‘Security in Benghazi Was a Struggle… Diplomatic Security Remained Weak’
“The post had agreed that three was a sufficient number to have on the ground,” Lamb argued, adding that the goal was to train Libyans to assume greater security roles.
“You knew about all these other attacks that had taken place,” said Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.). “Local Libyans were told there was going to be an attack and left.”
Stevens also cabled his concerns about the deteriorating security situation on the day of his death.
In the six months leading up to the Sept. 11 assault, there were 13 documented threats or attacks on U.S. interests in Tripoli and Benghazi.
The State Department officials were grilled by committee Republicans on why it took so long for the administration to admit that the attack was terrorism.
“We were gathering information and coordinating with the intelligence community, dozens of other embassies, we were concerned about looking for all the information,” said Kennedy. “…We have a great partnership with the intelligence community and heavily depend on the information they provide us.”
Under questioning, both Kennedy and Lamb admitted they have never visited Libya.
“Your testimony seems to be conflicting,” said Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.), noting that “seven days later the White House press secretary was still standing up and giving the same report.”
“I’m kind of amazed by this whole dialogue today,” he added.
Kennedy said the department was juggling “multiple reports” — including ones dealing with the administration’s first story. “There were reports we received that said there were protests and I will not go any further than that,” he said. “And things evolved. Period.”
“I don’t want to cross certain lines in open session,” Kennedy said when prodded by committee members.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who joined the hearing as the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee chairman, slammed the administration’s “bowing and scraping to try to prove its sincerity and friendship-seeking to the Islamic world since Day One.”
He also noted that none of the witnesses used “terrorism” in their prepared remarks.
“That’s not your fault, but there’s a mindset there that the word ‘terrorism’ doesn’t even come into your written testimony,” Rohrabacher said.
“I’m not making any judgments on my own,” Lamb maintained when asked by Burton about calling it a terrorist attack.
“Which terrorist group finds 9/11 significant?” asked Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), also not an Oversight member but joining the hearing.
“I’m sure all do,” Lamb stumbled.
“We cannot end the risk to our people overseas,” Kennedy asserted, stressing they had no actual intelligence of an attack plan on Sept. 11. “The State Department must go into harm’s way.”
At today’s White House daily briefing, press secretary Jay Carney kicked it back over to Kennedy’s court, particularly when pressed on the undersecretary’s reported call with congressional staffers on Sept. 12 in which he called it a coordinated attack.
“Pat Kennedy, the undersecretary of State for management, is testifying in public today. So I would look to what he says before your cameras and the American people, rather than what congressional sources, whoever they may be, may be telling you,” Carney said under grilling from Fox News’ Ed Henry.
“I never said we don’t know if it’s terrorism. There was an issue about the definition of terrorism. This is by definition an act of terror, as the president made clear,” Carney added.
The White House announced Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan met with senior Libyan officials, including Libyan National Congress President Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, today in Tripoli.
“Mr. Brennan, on behalf of President Obama, expressed support for Libya’s ongoing government formation and transition to democracy and accepted condolences for the tragic deaths of four Americans in Benghazi last month,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.
“The two sides discussed the continuing investigation into the Benghazi attacks, including specific additional steps Libya can take to better assist the U.S. in ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Both sides reaffirmed their strong commitment to countering terrorism and violent extremism.”
The White House didn’t mention the anti-Muhammad video.
Brennan’s visit was on the heels, however, of a weekend trip to the region by Oversight Republicans, including Chaffetz.
Democrats complained that they weren’t invited on the trip, though Chaffetz wryly noted that he received the same notice given to the Dems and that the other side of the aisle did send an attorney “to follow my every footstep.”
“At OGR Libya hearing. Issa/Chaffetz running roughshod on process, witholding [sic] Utah witness, traveling to Libya sans Dems. All politics,” Connolly tweeted at the beginning of the hearing.
“We could have and should have saved the life of Ambassador Stevens and the other Americans there,” Chaffetz said.
Issa, who promised to “follow all the clues to where they lead,” advised Nordstrom and Wood to come back to the committee if they receive any government harassment for their testimony. “We take the work of whistleblowers seriously,” he said.
The chairman asked Wood, who said the attack was “instantly recognizable” to him as terrorism, what the difference would be in a result of “everyone getting out and half getting out” of an attack such as the consulate assault.
“Superior weapons and superior tactics,” Wood said. “That was what the SST was.”
Reality Check: The U.S. Government Created Al Qaeda?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcZKso_Z6M8&feature=plcp
The security and the safety of the United States of America are in the hands of these schmucks????????? Are you sleepy and restfull tonigth??? If you are, you are toked out or terminally retarded.
