Free Republic

BRET BAIER: As you know, the administration has been engaged for several weeks in this rather public debate about the status of "core al Qaeda." And on September 23rd, Ben Rhodes told reporters that the Khorasan Group in Syria included core al Qaeda operatives from Afghanistan and Pakistan and made their way to Syria. Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said the Khorasan Group is merely affiliated with core al Qaeda. And on Wednesday you listed core al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan as one of several jihadist groups that threatens the U.S. That same day, the White House press...

The State Department on Monday said it has no evidence that “core al Qaeda” was behind last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. “We have no indications that core al Qaeda, which I think is what most people are referring to when they talk about quote ‘al Qaeda,’ directed or planned what happened in Benghazi,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said at a briefing. The statement appears to leave open the possibility that associates or followers of the terrorist network were involved in the assault. The comments come on the heels of a New York Times investigation published over the...