Posted on 09/15/2012 1:46:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
No U.S. Marines were in Libya when protesters stormed a diplomatic mission in the eastern city of Benghazi and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans late Tuesday, a senior Obama administration official said Saturday.
The official’s comments contradict earlier reports of a small Marine presence at State Department facilities in the North African nation.
The U.S. diplomatic compound breached Tuesday by Libyan protesters in Benghazi had a relatively light security posture compared to diplomatic facilities in other conflict zones.
Marines are guarding diplomatic facilities in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, Defense Press Secretary George Little told reporters Thursday.
“The State Department has the lead for embassy security around the world. Naturally, if they ask for our advice in given situations, we’ll offer it up, no question about it,” Mr. Little said in response to a question about who plans security at embassies and diplomatic facilities.
Part of the reason Marines were not stationed at the Benghazi compound is that it is not an embassy or consulate, but a “diplomatic mission,” officials said.
In some conflict zones, State Department officials work in buildings other than embassies or consulates in order to conduct “expeditionary diplomacy” — establishing an initial presence and building a relationship with locals, as in post-revolution Libya, officials said.
Senior administration officials described the facility in Benghazi as an “interim” one that the State Department had acquired before the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, consisting of a main building and several ancillary buildings, as well as an annex farther away....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
No Marines? WTF? I bet the EPA had people there.
Please God, save us from Obama.
Amen
So was Hillary responsable for there not being Marines/protection at the Benghazi Embassy?
Well The Buck always stops some distance from Obozo so Hillary would not be a bad choice.
Something smells...
Homosexual diplomat, no Marines.
Boys? Drugs? What?
Your answer is right in the article: “The State Department has the lead for embassy security around the world.”
Until the Marine FAST arrived after the the assassination of Ambassador Stevens, there were no Marines assigned to embassy duty anywhere in Libya; including the embassy in Tripoli.
The responsibility for the decision and policy to use only contract personnel and local security to guard the embassy/consulate in Libya, despite all the diplo-speak double talk in the article, falls directly upon DoS ...and Secretary Clinton is at the top of that “food chain.”
She is the current Secretary of State, who else would be responsible? The US Marines don’t go where they feel like, they go where they are assigned, and it seems that the State Department didn’t ask for Marines in Libya.
I wonder what crazy stuff Larry, Moe and Curly will come up with next? Who knew the Democrat party was nothing but clowns.
Something I read earlier today on FR said that the Marines were there, but had been disarmed.............
It turns out that those were probably civilian security guards.
This is somehow better than having them there but refusing to arm them?
Has anyone else noticed the similarities of Moammar Gadhafi and Ambassador Stevens?
They both thought they were friends of Obama.
The head swims trying to keep up with this.................
Hillary should have been fired by now. She is too incompetent to be in charge of anything.
Somebody intentionally trying to stir shiite? Isn't that what community 'organizers' do?
I read it was the Cairo embassy that disarmed their Marines . Bet they’re armed now .
Someone with the same mindset as the person who sent a pretty blonde Western reporter (Lara Logan) to cover the riots at Tarir Square.
Whose decision was it not to protect the U.S. Ambassador?
Yet Valerie Jarrett on vacay in Martha’s Vineyard has a full complement of Secret Service officers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.