Carla, a few of my sources have been floating a theory, and I am putting it out here at this point. They say they have evidence to support their theory.
It is entirely possible, the Islamist-in-Chief approved a weapons running operation through Libya to aid the Syrian opposition. In other words, the Ambassador was much more than a diplo, he was involved with arms traffickers at the behest of the CIA etc.
Now, isn’t it more than possible, the POTUS latched onto the video scenario, hoping it wouldn’t lead to other sticky goings on behind the scenes?
Obviously, much of what the gov’t does for national security must stay secret.But what if they picked the wrong horse to back? In other words, it is not well known to the general public, the Syrian opposition is chock full of Al-Qadea and its offshoots!
So, since the POTUS is honing his foreign policy chops on killing Osama, how would it look if a behind the scenes operation was revealed, even loosely connected with Al Qaeda?
While Assad the Butcher surely has to go, the ones who are looking to replace him are no less dangerous to western interests. They are a mish mash of Muslim Brotherhood operatives & Al Qaeda. I know this for a fact.
There are no easy answers, but this much is sure – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/08/31/islamists-whatever-their-stripes-are-bloodthirsty-assads-butchers-his-opponents-too-six-of-onehalf-dozen-of-another-addendum-toislam-blood-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
Therefore, without stating forcefully – ‘Islamic doctrine is incompatible with the west, thus a reformation is the only answer to the carnage’, nothing, nada, zilch, zippo will change.
This is why the policy paper I reviewed for Professor Paul Eidelberg, ‘Islam & Blood, is the place to start the conversation.
No, the US government did not create Al Qaeda. It does not knowingly support AQ.
The media is lying in an attempt to gain more money. During the Soviet Union’s adventure in Afghanistan, the CIA armed ‘ganies who would later become AQ.
While there are AQ in Syria, I seriously doubt they are having problems getting small arms and munitions.
““The post had agreed that three was a sufficient number to have on the ground,” Lamb argued, adding that the goal was to train Libyans to assume greater security roles.”
Germans, I can trust to guard our embassy in Berlin. Libya, not so much.
America, wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!111. Our soldiers are dying for this political hack. This third rate Chilago pol who, off the teleprompter has difficulty remembering his home address, this wunderkind; my cat is smarter than this loser
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, the US was fighting the Soviet Union at every turn. Personally, given the history of the Afghan people, I think doing nothing to hinder the Soviets would have worked out just as well. But, there was always a chance the Afghans might accept our help and friendship thus becoming an ally. The “Law of Unintended Consequences” comes immediately to mind since hindsight is, supposedly, 20/20.
– the faux committee hearing was a campaign stunt.
– Sandra Fluke.
The statement that chilled MY blood was the revelation that there are somewhere between 10 and 20 THOUSAND of our manpads (Stinger-type shoulder-fired surface to air missiles)loose in that part of the world. Considering the efforts of our government to NOT secure our southern border, and considering the fact that Al Quaida almost certainly is now in posession of a sizable number of those manpads and taking into account that we have already discovered ‘jihad-related’ materials and literature in northern Mexico and southern Arizona would it not be reasonable to think commercial airliners will soon start falling out of our skies right here at home? Don’t think I”ll be getting on a commercial flight any time in the foreseeable future.
It’s semi-amazing it hasn’t happened already.
At least as far back as 2008, LTC Allen West was reporting the existence of at least 36 known terrorist training camps within the geographic confines of the United States. How many do you suppose there are now?
BTW, a True the Vote e-mail soliciting requests for funding noted yesterday that Col. West was running 9 points behind in the upcoming FL election. This may or not be true, but what is true is that the Dems have targeted him for defeat at all costs, and he needs our support. He is, among many other fine things, the absolute antithesis of the perfumed princes with which our general officer ranks are currently riddled.
“…GOP budget cuts could have undermined security…”
This is ripe – what budget?!? Senate Democrats have impeded passage of a budget for the last four years. What do these people see when they look in the mirror? Are any of them capable of opening their mouths without lying?
I liked how the “diplomats” perked up at the suggestion that they require more money. Because, isn’t that what their jobs are about? More money?
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee needs to call CIA Director David “Holy Qur’an” Petraeus before it’s committee, put him under oath, and ask him why he flat out lied through his teeth to the House Intelligence Committee. Then the House Intelligence Committee needs to do the same thing.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee needs to call CIA Director David “Holy Qur’an” Petraeus before it’s committee, put him under oath, and ask him why he flat out lied through his teeth to the House Intelligence Committee. Then the House Intelligence Committee needs to do the same thing.
