Post date: Jan 16, 2014 1:21:39 AM
A Senate panel criticizes the State Department for inadequate security at the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya and says the attack on September 11, 2012 was preventable. The State Department says there was no specific threat or evidence of militants preparing for an attack.
(U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT) - The U.S. State Department responded, on Wednesday (January 15), to asenate panel report that the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi was preventable.
Spokeswoman Marie Harf said there was no specific threat or evidence of militants preparing for an attack."As we have repeatedly said there was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming. Obviously we've talked at length about the fact that we knew there were extremists and terrorists operating in Libya and in Benghazi. But again, we had no specific information indicating a threat - an attack was coming," Harf said.
The Senate Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday that the deadly attack by militants on U.S. government posts in Benghazi, Libya, was preventable and faulted the State Department for inadequate security precautions.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other U.S. government personnel were killed when militants stormed the diplomatic post and a nearby CIA base over the course of several hours.
In the months before the attacks, U.S. intelligence agencies had issued numerous reports warning that security in eastern Libya was deteriorating and that U.S. personnel and posts in Benghazi were at risk, according to a declassified report issued by the committee.
But the committee said the State Department "failed to increase security enough to address the threat," even though the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi had suffered two earlier, but less damaging, attacks during the previous six months.
The Senate panel said it found no evidence that U.S. spy agencies or the State Department had received specific warnings pinpointing that day for an attack. However, it said the CIA and State Department had both sent "general warning notices to facilities worldwide" about possible attacks on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the United States.
The committee said murky intelligence reporting in the immediate aftermath of the attacks led to confused or erroneous public statements by "policymakers" who initially blamed the attack on a protest against a anti-Islamic video produced in theUnited States that had appeared on the Internet.
The committee said U.S. spy agencies "took too long to correct these erroneous reports."
The attack became a political flashpoint in Washington in the run-up to the 2012 election, with Republicans arguing that President Barack Obama tried to play down its significance as he campaigned for a second term.