attack on the convoy of the British ambassador, which left two security guards injured. Those have been detailed in a letter sent by Rep. Darrell Issa and Rep. Jason Chaffetz to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Issa is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and Chaffetz heads that panel's Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations.
Miller said he expects a lot of news to come from next week's Congressional hearing into security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
"I've been to embassies all over the world and I've seen how security works," Miller said on "CBS This Morning." "When it comes to the ambassador, whether he going to make a trip, make that call, in the embassy the ambassador is king. That's going to be his call whether to go.
"But the things that go along with that - which is the security of the facility he's going to, the security provided to him on the road - a lot of those decisions aren't made there, they're made in Washington. And as we get closer to next Wednesday's Congressional oversight hearing we're going to start learning some incredible things.
Miller said one witness that may shed light on the matter is the regional security officer from Benghazi, Eric Nordstrom, "who we understand is prepared to testify about these rising security threats - and they did ask for more security in cables and memos from Washington." Another witness being sought is Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary of state for international programs, "who is the person who approves or denies those requests.
"I think we're going to see a lot of news coming out of that," Miller said.
On Thursday FBI agents and other investigators visited what's left of the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to document the crime scene and collect evidence. Their first visit came three weeks after the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Miller said that focus on the attack is still centering on Anshar al Sharia, a Libyan group that reads from the al Qaeda narrative.
"The question is, once they figure out the 'whodunit' part, which they're pretty close to, what do they do about that?" Miller said. "There isn't a criminal justice system in Libya that can really handle an arrest and trial, and bringing them to the United States is fraught with its own issues. They are in the decision-making process: Once we nail them down, what do we do with them?"
October 5th, 2012, 13:32
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
U.S. Special Operations forces are in Libya and nearby countries aiding in the collection of intelligence regarding suspected Libyan militia who were part of the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, a U.S. military official told CNN.
The intelligence gathering effort is just part of a broader involvement by the American military in the aftermath of the September 11 attack, including providing security on Thursday to an FBI investigative team that traveled to Benghazi.
The special operations units are employing various methods to investigate, including communications intercepts, satellite and drone imagery and face-to-face meetings with those who may have information, the official said.The official declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The gathered information is being used to assemble proposed targeting packages for military action if ordered by the president. Those targeting packages have to include the latest intelligence demonstrating why a target would be attacked, what weapons would be used, and how the military would limit civilian casualties.
A U.S. military strike, or capture of suspects in Libya, still remains highly problematic as the Libyan government has opposed U.S. intervention.
In the immediate days following the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, the military quickly prepositioned aircraft and military teams in Sigonella, Italy, to conduct a full evacuation of Americans from Libya had it become necessary, according to a U.S. military official. Those movements were in addition to the 50-person Marine security team that was flown into Tripoli, the capital, the day after the assault.
Although Americans were able to leave the country via commercial air, the quick response is an indication of just how unsure the U.S. military was about the security situation on the ground and whether American citizens could be kept safe.
In addition, as CNN has previously reported, two Navy warships capable of firing Tomahawk missiles were quickly positioned off the coast of Libya, and surveillance of known militant strongholds by drones was stepped up. All of this is just part of an undisclosed, multifaceted effort by the Pentagon to position assets off Libya to protect Americans until they could leave Libya, be in position to conduct a military strike if ordered by the president, and collect constant intelligence on possible perpetrators of the attack and the militia movements they may have belonged to.
Those warships had moved away from Libyan waters in recent days, but CNN has learned one ship was sent back and was close offshore during the entire time the military was securing the area around the Benghazi compound on Thursday, while the FBI conducted an investigation of the site.
October 5th, 2012, 13:32
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Two people have been arrested in connection with this attack. Both have forged passports. Don't know more yet.
October 5th, 2012, 20:07
MinutemanCO
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
I see the liquidation of several Libyan Muslim extremists happening in the near future. Gathering intel my ass.
