HILLARY!: "What difference does it make?"...

[whitehall]

Marco Rubio..

A lightweight, Cuban American, Floridian. People from back east know exactly what I'm talking about here.

Whooo, a racist little comment by the left about a non-white senator.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

Unclassified: by Hillary Clinton

FINDINGS
In examining the circumstances of these attacks, the Accountability Review Board for Benghazi determined that:

1. The attacks were security related, involving arson, small arms and machine gun fire, and the use of RPGs, grenades, and mortars against U.S. personnel at two separate facilities – the SMC and the Annex – and en route between them. Responsibility for the tragic loss of life, injuries, and damage to U.S. facilities and property rests solely and completely with the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks. The Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks, which were unanticipated in their scale and intensity.

2. Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department (the “Department”) resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.

Security in Benghazi was not recognized and implemented as a “shared responsibility” by the bureaus in Washington charged with supporting the post, resulting in stove-piped discussions and decisions on policy and security. That said, Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi.

The short-term, transitory nature of Special Mission Benghazi’s staffing, with talented and committed, but relatively inexperienced, American personnel often on temporary assignments of 40 days or less, resulted in diminished institutional knowledge, continuity, and mission capacity.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Marco Rubio..

A lightweight, Cuban American, Floridian. People from back east know exactly what I'm talking about here.

Whooo, a racist little comment by the left about a non-white senator.

Rubio is white and you're truly dimwitted if you think Rubio is NOT white.

Miami's population: Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and Black. -- what do you think that means? Where does Rubio fit? Hispanic White?

 

[Bigfoot]

John McCain just said that the White House is refusing to give the committee e-mails that have been requested that likely show that Obama/Clinton/Rice intentionally sent Rice out with fake information.

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in Benghazi when armed terrorists raided a U.S. compound in Libya. The attack was originally blamed on a protest sparked by an anti-Muslim YouTube video. However, an Accountability Review Board found that version to be completely false. The board’s report blamed the attack on terrorists alone and found there was not demonstration outside the U.S. Mission prior to the attack.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

In other news John McCain has been known to go off the reservation during committee hearings.

 

[whitehall]

The point is, at Hillary's level of government you simply don't get to say "I didn't get the memo". You don't get to say "I take responsibility" and then dodge responsibility. Hillary had no experience in foreign policy unless one of her "bimbo eruption squad" targets was a foreign national. Her job was a payoff from the Hussein administration to keep big mouth Bubba on the team and she was an abject failure at the job. You could even go as far as saying she was a criminal failure. It would be refreshing if the democrat side of the committee would try to get to the truth instead of throwing softballs at the problem.

 

[Bigfoot]

..and the Clinton's are both well known for being bald faced liars.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

Unclassified: by Hillary Clinton

FINDINGS
In examining the circumstances of these attacks, the Accountability Review Board for Benghazi determined that:

1. The attacks were security related, involving arson, small arms and machine gun fire, and the use of RPGs, grenades, and mortars against U.S. personnel at two separate facilities – the SMC and the Annex – and en route between them. Responsibility for the tragic loss of life, injuries, and damage to U.S. facilities and property rests solely and completely with the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks. The Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks, which were unanticipated in their scale and intensity.

2. Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department (the “Department&#8221 resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.

Security in Benghazi was not recognized and implemented as a “shared responsibility” by the bureaus in Washington charged with supporting the post, resulting in stove-piped discussions and decisions on policy and security. That said, Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi.

The short-term, transitory nature of Special Mission Benghazi’s staffing, with talented and committed, but relatively inexperienced, American personnel often on temporary assignments of 40 days or less, resulted in diminished institutional knowledge, continuity, and mission capacity.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

The Board found that Ambassador Stevens made the decision to travel to Benghazi independently of Washington, per standard practice. Timing for his trip was driven in part by commitments in Tripoli, as well as a staffing gap between principal officers in Benghazi.

Plans for the Ambassador’s trip provided for minimal close protection security support and were not shared thoroughly with the Embassy’s country team, who were not fully aware of planned movements off compound.

The Ambassador did not see a direct threat of an attack of this nature and scale on the U.S. Mission in the overall negative trendline of security incidents from spring to summer 2012.

His status as the leading U.S. government advocate on Libya policy, and his expertise on Benghazi in particular, caused Washington to give unusual deference to his judgments.
Communication, cooperation, and coordination among Washington, Tripoli, and Benghazi functioned collegially at the working-level but were constrained by a lack of transparency, responsiveness, and leadership at the senior levels.

Among various Department bureaus and personnel in the field, there appeared to be very real confusion over who, ultimately, was responsible and empowered to make decisions based on both policy and security considerations.

3. Notwithstanding the proper implementation of security systems and procedures and remarkable heroism shown by American personnel, those systems and the Libyan response fell short in the face of a series of attacks that began with the sudden penetration of the Special Mission compound by dozens of armed attackers.
The Board found the responses by both the BML guards and February 17 to be inadequate. The Board’s inquiry found little evidence that the armed February 17 guards offered any meaningful defense of the SMC, or succeeded in summoning a February 17 militia presence to assist expeditiously.

