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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 2:20p.m. ET: In a hearing marked by sometimes sharp and pointed exchanges, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee she took responsibility for not adequately protecting U.S. personnel in the Sept. 11 attack on a diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the killing of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
While being grilled by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a fired-up Hillary Clinton defends her department's handling of the flow of information concerning the cause of the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11th, 2012, maintaining accusations of misleading Americans could not "be further from the truth."
Defending the administration’s immediate handling of the attack, Clinton clashed at times with Republicans over the account the administration gave in the initial days after Sept. 11.
Clinton said the Obama administration did not try to mislead the American people about the cause of the attacks. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said as she sparred with Sen. Ron Johnson, R- Wisc.
She angrily told Johnson that at this stage it did not really matter what the precise origins or motives of the attack were: “What difference at this point does it make?”
She told Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican, “we did not have a clear picture” of all that was going on in Benghazi although she did acknowledge that senators had “legitimate questions” about the administration’s account.
Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., -- after telling Clinton “we are proud of you” and that all over the world “you are viewed with admiration and respect” -- delivered a blistering criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the events in Libya.
“There are many questions that are unanswered and the answers you’ve given this morning are frankly not satisfactory to me,” McCain told Clinton. He added “the American people and the families of these four brave Americans still haven’t gotten the answers they deserve.”
He asked Clinton whether she was aware of numerous warnings from Stevens and other Americans in Libya that the facility in Benghazi was not capable of resisting a sustained assault. He also said there had been other warning signs such as an attack on the British ambassador to Libya.
He angrily asked Clinton why Defense Department forces were not nearby to defend the Benghazi facility.
Last month a report issued by the Accountability Review Board (ARB) appointed by Clinton, blamed State Department officials for “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies” that led to protection for the Benghazi facility that was “grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.”
In her response to McCain, Clinton said, as she did to other senators on the panel, that some additional information on the causes and circumstances of the attack is in the classified portions of the report issued by the ARB. Senators and Senate staff can read the classified portions of the ARB report, but the public cannot.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., grills Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the administration's handling of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi and the events that followed.
And she blamed members of Congress for holding up additional aid to Libya that might make the country more secure and less chaotic.
Clinton was testifying Wednesday afternoon on Benghazi before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In his questioning of Clinton Wednesday morning, Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., told her, “I’m glad that you’re accepting responsibility. I think that ultimately with your leaving, you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9/11, and I really mean that. Had I been president at the time and I found that you did not read the cables from Benghazi, you did not read the cables from Ambassador Stevens, I would have relieved you of your post.”
He added, “It’s a failure of leadership” which cost the Americans in Benghazi their lives. “I think it’s good that you’re accepting responsibility-- because no one else is.”
Paul also argued that U.S. personnel ought to never have been sent to Benghazi “in a war zone” without a military guard. “You shouldn’t send them in with the same kind of embassy staff that you have in Paris,” he added.
While testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the murders of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Benghazi, Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got emotional as she recalled the flag-draped coffins at Andrews Air force Base in the days following the attack, stating her work is "not just a matter of policy; it's personal."
Clinton replied that all four State Department officials criticized in the ARB report for their roles on the Benghazi events had been removed from their jobs and placed on administrative leave. “The ARB (report) made very clear that the level of responsibility for the failures that they outlined was set at the assistant secretary level and below.”
The furor over the Benghazi attack helped derail one possible nominee to replace Clinton at the State Department, UN ambassador Susan Rice, whom Republicans assailed for using administration talking points that portrayed the incident as a spontaneous response to an inflammatory anti-Islamic video.
But Clinton told the committee that in the hours and days after the attack, “I was not focused on talking points” and “I wasn’t involved in the talking points process.”
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In her opening statement, Clinton told the committee, “As I have said many times since September 11, I take responsibility. Nobody is more committed to getting this right. I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger, and more secure.”
Clinton's voice choked with emotion as she recalled the return of “those flag-draped caskets” from the Americans killed in Benghazi and put her arms “around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters” of those killed.
Clinton also used her testimony to deliver a vigorous call for continued U.S. involvement in the North African nation of Mali where the Obama administration is aiding French efforts to defeat Islamic jihadist forces.
She told the committee that the United States cannot allow Mali to become a safe haven for the group Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), warning of the risk of AQIM attacks on the United States itself.
Clinton also said she could not confirm reports that some of the terrorists involved in last week’s Algeria hostage taking were also involved in the Benghazi attack but called it a "new thread" to follow.
