Another Report on Benghazi Attack Finds State Department at Fault

Another Report on Benghazi Attack Finds State Department at Fault
By Leah Barkoukis
12/31/2012

It’s the second report to come out about the Benghazi terrorist attack that left four Americans dead and not surprisingly, the second report to be highly critical of the State Department. The Senate homeland security committee’s bipartisan report, ‘Flashing Red,’ obtained by Fox News, outlines 10 key findings about the attack.

A scathing Senate committee report on the Benghazi terrorist attack faults the State Department for failing to adequately respond to mounting security threats in the lead-up to the assault. The report says the facility was woefully under-protected at a time when the region, according to a top department official, was "flashing red" -- yet security was not improved, and nobody recommended the compound be shut down. […]

The Senate report noted the "large amount of evidence" in the months preceding the attack that Benghazi was "increasingly dangerous and unstable," with an attack on Americans becoming "much more likely."

"While this intelligence was effectively shared within the Intelligence Community (IC) and with key officials at the Department of State, it did not lead to a commensurate increase in security at Benghazi nor to a decision to close the American mission there, either of which would have been more than justified by the intelligence presented," the report said.

The report said it was "widely understood" that the Libyan government could not adequately protect U.S. personnel, yet the State Department did not move to fill the "security gap." The Senate committee said "no security standards" applied to the Benghazi post -- there were "few meaningful physical barriers," according to the report.

Despite the increasing threat in the region and the apparent vulnerability of the compound, the Senate committee said it appears nobody recommended closing the facility or even temporarily shutting it down. "That was a grievous mistake," Lieberman said.

The investigation turned up details that show "a shocking irresponsibility to protect American diplomatic personnel in Benghazi," Lieberman added.

And what did Obama have to say about accountability in the Benghazi attack? In an interview with NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday he said, “there was just some sloppiness, not intentional, in terms of how we secure embassies in areas where you essentially don’t have government that have a lot of capacity to protect those embassies.”
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To read more about Benghazi-gate, click here.
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To read another article by Leah Barkoukis, click here.