Panel questions motives in Benghazi security moves
The Obama
administration rejected requests for more security in Benghazi amid growing
signs of terror threats because it wanted to portray Libya as a calm country and
foreign policy success, according to leaders of the House Oversight
Committee.
The administration "made a policy decision to put Libya into a 'normalized' country status as quickly as possible," starting in November, stated a letter to President Obama from Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Jason Chaffetz.
The apparent aim of this policy was to convey the impression that the situation in Libya "was getting better and not worse," states the letter released Friday.
That policy was why State withdrew security personnel and resources from Benghazi, including a DC-3 aircraft, the letter says, citing an email from Miki Rankin, a State Department post management officer for Libya and Saudi Arabia.
The policy of "normalization" was described to committee members by Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary of state for international programs. And late last year, a State Department diplomat issued an "action memo" on why the Benghazi consulate should remain in place.
Then-Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman wrote Dec. 27 that the U.S. presence in Benghazi was having "a salutary and calming effect" on people in Eastern Libya.
The normalization policy was being pursued at a time when al-Qaeda affiliated militias were becoming increasingly active in and around Benghazi, according to Issa and Chaffetz.
The committee members said the normalization policy trumped security concerns expressed by professional security officials working for State.
"Based on an artificial timetable they pressed to 'normalize.' They didn't want a perception of too much American strength," Eric Nordstrom, who headed U.S. diplomatic security in Libya until June, said in an Oct. 1 email to the committee, according to Chaffetz.
The White House and State Department declined to respond to questions about who developed the policy and who approved of it. The State Department declined to comment on the matter until an independent board completes its review of the attack, said deputy spokesman Mark Toner.
Their 10-page letter to Obama was accompanied by 166 pages documenting security threats. The documents include numerous descriptions of attacks, rallies and statements by extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda who were operating near the Benghazi consulate.
Photographs show damage from the June bombing of the consulate and the villa compound with a pile of sandbags blocking part of the road.
On Aug. 2, embassy security officials asked for more bodyguards, saying "the security situation in Libya remains unpredictable, volatile and violent." The Libyan interior minister put the country on high alert Sept 1, but the U.S. officials failed to respond, Chaffetz said.A report from June 25 describes increasing attacks against international organizations and an al-Qaeda affiliated group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. consulate, describing it as "targeting the Christians supervising the management of the consulate."
"The intelligence community got it right but the Obama administration didn't like their analysis," Chaffetz said. "They certainly didn't listen to it."
Lamb rejected a plan by two State Department security officials to continue the military's presence in Libya, according to security team commander Lt. Col. Andrew Wood and Nordstrom.
Chaffetz says that as part of a policy to make Libya appear calm the Obama administration preferred that the consulate use local Libyans for security rather than Americans who'd been trained by the U.S. military.
"Most administration officials since the attack, after the murder of our four Americans, were saying the intelligence wasn't adequate," Chaffetz says. "Well this is all unclassified material and makes a pretty good case people on the ground were seeing the terrorist activity and afraid of what was happening on the ground and were communicating those fears to Washington."
The letter asks the White House to respond to questions about its role in the decision to pursue such a policy in Libya.
The congressmen wrote that information provided by senior administration officials shows that the administration rejected multiple requests for increased security, and as violence escalated "systemati
cally decreased existing security" to dangerous and ineffective levels.
"Our security people were asking for more personnel," Chaffetz told USA TODAY. "Not only was that denied, but they reduced our personnel. They asked for reinforcements, it didn't happen, which made it easier to breach our facility."
"We have been told repeatedly that the administration did this to effectuate a policy of 'normalization' in Libya after the conclusion of its civil war," it says. "These actions not only resulted in extreme vulnerability, but also undermined Ambassador Stevens and the diplomatic mission."
The administrations decided "to accelerate a normalized presence in Libya at what now appears to be at the cost of endangering American lives."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/19/benghazi-security-vacuum-ignored-before-attack/1644925/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
The administration "made a policy decision to put Libya into a 'normalized' country status as quickly as possible," starting in November, stated a letter to President Obama from Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Jason Chaffetz.
The apparent aim of this policy was to convey the impression that the situation in Libya "was getting better and not worse," states the letter released Friday.
That policy was why State withdrew security personnel and resources from Benghazi, including a DC-3 aircraft, the letter says, citing an email from Miki Rankin, a State Department post management officer for Libya and Saudi Arabia.
The policy of "normalization" was described to committee members by Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary of state for international programs. And late last year, a State Department diplomat issued an "action memo" on why the Benghazi consulate should remain in place.
Then-Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman wrote Dec. 27 that the U.S. presence in Benghazi was having "a salutary and calming effect" on people in Eastern Libya.
The normalization policy was being pursued at a time when al-Qaeda affiliated militias were becoming increasingly active in and around Benghazi, according to Issa and Chaffetz.
The committee members said the normalization policy trumped security concerns expressed by professional security officials working for State.
"Based on an artificial timetable they pressed to 'normalize.' They didn't want a perception of too much American strength," Eric Nordstrom, who headed U.S. diplomatic security in Libya until June, said in an Oct. 1 email to the committee, according to Chaffetz.
The White House and State Department declined to respond to questions about who developed the policy and who approved of it. The State Department declined to comment on the matter until an independent board completes its review of the attack, said deputy spokesman Mark Toner.
Their 10-page letter to Obama was accompanied by 166 pages documenting security threats. The documents include numerous descriptions of attacks, rallies and statements by extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda who were operating near the Benghazi consulate.
Photographs show damage from the June bombing of the consulate and the villa compound with a pile of sandbags blocking part of the road.
On Aug. 2, embassy security officials asked for more bodyguards, saying "the security situation in Libya remains unpredictable, volatile and violent." The Libyan interior minister put the country on high alert Sept 1, but the U.S. officials failed to respond, Chaffetz said.A report from June 25 describes increasing attacks against international organizations and an al-Qaeda affiliated group that claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. consulate, describing it as "targeting the Christians supervising the management of the consulate."
"The intelligence community got it right but the Obama administration didn't like their analysis," Chaffetz said. "They certainly didn't listen to it."
Lamb rejected a plan by two State Department security officials to continue the military's presence in Libya, according to security team commander Lt. Col. Andrew Wood and Nordstrom.
Chaffetz says that as part of a policy to make Libya appear calm the Obama administration preferred that the consulate use local Libyans for security rather than Americans who'd been trained by the U.S. military.
"Most administration officials since the attack, after the murder of our four Americans, were saying the intelligence wasn't adequate," Chaffetz says. "Well this is all unclassified material and makes a pretty good case people on the ground were seeing the terrorist activity and afraid of what was happening on the ground and were communicating those fears to Washington."
The letter asks the White House to respond to questions about its role in the decision to pursue such a policy in Libya.
The congressmen wrote that information provided by senior administration officials shows that the administration rejected multiple requests for increased security, and as violence escalated "systemati
cally decreased existing security" to dangerous and ineffective levels.
"Our security people were asking for more personnel," Chaffetz told USA TODAY. "Not only was that denied, but they reduced our personnel. They asked for reinforcements, it didn't happen, which made it easier to breach our facility."
"We have been told repeatedly that the administration did this to effectuate a policy of 'normalization' in Libya after the conclusion of its civil war," it says. "These actions not only resulted in extreme vulnerability, but also undermined Ambassador Stevens and the diplomatic mission."
The administrations decided "to accelerate a normalized presence in Libya at what now appears to be at the cost of endangering American lives."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/19/benghazi-security-vacuum-ignored-before-attack/1644925/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