The Board found the Libyan government’s response to be profoundly lacking on the night of the attacks, reflecting both weak capacity and near absence of central government influence and control in Benghazi. The Libyan government did facilitate assistance from a quasi-governmental militia that supported the evacuation of U.S. government personnel to Benghazi airport. The Libyan government also provided a military C-130 aircraft which was used to evacuate remaining U.S. personnel and the bodies of the deceased from Benghazi to Tripoli on September 12.

The Board determined that U.S. personnel on the ground in Benghazi performed with courage and readiness to risk their lives to protect their colleagues, in a near impossible situation. The Board members believe every possible effort was made to rescue and recover Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith.

The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference.

4. The Board found that intelligence provided no immediate, specific tactical warning of the September 11 attacks. Known gaps existed in the intelligence community’s understanding of extremist militias in Libya and the potential threat they posed to U.S. interests, although some threats were known to exist.

5. The Board found that certain senior State Department officials within two bureaus demonstrated a lack of proactive leadership and management ability in their responses to security concerns posed by Special Mission Benghazi, given the deteriorating threat environment and the lack of reliable host government protection. However, the Board did not find reasonable cause to determine that any individual U.S. government employee breached his or her duty.

The ARB is not Clinton speaking and she is the one who decided it would be declassiffied. She could have kept it classified as is the norm in investigations like this

just the facts ma'am :

 

[Crackerjaxon]

Why is everyone ignoring the fact that Obammy &Co blantantly misled the public about the attack on Benghazi for political reasons? Obammy didn't want to deal with a terrorist attack in the heat of the presidential race, so they manufactured a cover story about an objectionable video and a non-existent demonstration.

The republicans are too chickenshit to confront Obammy or the Bitch of Benghazi on it.

 

[Lakhota]

GOP Rep: I 'Absolutely' Voted To Cut Funding For Embassy Security | ThinkProgress

Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: 'You Have To Prioritize Things'

Libya attack: Congressmen casting blame voted to cut diplomatic security budget - CSMonitor.com

GOP, Paul Ryan cut half a billion dollars from embassy security

Hillary Clinton: Budget Cuts Undermine Diplomatic Security

 

[Bigfoot]

LOL, funding wasn't the issue. That's another deflection. The office was currently funded at the time and I would bet that you already know that.

 

[Bigfoot]

News has reported that a series of email alerts received late Tuesday evening provides additional information that was known by Obama administration officials shortly after the attack commenced. The messages were also independently obtained by ABC News. Although names of individual recipients were redacted, the source who requested anonymity said it appears they were sent to the State Department Operations Center to distribution lists and email accounts of top security officials at the State Department, Pentagon, the FBI, the White House Situation Room and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

But I never got the cables...

The first alert with a subject line “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack” which arrived from Tripoli just 25 minutes after the attack began describes an assault on the compound by 20 armed people firing shots, with explosions heard as well.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/10/24/breaking-news-white-house-watched-benghazi-attacked-and-didnt-respond/

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

Unclassified: by Hillary Clinton

FINDINGS
In examining the circumstances of these attacks, the Accountability Review Board for Benghazi determined that:

1. The attacks were security related, involving arson, small arms and machine gun fire, and the use of RPGs, grenades, and mortars against U.S. personnel at two separate facilities – the SMC and the Annex – and en route between them. Responsibility for the tragic loss of life, injuries, and damage to U.S. facilities and property rests solely and completely with the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks. The Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks, which were unanticipated in their scale and intensity.

2. Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department (the “Department”) resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.

Security in Benghazi was not recognized and implemented as a “shared responsibility” by the bureaus in Washington charged with supporting the post, resulting in stove-piped discussions and decisions on policy and security. That said, Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi.

The short-term, transitory nature of Special Mission Benghazi’s staffing, with talented and committed, but relatively inexperienced, American personnel often on temporary assignments of 40 days or less, resulted in diminished institutional knowledge, continuity, and mission capacity.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

The Board found that Ambassador Stevens made the decision to travel to Benghazi independently of Washington, per standard practice. Timing for his trip was driven in part by commitments in Tripoli, as well as a staffing gap between principal officers in Benghazi.

Plans for the Ambassador’s trip provided for minimal close protection security support and were not shared thoroughly with the Embassy’s country team, who were not fully aware of planned movements off compound.

The Ambassador did not see a direct threat of an attack of this nature and scale on the U.S. Mission in the overall negative trendline of security incidents from spring to summer 2012.

His status as the leading U.S. government advocate on Libya policy, and his expertise on Benghazi in particular, caused Washington to give unusual deference to his judgments.
Communication, cooperation, and coordination among Washington, Tripoli, and Benghazi functioned collegially at the working-level but were constrained by a lack of transparency, responsiveness, and leadership at the senior levels.

Among various Department bureaus and personnel in the field, there appeared to be very real confusion over who, ultimately, was responsible and empowered to make decisions based on both policy and security considerations.

