Post date: May 08, 2013 8:59:58 PM
Obama administration's response to Benghazi attacks revisited, with partisan undertones, during congressional hearings.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNTIED STATES (UNRESTRICTED POOL) - A former U.S. diplomat in Libya who says more could have been done to protect Americans at the U.S. mission in Benghazi when it was attacked last September, testified on Wednesday (May 9) during a congressional hearing.
Gregory Hicks, Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya at the time of the attack, recounted the timeline of events the evening and early morning hours of September 11, 2012."At about 3:00 am I received a call from the Prime Minister of Libya. I think its the saddest phone call I've ever had in my life. He told me that Ambassador Stevens had passed away. I immediately telephoned Washington that news," Hicks recalled during the hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight & Government Reform.
Four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens were killed on September 11, 2012, in the attack on a lightly defended U.S. diplomatic mission and a more fortified CIA compound in the eastern Libyan city.
Hicks during an animated exchange with South Carolina Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy said U.S Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice's description of the embassy attacks being attributable to a reaction to a extremist video was troubling to him.
"I was stunned. My jaw dropped and I was embarrassed," Hicks told lawmakers.
The assault was a headache for Obama as he campaigned for re-election. Many Republicans continue to assail the Democratic president over security lapses, as well as the administration's early conflicting accounts of what happened in Benghazi.
Democrats acknowledged the attacks reflected security problems, but said they were part of a history of such violence as well as the instability since the Arab Spring of popular revolutions began in 2011.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday's hearings were an attempt by Republicans to politicize the tragedy.
"This is a subject that has, from its beginning, been subject to attempts to politicize it by Republicans, when in fact what happened in Benghazi was a tragedy, and the President has been committed from day one to two things: making sure that those who are responsible for the deaths of four Americans are found and brought to justice; and that we do everything that we need to do to ensure that this kind of attack cannot happen again," Carney said.
Congressional committees already have held a series of hearings into what happened in Benghazi. In January, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintondefended her handling of the attack before Senate and House committees and was angered at Republican accusations that the administration had misled the country over whether the attacks stemmed from a protest.
Democratic ranking member Elijah Cummings accused Republicans of playing politics.
"What we have seen over the past two weeks is a full scale media campaign that is not designed to investigate what happened in a responsible and bi-partisan way but rather launch unfounded accusations to smear public officials." Cummings said.
Representative Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the committee, denied the hearing was denied to discredit the Obama administration.
"I still hold out hope that one day you will stand with me, as this administration doesn't cooperate, when they ignore our inquiries and when that day comes, together, we will be far more effective," he said.