E-Paper
Benghazi report could fuel fresh anti-Clinton attacks
A US congressional panel investigating the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi has found no new evidence of wrongdoing by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, but was extremely critical of agencies of the Obama administration, which is likely to fuel fresh attacks on the presumptive Democratic nominee.
A US congressional panel investigating the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi has found no new evidence of wrongdoing by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton, but was extremely critical of agencies of the Obama administration, which is likely to fuel fresh attacks on the presumptive Democratic nominee.
In an 800-page report released on Tuesday, the Republican-led committee, which has battled allegations of bias since it was instituted two year ago, faulted the Obama administration for failing to anticipate growing security risks, despite an abundance of signs and indications, and to prepare for them.
“It is not clear what additional intelligence would have satisfied either Kennedy (senior state department official Patrick Kennedy) or the secretary in understanding the Benghazi Mission compound was at risk—short of an attack,” the report said.
“The intelligence on which Kennedy and the secretary were briefed daily was clear and pointed—Al Qa’ida, al Qa’ida-like groups, and other regional extremists took refuge in the security vacuum created by the Libya government.”
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stephens, information officer Sean Smith and two CIA operatives Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former SEALs, died in the attack on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.
The attacks, which quickly assumed political dimensions coming close to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, have been investigated multiple times before, including by a independent committee appointed by Clinton, as secretary of state.
Among the central achievements of the committee, which has been under fire on suspicion of carrying out a hit job on Clinton, was the discovery of her private email server that she used even for official work. This issue continues to dog her campaign.
Clinton has since said she was wrong in using a private server, and has handed over all emails pertaining to official work to the state department, which continues to release them in a phased fashion.
