Page 2 - Visiting Benghazi News Today

He went to a luncheon with leading civic leaders, business leaders in benghazi. so he felt very comfortable. it was his decision. ambassadors do not have to seek permission from the state department to travel around the country that they are assigned to. he decided to go to benghazi. by taking two security officers with him and having three there, he had the requisite five that had been the subject of discussion between the embassy and the state department security professionals. im not going to...

We had no other sources. you know, there was no american outpost. there was no, you know, american military presence. eventually other americans representing different agencies were able to get into benghazi and begin to do the same work, but they, of course, couldnt do that work overtly, which is why we wanted a diplomat who could be publicly meeting with people to try to get the best assessment. but it was always going to be a constant risk. and we knew that. >> and so let me go back to the ri...

Benghazi, and that the day that he died, he had five security officers. a lot of security professionals who have reviewed this matter, even those who are critical, that the state department did not do enough have said that the kind of attack that took place would have been very difficult to repel. thats what we have to learn from, congresswoman. you know, there are many -- there are many lessons going back to beirut, going back to tehran and the takeover of our embassy and going all the way thro...

Could or should be. >> i want to drill down on the security issue, but i also want to say its frustrating for us here on this panel asking these questions to hear you in your opening statement talk about the responsibility you took for all 70-plus thousand employees, but yet i read you an e-mail that is a conversation between two of those employees, and it seems as though youre just kind of brushing it off as not having any knowledge. >> no im just saying i have no recollection of it, and it doe...

Secretarys staff. but i get what youre saying, congresswoman, and i want to focus on this because i think its a fair and important question. the facility in benghazi was a temporary facility. there had been no decision made as to whether or not it would be permanent. it was not even a consulate. you know, our embassy was in tripoli. obviously, much of the work that we were doing was going through the embassy. there was a -- there was a very vigorous discussion on the part of people who were resp...

And look, i didnt think this committee should have been formed in the first place. but if it was going to be formed, the least we could do would be to actually focus on the four brave americans who were killed, why they were killed, and focus on benghazi. and we have not. i mean, mr. raskoms question, he wanted to debate why we got into benghazi in the first place. thats debatable, and i think you will argue that quite well, but thats not about the attack on benghazi. thats not about what we cou...

This pile represents the e-mails that you sent or received about libya in 2011, from february through december of 2011. this pile represents the e-mails you sent or received from early 2012 until the day of the attack. theres 795 e-mails in this pile. weve counted them. there are 67 e-mails in this pile in 2012. and im troubled by what i see here. and so my questions relate to these piles. in this pile in 2011, i see daily updates, sometimes hourly updates from your staff about benghazi and chri...

So just to refresh that recollection, i believe initially the goal was to go in for 30 days. were you personally briefed on his security plan prior to him going into libya? because at that time, if im not mistaken, im sorry to interrupt, gadhafis forces were still battling the rebels, correct? >> thats right. >> and so what were -- were you personally briefed before you sent mr. stevens into benghazi? >> i was personally told by the officials who were in the state department who were immediately...

That matter benghazi belonged to you in 2011, it was yours, so to speak. and there your own records that we have, we saw a drop in your interest in libya and benghazi in 2012. not only do the records show your drop in interest in benghazi, it was even noticed by your own staff. i want to point this out -- say this because i want to point you to an e-mail in early february 2012 between two staffers at your libya desk that says you didnt know whether we still even had a presence in benghazi. lets ...

And their top security experts from the defense department to get a better idea of the 19 high-threat posts. and thats exactly what we did. and it gave us some guidance to try to have better planning ahead of time. i know admiral mullen testified that it would be beyond the scope of our military to be able to provide immediate reaction to 270 posts. but thats why we tried to narrow down. and, of course, we do get help from our military in war zones. the militarys been incredibly supportive of ou...