She did say that there is no doubt that Algerian terrorists have weapons they obtained from depots in Libya that were opened up and “liberated” after the dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled, with U.S. and NATO help, in 2011.
Gary Cameron / Reuters, file
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks about the hostage situation in Algeria during a joint news conference with Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) after their meeting at the State Department in Washington Jan. 18, 2013.
Clinton said she had accepted the ARBs recommendations for improvements in security procedures and had asked her subordinates “to ensure that all 29 of them are implemented quickly and completely.” She said these changes are designed to “reduce the chances of another Benghazi happening again.”
On Thursday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold its confirmation hearing for Clinton’s successor, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who is the committee’s chairman and is likely to be confirmed without any opposition.
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democrat politicians that try to minimize bengazi and the administrations failed response before, during and after the deadly attach w/americans being told there were wpns of mass destruction was nothing but coordinated politics/propaganda.
I frankly don't understand what Republicans are trying to prove anymore. They are a machine to generate false outrage through the application of painfully obvious twisted perceptions of reality. It used to anger me, but now their antics barely rate an eye roll. It's the political equivalent of a soccer 'injury'.
the faux outrage is something the dems have locked up, maybe you missed the second and third presidential debate.
Just retire already and STOP wasting my tax money on this old dried up B%$#$... Go give Willie some attention I'm sure he'd be up for it, well then again if I have to look at that mug every morning I'd cheat too..
The best argument libs have for addressing this fiasco is that it's racism. Sorry, Obama and team marched out REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to address the American people and told a total fabrication of the truth. They they try to hide behind comments that it was unclear, or what does it matter now? If it was so unclear why were you stating spin as fact? It matters because whenever the government lies to the people there needs to be accountability. Sadly the lapdog press has no interest in anything other than printing Obama admin talking points so it's left up to hearings.
Where is the guy who did the Internet Video which "caused" the Benghazi incident?
Susan Rice - Demo-Rat said the "video" is what enraged "Obama's" Islamic brothers in Benghazi!
Obama and Clinton sent him to jail!
Many of the people calling for accountability of Benghazi are the same people that called for involvement in Libya and the removal of Moammar Gadhafi yet they are not accepting the responsibility of the failure to secure the depots that allowed many of the arms that were used in subsequent terrorist attacks by these terrorist organizations.
"She did say that there is no doubt that Algerian terrorists have weapons they got from depots in Libya that were opened up and “liberated” after the dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled, with U.S. and NATO help, in 2011."
If the people questioning the attack at Benghazi had done their job in the first place these terrorist may not have had the capacity to carry out this assault. They are equally responsible in not just this attack but in all terrorist actions that have used the weapons removed from Libya's unsecured depots.
Responsibility? What freaking responsibility is she taking? Wouldn't that mean there would be SOME sort of repercussion? There is no repercussion so there is no "responsibility" Man, NBC is a complete joke!
Hillary will be back in 2016 to run for President like nothing ever happened and the media will adore her until a minority woman (this time around) comes into the picture then the Democrats will spit her to the side like they did in 2008...LOL
To the Republicans on the Committee, stop the stupidity, pack you crap and go home if this is all that you have to offer our Nation. Get over losing the election, you could not buy it, we as Americans knew what was happening we chose to ignore you, get over it.
you sound like Obabma's broken record with the "get over losing the election". His favorite is "look what I've inherited".
Only people like you hang on that long to something. The Reps just don't like the direction this country is going in. They have nearly half the country that agrees with them so they are representing them, as they should. It's not about the election so pick the needle up.
Lady that's EXACTLY what Richard Nixon said! Don't question me, I'm the Prez!
What a joke, for a democrat to pretend they actually give a crap about a dead American is laughable.
NOW, if four criminal invaders from south of the border had been shot while smuggling drugs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,she would have cared, those are potential voters.
So she blames a 3% budget cut? Maybe if she used the "hybrid car money" from the French embassy for security she could have saved four lives.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
We know what she means, holy messiah has won the election so to hell with the dead men!!!!!
She is VERY clear, she does not care in the least about dead Americans and now that the election is over,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,leave our messiah alone and pretend it never happened.
Disgusting display of socialist moral values in action.
She's a LOSER and a LIAR.
September 11th any year should have the highest security in mind on every American, if any other day. No brainer.
It needs to be addressed and simply admitting you made the mistake isn't enough. These things can't happen again and we can't lose anymore lives. Doesn't matter if you're a Rep, Dem or Liberal folks. It was senseless and good people lost their lives. Look to this getting solved so it doesn't happen again. It's a scary and dangerous world out there and we should want to protect our own.