October 5th, 2012, 22:40
Avvakum
Re: Are Tunisia and Egypt Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
What a sorry excuse for a 'Commander in Chief' we have in the United States of America. If this had been a White Conservative President instead of a Negro Leftist, there'd be calls for his impeachment already among the Democrats.
October 11th, 2012, 12:19
vector7
Re: Are Tunisia and Egypt Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
The fatal attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya last month has become a test of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's leadership and a threat to her much-admired legacy as America's top diplomat just a few months before she plans to step down.
Clinton was among the first Obama administration officials to publicly condemn the attack and mourn the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. But as the State Department has weathered Republican-led criticism that it misread warning signs before the Sept. 11 attack, Clinton has been far less visible.
Clinton will not appear at a Wednesday oversight hearing; House Republicans have said they will question the State Department's security preparations and the administration's account of the attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi. The State Department will instead send a trusted career diplomat along with three security officials.
Ahead of the hearing, State Department officials provided new details about the attack while asserting that there had been no way to predict or prevent the sustained assault.
"The lethality and the number of armed people is unprecedented. There had been no attack like that anywhere in Libya - Tripoli, Benghazi or elsewhere - in the time we had been there," said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss events still being investigated. "It would be very, very hard to find a precedent for an attack like that in recent diplomatic history."
But the new details also appeared to confirm that there was no protest or other benign gathering outside the compound gates, as initially described by some in the administration.
A month before the presidential election, with Republican nominee Mitt Romney surging in the polls, members of the GOP increasingly see the Libya attack as a political vulnerability for President Barack Obama.
Republicans accuse Obama and top administration officials of overlooking warning signs before the attack and trying to deflect questions about terrorism afterward.
"There was a clear disconnect between what security officials on the ground felt they needed and what officials in Washington would approve," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Tuesday.
"Reports that senior State Department officials told security personnel in Libya to not even make certain security requests are especially troubling."
Clinton briefed members of Congress privately days after the attack and has called individual members frequently. She spoke to Issa on Monday, another senior State Department official said.
"They did not ask, and there was no serious discussion at this point that she would testify," the official said.
Clinton has made no public mention of the attack or investigation since Oct. 3. She has no public speaking events on her schedule this week. A trusted Clinton confidant who is the chief protector of her image is reviewing all media inquiries related to the attack.
"It did happen on her watch, so is the secretary responsible? The secretary is always responsible," said P.J. Crowley, a former assistant secretary of state for public affairs under Clinton and now a professor at George Washington University.
"You've gotta look at this in the full picture. It's a tragedy that happened on her watch, but I don't think it will diminish what is a very significant record," Crowley said.
Frequently touted as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, Clinton plans to step down this year after a tenure that has made her among the most-traveled and most respected American diplomats. Her approval ratings in national polls hover around 70 percent, making her more popular than Obama.
But the deaths in Benghazi have opened Clinton up to the charge that her department should have done more to safeguard diplomats from militants in an increasingly violent country.
Briefing reporters on Tuesday, State Department officials said that Stevens' trip had been routine before the attack and that on the night of the attack he escorted his last guest out the front gate about 8:30 p.m. The ambassador stood on the quiet street to say goodbye, then retired to his room.
At 9:40 p.m., there was an explosion and gunfire at the gates, and a wave of armed men flowed into the compound. The armed crowd quickly assaulted all four buildings on the compound with mortars, small arms and possibly with rocket-propelled grenades, the official said.
With the building on fire and rapidly filling with smoke, a security agent tried to lead Stevens and information officer Sean Smith out a bedroom window, but when the agent tumbled out, the two others did not follow, the official said. Repeated attempts by the agent to find Stevens and Smith failed.
Neither Romney nor congressional Republicans have directly faulted Clinton over security in Libya and do not appear eager to saddle her with the blame.
Instead, much of the Republican criticism has been directed at Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who initially said that the attacks were apparently the result of anti-American protests that spun out of control.
