State Department Bails Out on Internet Video Excuse
posted on
Oct 11, 2012 11:26AM
What is happening with Barack Obama's administration? After the brutal attacks in Benghazi, Libya, everyone from Obama on down had the same story about why four Americans were killed. No, it was not a terrorist attack. It was simply a spontaneous uprising due to an anti-muslim video. That's what we were told, again and again. Then, we learned that it was a terrorist attack, and that everyone in the Obama administration knew it was. Now, the State Department is breaking away from Obama, saying that State Department officials never thought the cause was the video. What's going on?
Fox News is reporting that the State Department has stepped back (or JUMPED) from earlier statements regarding the events in Libya.
The State Department denied Tuesday it ever concluded that the deadly consulate attack Sept. 11 in Libya was an unplanned outburst prompted by an anti-Islam movie, despite public statements early on by some in the Obama administration suggesting that was the case.
The Obama administration used the film explanation for more than a week after assailants killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans. Most notably, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said in several TV interviews five days after the attack that it appeared to be "spontaneous" violence spinning out of protests of the film.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland backed up Rice's statements in a press briefing a day later: "I would simply say that ... the comments that Ambassador Rice made accurately reflect our government's initial assessment."
Here's a story from Tuesday on Fox, before Wednesday's hearing.
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.comIn Wednesday's testimony, Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, who was the head of military security team in Libya, said the consulate in Benghazi "never had the forces it needed to protect itself." The Denver Post reports that according to Wood's testimony, "U.S. security was so weak that in April, only one U.S. diplomatic security agent was stationed in Benghazi."
Security was pathetic. Is that possibly why Obama and other officials pushed the Internet video excuse for over a weak? After all, if security was so bad, and requests for additional security were denied, and the attacks were actually acts of terror, then that would suggest that Barack Obama and his team are not only incompetent but also derelict in their duty.
ForeignPolicy.com reports that the State Department now acknowledges that prior to the Benghazi attacks there "was no protest outside the compound." Hmmmm... it's hard to have a spontaneous uprising if there is no uprising, eh?
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, two senior State Department officials gave a detailed accounting of the events that lead to the death of Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The officials said that prior to the massive attack on the Benghazi compound by dozens of militants carrying heavy weaponry, there was no unrest outside the walls of the compound and no protest that anyone inside the compound was aware of.
In fact, Stevens hosted a series of meetings on the compound throughout the day, ending with a meeting with a Turkish diplomat that began at 7:30 in the evening, and all was quiet in the area.
"The ambassador walked guests out at 8:30 or so; there was nobody on the street. Then at 9:40 they saw on the security cameras that there were armed men invading the compound," a senior State Department official said. "Everything is calm at 8:30 pm, there is nothing unusual. There had been nothing unusual during the day outside."
The State Department denied requests for additional security, and Americans died. What is Barack Obama doing? As The Weekly Standard reports, Obama stated at a fundraiser this week that "al Qaeda is on its heels." Is he serious? How about if he tells that to U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Oh that's right... he can't!
The Obama administration completely dropped the ball. Then, there was a massive effort from Obama on down to mislead the American people as to the cause. An Internet video? No. Yet that's what they said, even when they knew that story was a lie.
So why is the State Department stepping back from the story now?