DionysusOmega- I guess you are also saying that these four people whom lost their lives is irrelevant. What a moron you are!
The glasses are actually a miniature teleprompter..
Nixon was fried for a whole lot less than these crooks are getting away with!
Nixon got fired for lying to Congress, not for the break-in.
Sec. Clinton stated that she did not read the cable's from Libya and was not aware of the request for more security. Hmm, I can understand that the SS might not read every cable from the Ambassador from Lichtenstein, but I have a hard time believing that the SS is not in very close contact with the Ambassador from Libya when it is going through the upheaval as it was.
Nixon resigned. Wonder why?
That's what Republicans do when they do something wrong and get caught. Dems on the other hand soldier on and try to blame everyone and everything else. Look at Clinton and the posts on here. No, oh no, Obama did nothing wrong at all. His whole team, with the very best intelligence in the world, didn't know. YET, you still went out and spoke about it and blamed it on something they KNEW was false. That is not in question!
Well.....now we know as much as we did before....the squatting cow was at fault which she tried to deflect by saying that money was witheld....., she did take credit for the screw up, but she's leaving office so what are they going to do to her....nothin!! Rand Paul finally got her to shriek a little.....hope house has better questions...but again, what are they going to do to her???hell the goofy libs will probably elect her fat a$$ in 2016...
But comment that sums up this fiasco up was when squatting cow said,"What does it matter"....they (dems) don't care and they haven't done anything to correct the problem....it will happen again.
While Sec. Clinton was handled very softly by her Democratic partners, she was also treated respectfully by the Republicans on the committee. Many of the Democratic questioners alluded congress may be at fault for "withholding" funds from State that may have provided protection, but no one ever asked Sec. Clinton, "Did the purported inability to transfer funds in State cause the deaths in Benghazi?"
The State Department has already said the funding had NOTHING to do with the security in Libya.
Despite the MORONS on the left attempting to claim it was about funding, the TRUTH is that it because Obama didn't want to "offend" the local Muslims security was not only denied, but what security they had was PULLED OUT!
All I get out of this thread is that when the left has nothing intelligent to add, they "blame Bush". New flash! Some of us did not agree with the Iraq war and other things that went on during the Bush administration either. But in the final analysis, "becauae Bush did this or that" does not excuse the actions of this administration either.
Peace, Myst
It's one thing to be cynically political about these kinds of things and another altogether to think the public believes you are not.
Once again GOP is showing itself to be petty, hypocritical and largely irrelevant.
Not that democrats are a whole lot better.
What is your point? That the Democrats are being forthright and honest with this. That they are making an honest attempt to understand what happened and what actually went on? That the Democrats have only one thing on their mind, to protect the President and their agenda?
Ms. Rice was sent out with a script from the White House. Testimony already shows that the Government knew the video had no bearing on the attack, they knew it was the result of a planned attack. I believe the President did not want to admit this, as this would call to question his statements that EQ was greatly diminished.
The real truth is that it don't make a difference what happened. Our government, the ones in charge, of security should be fired. Panetta should go first for making such a stupid statement. "We didn't want to send troops into harms way without knowing what was going on". When you set up a committee to find out what is going on more than likely it would take a year or so. By this time the attackers could have killed every one in the embesy. I really thought our troops were what was to be sent into harms way to protect America and its allies. If this is not the case then do away with the military as Obama is doing to the Navy.
EXCUSE ME: It was 9-11 for God's sake; anyone who doesn't understand what that date represents to those that hate America should be reminded.
The efforts to mislead/misdirect the country of our failure to prepare for this massacre have NOTHING to do with George Bush, so save that for a separate discussion. But it is written that "those who refuse to recognize the past are condemned to repeat it".
It is all well and good that Mrs. Clinton accepts responsibility (whatever the hell that means); Obama taking off for Vegas during the attack, the clown show of Ms. Rice on the Sunday talk show circuit, and the resulting foreign relations "amateur hour" should not be excused.
The inaugural party is over, Mr. Obama.....Beyonce' was faking it.....and so are you.
Funny how this was all swept under the rug until after the election? Four people died! It was deliberately framed as a protest that went awry due to a "video"..... Not as a terrorist attack! The reason is simple...Obama wanted to be able to claim that Al Queda had been neutralized with the killing of Bin Laden. Obviously, the attack did not fit their Presidential election agenda. Can you spell "Impeachment"?