Still, Issa sent a stern letter to Clinton last week, asking why additional security had been denied to diplomats at the lightly defended mission in Benghazi where Stevens died. The letter questioned the administration's early public claim that the attack was part of a spontaneous public protest over an anti-Muslim Internet video.
The State Department has said that a review panel, led by retired diplomat Thomas Pickering, is working to answer such questions.
"Our posture is to be as cooperative as we possibly can," Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
Her comments came as the Republican-led oversight committee released the State Department's compilation of more than 200 security-related threats in Libya since June 2011.
The documents show that less than two months before the attack in Benghazi, the State Department assessed that the risk of violence to diplomats and other Americans in Libya was high and that the weak U.S.-backed government in Tripoli could do little about it.
The department, the documents show, approved a 30 percent "danger pay" bonus for Americans working in Libya during the summer.
The department's former top security officer has told the House committee that he had recommended keeping U.S. military and additional State Department security forces on hand through October. "The [Libyan government] was overwhelmed and could not guarantee our protection," former regional security officer Eric A. Nordstrom wrote Oct. 1. "Sadly, that point was reaffirmed Sept. 11, 2012, in Benghazi."
Nordstrom is scheduled to testify at Wednesday's oversight hearing.
Although Clinton will not appear, the State Department requested that Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy be a witness. Little known outside Washington, Kennedy is a low-key bureaucratic firefighter who was already managing the back and forth with Congress over the attacks.
October 11th, 2012, 12:28
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It's beyond a disconnect, it is utterly damning. There are two scandals going on. The first is the coverup. We now know, and they knew earlier there was no mob, there was no demonstration, there was no incentive about the video. It was all a completely false story. This was simply an attack of our men who infiltrated and killed our people.
So everything that Susan Rice said was a confection, it was an invention. And as you showed, it was repeated again and again. You had Hillary Clinton speaking of the video as the body of the ambassador was lying next to her. Then you had Susan Rice spinning the tails. You had the president of the United States addressing the [U.N.] General Assembly more than two weeks later talking about the video, the insult to Islam, et cetera. You have this entire story going all along. They're trying to sell the video, they're trying to sell extremism and they're trying to sell all of this at a time when they know it isn't true. So that's number one. That's a scandal and I think it has to do with the fact that they were spiking the football over the death of bin Laden and al-Qaeda a week earlier in Charlotte and this is a contradiction of it.
The second scandal is the lack of security at the site before. So what happened before? And I think that what happened was the administration, it wasn't a lack of money that they withdrew all the support and they didn't put up the required barbed wire and the fences and all of that. It was under the theory which starts with Obama at the beginning; we don't want to be intruders in the area, we don't want to be oppositional, we don't want to have a fortress in America, we don't want to look imperialist. We want to blend in with the people and help them build. That's a noble aspiration and that was the motive for having very light security, but it was a catastrophically wrong decision to do it in Benghazi in a no man's land in Dodge City and it cost us the lives of the Ambassador and three other Americans. bret
October 11th, 2012, 12:30
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Security in Libya was reduced before last month's attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, even as violence worsened, a US panel has heard.
A former US Army official in Libya, Lt Col Andrew Wood, said that security in the country had been "weak".
The rancorous congressional committee hearing centred on whether the state department had sought enough diplomatic security staff for the mission.
The BBC's Mark Mardell says Wednesday's session was highly political.
A month before the US election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney has been making the Benghazi attack the centrepiece of his case against President Barack Obama's foreign policy.
'Rare and extraordinary' Lt Col Wood told Wednesday's hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that when he arrived in Libya in February there had been three US diplomatic special security teams in the country, but by August they had been withdrawn.
He also said that the security situation in Libya had worsened before the 11 September attack, in which four Americans died, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
He said he had visited Benghazi twice and was there in June when the British ambassador's convoy was attacked, one of a dozen incidents before the assault on the consulate.
"The security in Benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle throughout my time there," Lt Col Wood told the congressional hearing.
