Vehicle damaged in attack on British Ambassador / House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Click here to enlarge.
Joel Gehrke
The Washington Examiner
10/2/2012
House investigators warned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to expect a hearing into their finding that that American staff at the U.S. Embassy in Libya had their request for additional security denied by Washington officials.
“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,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and subcommittee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, wrote Clinton today. They dismissed out-of-hand the suggestion that the attack ever could have been regarded as a spontaneous protest gone awry.
“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,” Issa and Chaffetz added (my emphasis). “The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington.”
The committee noted 13 “security threats” in Benghazi, including an attempt to assassinate the British ambassador to Libya.
Update: Benghazi: Multiple Requests for Increased Security Denied by Washington
Libyan jihadis freed from prison during revolution now attacking U.S.
Issa to Hillary: Why did State refuse requests to bolster Benghazi security? “Plus, US pulls out of Benghazi – which likely means the end of the investigation.”
The Right Scoop calls this a “bombshell,” which may underestimate the impact of the question posed by House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Despite the CNN discovery of the late Ambassador Chris Stevens’ journal in which Stevens outlined his fears of terrorist attacks, the Obama administration has told the media that Stevens didn’t push those security issues with the State Department. According to the letterIssa sent today to Clinton, that may be yet another untruth pushed by the White House..
USA Today editorial: This Libya mess sure does look like incompetence
Update 2: WaPo: Obama admin considered attacking AQ in north Africa before Benghazi attack “Plus, Benghazi consulate attacked twice before the sacking.”
CNN hits hard on Libya: The only conclusion is that the White House tried to cover something up “Lies.”
WaPo U.S. pulls all official government personnel from Benghazi
The Obama administration has withdrawn all official government personnel from Benghazi, the Libyan city where the country’s revolution was born and where the U.S. ambassador was killed last month, U.S. officials and local residents said Monday.
The State Department said that it has pulled its personnel from Benghazi and that any
diplomatic outreach to Libya’s second-largest city is being done remotely. The U.S. post where Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in an attack by militants has been closed.“Everybody who was in Benghazi and posted there has been withdrawn,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said…
Update 3: Some stuff just posted at Freedom’s Lighthouse:
Update 4: Hillary to Issa: You should reserve judgment about Benghazi until … November; Update: Feds received “about a dozen” intel reports pointing to terrorism within hours of attack
…Take three minutes to watch this important Fox News vid revealing how State did nothing — actually, less than nothing — when the Libyan contractors hired to protect the consulate complained to their British parent company that security at the building was substandard. State refused to intervene, and then, when an American firm was hired to provide additional security, State … shut it down. T-minus eight days and counting until those House hearings…