Forget Benghazi...what about the hostages in Algeria?
Holy crap, 32 dead?
Terrorists everywhere?
How could we have allowed this to happen....there should be hearings and impeachments!
*end sarcasm*
The acknowledged their mistake over a month before the election. If we couldn't impeach Bush for warrantless wiretapping, suspension of habeas corpus, and torture, I doubt we are going to impeach someone because they maybe said something misleading for political reasons.
FOUR PEOPLE DIED! Get it?
Thanks Dionysus ...for putting out the Point...Yep it is the same group or part of the group the President was trying to protect by not telling the American people the truth....The President didnt want us to think this was a Terrorist Group...it would go against his narrative that he rid the world of Terrorist...and now look how many people died recently...32 ...thanks for making our points on why their should have been an Outrage on both sides of the aisle about his lies about Bengazie.
If she is truly responsible for the deaths of 4 Americans(blood on her hands ) and the Lying and deceipt to the American Public....She should never hold Public Office again for her bumbling decisions and her allowiing the lies to continue to Advance under this Administration concerning Bengazie.....
What really kills me about the republican'ts outrage is this.
This was a CIA op that went south....pure and simple.
And the GOP want to expose the entire operation in trying to politicize the events.
What has happened to the repugnicans....they used to know better?
It is to the point now that the only security the republican'ts understand is gerrymandering their district so they can be re-elected...sad.
no matter how you spin this, you democrats are the ones in charge. damn it, grow the hell up and start taking responsibility for once and stop placing blame elsewhere.
Four people died! FOUR PEOPLE ! BTW....the ones that tried politicize the event so that if wouldn't negatively impact their Presidential ambitions were the Liberal Democrats including the President himself! The Republicans want to simply expose the truth! And sometimes, the truth hurts!
It was four Americans murdered by terrorists on 9/11...put and simple.
The NATION wants to know the truth of why it was blamed on a "video" for WEEKS when the administration KNEW it was a terrorist attack within 24 hours and literally watched it in REAL TIME.
It is to the point now that people like you actually DON'T CARE that four Americans were killed in a terrorist attack on our nation on the anniversary of 9/11, but instead just want to throw out name calling and filth instead of DEMANDING THE TRUTH.
against
How did I spin anything?
Did I say the republicans were in charge?
Did I blame anyone?
Wow....you really need to learn to comprehend what you read.
Cheryl,
You are obviously a low information voter.....the entire security staff was CIA....dumbass.
Obama's going down as the worst ever.....watch
your use of "republican'ts" says just how you feel.
Dion, Did you blame anyone? The question should be did the Dem's lie? Did they try to mislead for political gain? Did FOUR people die needlessly? You tend to want to put the blame on the CIA and then call the "republican'ts" names. I think we comprehend your statement just fine!
That's the problem, you DON'T blame anyone because you don't give a dam. Four Americans died because the President and the Secretary of State appointed by the President, REFUSED to provide security to an Ambassador that was also appointed by the President and who represented the President.
Do you SERIOUSLY believe that the President wasn't briefed that the consulate had been attacked before? After all it is HIS appointee whose consulate was bombed and fired upon MONTHS before 9/11. Do you SERIOUSLY believe that within 24 hours they didn't KNOW that it was a terrorist attack when his CIA Director TOLD him it was a terrorist attack? Do you SERIOUSLY believe the lies and garbage about a "video" wasn't simply something to use to protect the President until the election?
YOU need to comprehend the truth of the world instead of living in Liberalland where all Muslims love the U.S. and Barack Obama, Al-Queda "is on its heels", the world is just Kumbaya and thinking that twisting the name of a political party you don't agree with into some STUPID filth makes you look somehow "intelligent".
she is washed up, no way in hell would she make president. hope you democrats aren't hanging your hopes on her.
Clinton should have committed suicide, she has one major screw up after another
She has no place working for us, the AMERICAN PEOPLE
She could not manage HER OWN HOUSEHOLD
She could not control her husband's sexual perversion, (did you hear the rumor about him and his daughter) she condoned and covered up
What an embarrassment!!!!
Do more fellow Americans need to die because of her? before the 49% WAKE UP!
And you wonder why no one takes people like seriously?
I find it Hysterical that people like you will not have power again in the White House for another 20 years. Your suffering is my joy :)
Zombie ... Do you also find it Hysterical that FOUR PEOPLE are dead? People want to know what happened and if there was a coverup! They want the truth! That is something Liberals tend to despise!
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