"Fighting between militias was still common when I departed. Some militias appeared to be disintegrating into organisations resembling freelance criminal operations.
"Targeted attacks against westerners were on the increase."
He said that in June there had been a direct threat made against the ambassador on Facebook, mentioning that he liked to jog regularly.
State department officials defended themselves during the hearing from accusations that they had been unprepared.
"We had the correct number of assets in Benghazi at the time of 9/11," said Charlene Lamb, the deputy secretary of state for diplomatic security.
She noted there had been five diplomatic security agents in Benghazi at the time of the attack, as well as extra security staff.
However, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday that in hindsight there was "no question that the security was not enough to prevent that tragedy from happening".
Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary of state for management, told the hearing that the Benghazi incident had been "an unprecedented attack by dozens of heavily armed men".
His statement echoed a state department briefing on Tuesday that the government had never concluded the sacking of the Benghazi mission was motivated by a US-made video ridiculing Muslims.
In the days after the attack Mr Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, described it as a "spontaneous" one that arose out of a protest against the film.
Mr Kennedy suggested that Obama administration officials had been working off the best intelligence they had at the time.
Reuters news agency reported last week that hours after the attack the White House had received a dozen reports suggesting al-Qaeda-linked militants were responsible.
'No plan' The top US security chief in Libya until July, Eric Nordstrom, also appeared before the committee.
Mr Nordstrom testified that he had been criticised for seeking more security.
"There was no plan and it was hoped it would get better," he said.
He told the committee that conversations he had with people in Washington had led him to believe that it was "abundantly clear we were not going to get resources until the aftermath of an incident".
During the hearing, Democrats accused committee chair Darrell Issa and his Republican-controlled panel of refusing to make witnesses available, withholding documents and effectively excluding Democrats from a fact-finding trip to Libya.
Republicans accused state department officials of not being fully co-operative with their probe.
Democratic staff noted that House Republicans had voted for an embassy security funding package that was $459m (£286m) less than what the Obama administration had requested.
WASHINGTON — The State Department said Tuesday it never concluded that the consulate attack in Libya stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam, raising further questions about why the Obama administration used that explanation for more than a week after assailants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
The revelation came as new documents suggested internal disagreement over appropriate levels of security before the attack, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.
Briefing reporters ahead of a hotly anticipated congressional hearing Wednesday, State Department officials provided their most detailed rundown of how a peaceful day in Benghazi devolved into a sustained attack that involved multiple groups of men armed with weapons such as machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars over an expanse of more than a mile.
But asked about the administration’s initial — and since retracted — explanation linking the violence to protests over an anti-Muslim video circulating on the Internet, one official said, “That was not our conclusion.” He called it a question for “others” to answer, without specifying. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter, and provided no evidence that might suggest a case of spontaneous violence or angry protests that went too far.
Just as a reminder the Obama administration couldn’t get its story squared with the facts for well over a week. The Heritage Foundation put out this helpful video essay of the administration’s cover up on the assassination of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.
October 11th, 2012, 12:43
Malsua
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Now if we can just get 47% of the population on the dole to throw Obama under the bus.
October 11th, 2012, 13:16
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
lol
I listened to much of the hearings out of the corner of my ear yesterday. That Col. Woods guy... I think he wants blood. He's a very quiet, humble man but he was very clear on why he was there. He sounded very sincere to me.
Some of the others, especially that one woman in the pictures above in blue were dodging answers. The woman in blue is an "Excuse Maker". She's one of those people who aren't so rare in the government who are typical "Yes Men". She will say yes yes yes boss, yes! to make her boss happy. In short she will lie her ass off to make herself and her boss look good.
(That was the impression I got immediately, then she opened her mouth and proved it). I HATE people like that. Tell the fucking truth and tell it like it is. Don't white wash shit. I HATE that. If I were CEO of something and someone did that, I'd fire them on the SPOT.
October 11th, 2012, 13:16
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Posted at 08:45 AM ET, 10/11/2012 Is Benghazi Obama’s Waterloo?