3. Notwithstanding the proper implementation of security systems and procedures and remarkable heroism shown by American personnel, those systems and the Libyan response fell short in the face of a series of attacks that began with the sudden penetration of the Special Mission compound by dozens of armed attackers.
The Board found the responses by both the BML guards and February 17 to be inadequate. The Board’s inquiry found little evidence that the armed February 17 guards offered any meaningful defense of the SMC, or succeeded in summoning a February 17 militia presence to assist expeditiously.

The Board found the Libyan government’s response to be profoundly lacking on the night of the attacks, reflecting both weak capacity and near absence of central government influence and control in Benghazi. The Libyan government did facilitate assistance from a quasi-governmental militia that supported the evacuation of U.S. government personnel to Benghazi airport. The Libyan government also provided a military C-130 aircraft which was used to evacuate remaining U.S. personnel and the bodies of the deceased from Benghazi to Tripoli on September 12.

The Board determined that U.S. personnel on the ground in Benghazi performed with courage and readiness to risk their lives to protect their colleagues, in a near impossible situation. The Board members believe every possible effort was made to rescue and recover Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith.

The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference.

4. The Board found that intelligence provided no immediate, specific tactical warning of the September 11 attacks. Known gaps existed in the intelligence community’s understanding of extremist militias in Libya and the potential threat they posed to U.S. interests, although some threats were known to exist.

5. The Board found that certain senior State Department officials within two bureaus demonstrated a lack of proactive leadership and management ability in their responses to security concerns posed by Special Mission Benghazi, given the deteriorating threat environment and the lack of reliable host government protection. However, the Board did not find reasonable cause to determine that any individual U.S. government employee breached his or her duty.

The ARB is not Clinton speaking and she is the one who decided it would be declassiffied. She could have kept it classified as is the norm in investigations like this

just the facts ma'am :

"At no time did I have a live feed of the attack."

Republican Rep McCaul of Texas was spanked and corrected... http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/202446.pdf

Security Cables never went above Assistant Secretary level where the ARB (report) placed responsibility 'where the rubber hits the road'

No one in 'Secretary's Office' saw cable about security issues

"With regard to the security requests subsequent to the August 16 cable, our personnel in Libya had not submitted any additional security requests to Washington at the time of the Sept 11 attack"

FACT: August 16th cable stated security requests for Ben Ghazzi will be forthcoming ... the RSO in Ben Ghazzi submitted to Tripoli a preliminary list of proposed security recommendations on August 23rd BUT NO REQUESTS WERE SUBMITTED TO WASHINGTON BEFORE THE ATTACKS

--

[youtube]DUKpRlfAf8s[/youtube]..

"At no time did I have a live feed of the attack."

---

Put it all together

"What difference, at this point, does it make?" What was Secretary Clinton referring to?

“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. If it was because of a protest or if it was because guys out for a walk decided to go kill some Americans. What difference at this point does it make?

“It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. Now, honestly, I will do my best to answer my questions about this but the fact is that people were trying in real time to get the best information … but you know, to be clear, it is from my perspective, less important today looking backward as to why these militants decided to do it, as to find them and bring them to justice, and then maybe we’ll figure out what was going on in the meantime.”

 

[whitehall]

Put two and two together. The Obama administration authorized the US Military to assist the Muslem brotherhood in overthrowing the Libyan regime. Obama didn't want to offend his new friends by beefing up security but like a typical community activist he misjudged the situation. With the cooperation of the liberal media, his slick team managed to keep a story about an obscure you-tube video flying long enough for the crisis to die down but he misjudged that also. Now we have Libyan muslem brotherhood selling weapons to Al-Queda in Algeria to capture US citizens and the mainstream media sits there with their thumbs up their collective asses while Hillary rants before a congressional hearing. To make a bad story worse the administration authorized sending American fighter jets and tanks to the muslem brotherhood in Egypt which celebrated the 9-11 disaster.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Put two and two together. The Obama administration authorized the US Military to assist the Muslem brotherhood...

patently untrue

 

[Zoom]

Damn I hope she runs.in 2016.

 

[Charles_Main]

Marco Rubio..

A lightweight, Cuban American, Floridian. People from back east know exactly what I'm talking about here.

Whooo, a racist little comment by the left about a non-white senator.

The dirty little secret is Hispanics do not like Cubans. As a sub Group they are looked down on by many other Hispanics.

 

[Charles_Main]

Put two and two together. The Obama administration authorized the US Military to assist the Muslem brotherhood...

patently untrue

How can you declare it untrue or not? we never get a straight answer from this Admin.

 

[Freewill]

WTF was Hillary saying? She didn't get the memo or read the cables? It's the lameist excuse ever. In the convoluted world or liberal politics "taking responsibility" means not taking responsibility. They had enough money to build electric charging stations in other Embassies but they couldn't defend the one in Libya. The families of the Ambassador and the other three people killed including the two former Navy Seals should be outraged at the cowardly democrat senators for not wanting to get to the bottom of the incident. Hillary said she didn't care about the administration blaming a you tube video. It's obvious she didn't care about her job either.

The victims families of Hillary's incompetence should sue the government for wrongful death. It would then get all the facts out, it did at Ruby Ridge. Waco, not so much the FBI was to involved.

 

[tinydancer]

Come on guys; she's been busy for crying out loud.

From CBS: