The final report on Benghazi by a House Republican committee blames politically motivated bureaucratic delays for failing to prevent or stop the deadly attacks that claimed four American lives including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
There are no bombshells in the $7 million, 800 page report, but it hammers the Obama administration for not recognizing how endangered U.S. outposts in Libya were at the time of the 2012 attacks and not doing more to protect them. It does not lay specific blame on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Democrats on the House committee issued their own report and challenged the conclusions of the Republican majority.
Clinton, who was Secretary of State when the attack happened on Sept. 11, 2012, was planning to visit Libya later that year, which pressured diplomats to stay at the poorly guarded, temporary outpost despite deteriorating security in the region, according to the report.
The report also sheds new light on previous conclusions that the military was unable to respond quickly enough to perform a rescue. The Republicans found that “despite President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s clear orders to deploy military assets, nothing was sent to Benghazi, and nothing was en route to Libya at the time the last two Americans were killed almost 8 hours after the attacks began.”
Amb. Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods.
The report blasts the CIA for misreading how dangerous Libya, in the midst of a revolution after overthrowing its longtime dictator a year earlier, was at the time.
It also criticizes the Defense Department for failing to rescue Americans in time due to a breakdown in the chain of command, including a debate among U.S. Marines about whether they should wear their military uniforms or civilian attire.
A two-hour teleconference a few hours after the attacks began, according to the report, was a turning point in the U.S. response. Republicans say actions taken after that meeting, in which Clinton participated, only delayed the deployment of military forces. Communications afterward referenced the need to get clearance from various countries to deploy military resources for a rescue.
Republicans made several recommendations in the report, including:
- No diplomatic facility should remain in temporary status for more than 180 days without the express approval of the secretary of state.
- The State Department should dedicate a funding source for immediate security upgrades for posts in high threat areas.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest slammed the GOP report, calling it “a $7 million effort, funded by taxpayers, to do what the would-be speaker of the House said was their goal, which was to tear down Secretary Clinton’s poll numbers.”
Clinton responded that she would “leave it to others to characterize this report but I think it is pretty clear it is time to move on.”