Does the Libya consulate scandal matter in the presidential election? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but if it didn’t, then left-wing bloggers wouldn’t be trying to ignore it and come up with more “shiny objects” with which to attempt to distract voters.
On one level it is self-evident that a story involving the deaths of four Americans at the hands of Al Qaeda-linked terrorists and the revelation that the dead men were denied additional security is a big deal. Add in a false narrative coming directly from the mouth of the White House spokesman and a healthy game of finger -pointing between the State Department and others as to who is responsible for misleading the American people and you have a huge story.
The compelling testimony of the former regional security officer in Libya, Eric Nordstrom, recounting his ordeal is not going to be brushed aside lightly. As ABC News reported:
The former regional security officer in Libya, Eric Nordstrom, recalled talking to a regional director and asking for twelve security agents.
“His response to that was, ‘You are asking for the sun, moon and the stars.’ And my response to him – his name was Jim – ‘Jim, you know what makes most frustrating about this assignment? It is not the hardships, it is not the gunfire, it is not the threats. It is dealing and fighting against the people, programs and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me. And I added (sic) it by saying, ‘For me the Taliban is on the inside of the building.’”
In this case the damage to President Obama is especially acute because of four specific factors unique to this election. Any one of them would be sufficient to create an obstacle to his reelection; all four of them make it that much harder for him to win.
First, Obama is behind and must recapture the momentum. (You can tell because the Obama team is spinning internal polls, a sure sign of being behind and needing to stem panic). Days spent batting back a bad storyline are wasted for him. He needs to stop playing defense ( on his rotten debate, on his dopey Big Bird obsession, on Libya) and figure out how to beat the other guy. So long as a big, juicy scandal is sucking up the oxygen that’s hard to do.
Second, Obama has hidden from the press on the story, giving the appearance he has something to conceal. Moreover, that puts VP Joe Biden in the position of being the first person on the ticket to field questions. How’d you like to put your political future and the most critical response to a growing scandal in Biden’s hands? You see the point.
Third, Obama in his post-debate humiliation has staked everything on making Mitt Romney out to be a liar. It hasn’t worked because Obama’s accusations ( on the “$5 trillion tax cut,” especially) don’t hold up and his own claims ( his phony $4 trillion debt plan) are tallying up the Pinocchios. But now does he really want to get into a battle about transparency, credibility, and candor? Romney would be thrilled to have the conversation about misleading the American people.
Four, the Libya debacle severely hampers his touting his one actual foreign policy achievement, the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Because the administration so overplayed its accomplishment, painting it as the effective demise of Al Qaeda, even that is now a sore point. Did his boasting get in the way of honest analysis about the growing threat of Al Qaeda? Did they not take security pleas from its Libyan-based diplomats seriously because Al Qaeda was supposed to be kaput? Again, Romney is now more than willing to talk about why killing the Al Qaeda chieftain didn’t actually bury Al Qaeda. He’s glad, I’m sure, to get the chance to talk about what needs to be done to keep Americans safe (maybe not slash defense, for example). And if that weren’t enough, maybe Obama’s “leading from behind” put us in the position, as Lt. Col. Andrew Wood said in the hearing yesterday, in which Al Qaeda is much better established in Libya than we are.
At this stage in the race Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) can now afford to be somewhat more circumspect, demanding answers rather than making accusations. Why shouldn’t the president give a major address explaining what happened and why his White House ( and he, as late as Sept. 25 in his United Nations address) continued to fabricate a tale in which a protest over an anti-Muslim film resulted in the deaths of the four Americans? Why does the State Department say it didn’t tie the attacks to the film? Should someone be fired for this panoply of, at the very least, gross incompetence?
Let Biden or Obama explain what happened; it is after all ( as it was in Fast and Furious where other innocents were killed) a mess of their administration’s own making.
October 11th, 2012, 13:19
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
KT McFarland is on TV right now saying Hillary SHOULD go under oath on this. hahahaha
