Independent Inquiry Faults State Dept. in Benghazi Attack

New York Times ^ | December 18, 2012 | ERIC SCHMITT and MICHAEL R. GORDON

[lbryce]

WASHINGTON — An independent inquiry into the attack on the United States diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11 sharply criticizes the State Department for a lack of seasoned security personnel and relying on untested local militias to safeguard the compound, Congressional and State Department officials said Tuesday night.

The investigation into the attacks on the diplomatic mission and C.I.A. annex that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others also faulted State Department officials in Washington for ignoring requests from officials at the American Embassy in Tripoli for more guards and safety upgrades to the diplomatic mission.

The panel also blamed the State Department for waiting for specific warnings of imminent attacks to act rather than adapting security procedures and protocols to a deteriorating security environment. By this spring, Benghazi, a hotbed of militant activity in eastern Libya, had experienced a string of assassinations and attacks, including one on a British envoy’s motorcade.

Finally, the report also blamed two major State Department bureaus — diplomatic security and Near Eastern affairs — for failing to coordinate and plan adequate security at the mission. The panel also determined that a number of officials had shown poor leadership.

In response to the panel’s findings, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a letter to Congress that she was accepting all 29 of the panel’s recommendations, several of which are classified.

Mrs. Clinton is taking specific steps to correct the problems, according to officials. They say the State Department is asking permission from Congress to transfer $1.3 billion from funds that had been allocated for spending in Iraq. This includes $553 million for additional Marine security guards; $130 million for diplomatic security personnel; and $691 million for improving security at installations abroad.

[lbryce]

Obama:Haha. Too little, too late. The election is over. And by 2016,during my third presidential campaign, no one dare bring it up or they'll find themselves with the the rest of my vociferous critics at Guantanamo.

Hillary:By 2016 there will be so many scandal to have been forgotten this one will be buried never recalled. My election is assured now that I got finally Zero out of the way.

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

I hope this doesn’t cause Hillary to have a concussion. /s-(or is it?)

[bergmeid]

Hillary is not capable of running the State Dept, that should make mincemeat of her 2016 ambitions.

[EagleUSA]

How much did Obama have to pay for that “hospital admission”....Hillary skates, and the U.S. gets Kerry. Well, the electorate’s morons put Obama back in the O.O. again — things could not be any worse.

No problem though — we have Boner looking out for us in the House of Reps....what a joke. A very sick joke.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Compel Hillary to testify in open sworn testimony !
We need to learn who gave the order to : “ Stand Down “

That Treachery needs to be rewarded !!

[Gator113]

**WHO in the hell gave the damn order to NOT rescue our men in Benghazi?**

[oust the louse]

“Hillary is not capable of running the State Dept, that should make mincemeat of her 2016 ambitions.”

Sadly it will not...see the reason why below!

Obama is not capable of being president again because of the horrible economy, that should make mincemeat of his 2012 White House ambitions.

[kristinn]

Link to 39 page pdf unclassified version of report.

[animal172]

So there were all kinds of failures, but no one is responsible? Yep.....

[The Mayor]

Thanks!

[Strategerist]

Wasn’t anyone or anything close enough to effect a rescue.

[Lorianne]

But it confirmed that contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate .....

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an American-made, anti-Islamic film that had begun in Cairo earlier that day. Those comments came AFTER evidence already pointed to a distinct militant attack.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/benghazi-attack-review-finds-systematic-state-dept-failures-but-no-officials-breached-duty/2012/12/18/1b5bbd98-4983-11e2-8af9-9b50cb4605a7_story.html

[SueRae]

4 years of 0bama running the whitehouse didn’t stop the “low information” voters and gimmecrats from re-electing HIM, either. Shortest memories on the planet...except of course, when it comes to George Bush. God help us.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks lbryce.

...for a lack of seasoned security personnel and relying on untested local militias to safeguard the compound...

...and somehow or other, the dead ambassador was probably to blame for running guns to Mexican drug cartels, so, damage control.

[AliVeritas]

This is bull.

[Graewoulf]

Benghazi Massacre File.

[bergmeid]

Touche. Sigh.

[kabar]

Whitewash. I expected as much from Pickering and Dick Shinnick. There needs to be an outside investigation of what happened.

I certainly don't buy the assertion that there were no military assets that could have made a difference. Certainly, some fighter aircraft could have been sent from Italy. No doubt there were political considerations at play about violating Libyan airspace and the possibility of collateral damage.

[SueRae]

I am seething after reading this. And 0bama nd Hillary dancing at the microphones in front of those four caskets, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THE FAILURE WAS THEIRS, not some stupid freaking video.

And yet, an apathetic and idiotic American majority re-elected these proven liars. I am just SICK.

[pankot]

Didn’t the State Department once have the a propo title “Foggy Bottom”?