Yet a congressional source told Fox News that CIA Director David Petraeus, during a briefing with members of the House Intelligence Committee three days after the attack, also espoused the view that Benghazi was an out-of-control demonstration prompted by the YouTube video. According to the source, this was “shocking” to some members who were present and saw the same intelligence pointing toward a terrorist attack.
At this point it seems safe to say that this man has herewith lost whatever shreds of credibility he may have had left with the American public.
I can just see Lamb and Kennedy retiring from State and going to the IPAB when Obamacare is finally instituted so they can be just as big assholes as they are now. Neither one has an ounce of common sense and for that idiot Lamb to say they had the correct number of security at the Consulate is insane! Can’t you just see the two of them making medical treatment decisions without knowing one single thing about your health? The arrogance of these people never ceases to amaze and disgust me.
In my company Ms. Lamb might be a secretary until somebody figured out that she was a loser. Then she’d be in the soup line.
‘Toon of the Day: Big Bird: The Letter of the Day Is “Y” As In Yemen
http://predicthistunpredictpast.blogspot.com/2012/10/toon-of-day-big-bird-letter-of-day-is-y.html
Eric Nordstrom, the regional security officer in Tripoli from September 2011 to July 2012, testified that he believed “having an extra foot of wall, or an extra-half dozen guards or agents would not have enabled us to respond to that kind of assault.”
>> A counsel of despair ? ‘That kind of assault’ was predictable, and preventable
_IF_ one accepted the reality of the situation on the ground in Libya.
“I’m concerned that this attack will signal a new security reality, just as the 1984 Beirut attack did for the Marines; the 1998 East Africa bombings did for the State Department, and 9/11 for the whole country,”
>> All of those attacks succeeded because the diplomats could not accept or
chose to ignore reality; The Beirut attack succeeded because our diplomats
convinced President Reagan that installing our own security would be an
insult to our Lebanese hosts. The morning after the attack, a Marine manning
a 105mm recoilless rifle was stationed in the street leading to the hotel;
Had he been here the night before, the attack would have failed.
He said: “It is critical that we balance the risk-mitigation with the needs of our diplomats to do their job, in dangerous and uncertain places. The answer cannot be to operate from a bunker.”
>> US diplomats operated from a ‘bunker’ known as the Green Zone in Iraq.
Who is ‘we’, Nordstrom; Were you exposed to the same level of risk as Stevens ?
P.S. Conspiracy theories are generally unconvincing, or at least unprovable, but
If this attack, like the one in Beirut, is used as an excuse to avoid further
action in the area, one must wonder who could gain, and why, from the deaths,
and watch closely to see what information is revealed, or concealed, during
the investigation.
The sooner Washington D.C. allows U.S. to develop our own resources we will continue to send our sons and daughters to die in foreign country. This makes absolutely no sense!
Published October 10, 2012, Application for ND oil refinery approved, would be first built in US in 30 years NEW TOWN, N.D. – Plans for an oil refinery on the Fort Berthold Reservation, the first major refinery to be built in the United States in more than 30 years, cleared a milestone Wednesday. By: Amy Dalrymple, INFORUM
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/376913/
This is one of the most significant failures of our government to protect it’s citizens…. remember, they had warnings from several sources including the ambassador himself. If our current administration cannot protect our state department people when they have so many warnings, how can we expect them to protect us here at home. Fly drones over our own territory to spy on us?
“I certainly hope that today’s hearing is not going to be perceived as effort to exploit a tragedy for political purposes 27 days out from the election,” quipped Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).
Yes, that’s the main concern, you two-bit party hack. What the hell is the matter with you? Wait til after the election to find answers, when everyone’s memory has faded and/or other party hacks have had time to be properly briefed on what to say/not say during the inquiry?
My god these people are completely unfazed. Their lack of reality-grasping is truly phenomenal. I really do feel like I’m living in a third-world hellhole when idiots like this start talking. Especially coming from the party where everything they do is to make political points.
OK..well…rant off. I’ll just spend the rest of today shaking my head.
Ambassador Stevens was a good diplomatic soldier. A good sport, he knew the risks and that sacrifices sometimes are required to go green with limited resources; the American Embassy in Vienna got their Chevy Volts and charging station, PBS gets their Big Bird, and California gets their bullet train to nowhere.
Isn’t hiring local militias to provide security for U.S. facilities in Libya like hiring the Hell’s Angels to provide security for rock concerts in California?
Published on Aug 23, 2012
William Binney is among a group of N.S.A. whistle-blowers, including Thomas A. Drake, who have each risked everything — their freedom, livelihoods and personal relationships — to warn Americans about the dangers of N.S.A. domestic spying; A top-secret program he says is broadly collecting Americans’ personal data.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OemwW60VxDY&feature=plcp