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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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She wants to leave the nation stronger, safer and more secure. I have news for ya Blimpo...just you getting the hell out of town will leave the nation stronger, safer and more secure.
This witch should be in jail. She is a born liar. Yes, yes, everything happened because of a video that nobody saw. This beachball on toothpicks is responsible for four US citizen's deaths.
And Bush was responsible for 5,000 deaths and tens of thousands wounded but he never took responsibility, nor did Cheney who mocked the nation by saying "so what" to a question about how he nation questioned the policy.
It was a mistake, they happen, but to make political hay out of it is just politics. Nothing more.
WEAVER... Ahh, and there it is.
I thought the buck stopped with Obama. I guess he lied yet again....
jblast...
Explain please...
How do you defend a undefendable position? The government so badly botched this response to Benghazi.... we've already had two people in higher levels of government management resign over this debacle. To sit here and pretend the government functioned well when it clearly did not is laughable.
stevephoenix...
Please tell us who is claiming to pretend that that it did?
That is what I was saying about Iraq but the GOP would never answer.
The vote to go to war with Iraq was passed by both parties markie.... Saddam had over 2 years to move his WMD's somewhere else. Think all that nerve gas went to liven things up at the frat parties?
I thought the the bucked stopped with Obama.... I guess that was just more Obama BS....
Obama called the Seals and they got Bin Laden
When the Seals called Obama, THEY GOT DENIED..
Lying under oath is a special Clinton trait and this old cow will uphold that tradition today.
And that comes from one using an elephant symbol of the not political party, but cult, that lyin and total hypocrisy is the norm!! Gee Thanks there stevie!!
And as the teabags Attack you won't hear a peep out of any of them as to their being extremely sorry they created the more hatreds thus the expansion of the al Qaeda types of international criminal terrorism leaving it in the hands of Clinton and the Obama administration to clean up as their minions of the foxspeak continued same, and still do, while we still have military in Afghanistan the conflict they abandoned cheering on with the first drum beats pointed at Iraq! As they've completely erased those recent memories as well as the leaders of like they never happened, same for the emptying the treasury and collapsing the economy to almost final ruin while they still hold that hostage after their present leaders run on that and jobs and do nothing related to!
Go back to freshman year English and study what we call "run-on" sentences. Then rewrite your rant so that someone can understand it.
Jim S....What does the "S" stand for? I think I know. No, not sh!t. More than likely, STUPID. Put down the pipe, moron.
This is like watching Beyonce lip-sync during the inaugural lmao!
Obama, Carney, Rice, Clinton all lied at the time. How does she take responsibility for their lies? The real issue is the friggin' cover-up! Has she mentioned that...will she mention that? Well, hell no. You Demoncrats act like one sentence wipes the slate clean. The gang of 4 are still hunkering down hoping this will magically disappear. And you think this is acceptable?
Again and again .....I don't recall .....I was not informed ......Shocking testimony.
These lib morons sent the ambassador to the UN out on ALL the Sunday talk shows...she drove all over NYC that Sunday, just to spread lies to try and save Obama and Clinton's asses. What did she get for her wonderful assistance? A swift kick in the ass. Way to go Susan Rice. You looked and sounded like an idiot that day and then, when Obama later said you knew nothing about what happened, you looked even dumber. Obama has a way of making other people look like idiots for the mistakes he makes. His administration makes ALL libs show how stupid they really are. High unemployment, higher taxes, unsustainable debt that will bring this country to it's knees, and the lib morons vote for this turd because he gives them free birth control and rubbers. What a joke this moron Obama and his lib followers are.
These lib morons need to pull the rubbers over their heads and go out in public as what they really are. Dicks.
Hey Obama
You make a tape broadcasted in the ME apologizing for the movie nobody saw..
So why Obama did you send out your pawns to lie for you???
You send Rice out 5 DAYS LATER to the Sunday talk shows spewing the lie that the attack was movie driven
So why Obama did you send out your pawns to lie for you???
You send Jay Carney out to lie to the press for you
You spoke to the UN DAYS LATER pointing out the MOVIE that nobody saw
You lied to all Americans on the View...
So why Obama did you send out your pawns to lie for you???
BTW, why wasn't the embassy secured when the ambassador and other REQUESTED it and feared for their lives???? Huh????
The Obama/Hillary BS continues with the help of their accomplices in the media
A brave woman. I hope she doesn't lose her job over this.
She won't have to. She is quitting her job and who blames her! Who needs to be subjected to the constant scandals from this Administration.
To bad she wouldnt tell the truth and awnser the question's asked of her! she didn't because she was covering the presidents failures.
Al Franken might get anther book out of this: "Lies, and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them Redux."
You mean his book about Fox News and Bill O'Reilly. Yes he could easily write another book to highlight all of the lies at Fox News over the past 10 years.
I guess I missed both copies he sold....
Obama has a gift of shifting blame to others to make them take the fall for his incompetencies. We are seeing it with Hillary and we have seen it with Ambassador Rice (which cost her an opportunity to become Secretary of State - Hope he was worth your career Mrs. Rice). Hillary obviously needs to take the blame because she is running for President, she can not afford to destroy the Democratic brand if she wants to win. So as far as I am concerned, nothing will come out of this hearing, we will never know the truth about anything! Benghazi, Fast and Furious and God knows what else is out there! This is the most corrupt Administration I have seen in my lifetime. Very sad that our Country has to be subjected to this kind of environment for the next 4 years!
great hillary... now, who is gonna take responsibility when morsi uses those brand new fighter jets( that the struggling american taxpayers have to pay for) when he uses them against the usa and israel...??????????
your govt is so dumb and the people are fools to keep allowing their money to go to all those other countries!!!!!!!!!!!!
Typical political BS. As for ultimate responsibility, I was under the impression that the "Commander in Chief" was the one to look to for that.
I guess Obama forgot about the "The Buck Stops Here" thang. Probably issued an executive order repealing it and the press missed it.
I have thrown enough troll bait out to the teabaggers for one day. CYA.
do you people truly believe your government has got your back...??????????????
roflmaooooooooooooooooo
Man, now if you could only get her to tell the truth, you would have something.
There are no such things as truths in this Administration. Just lies and cover-ups.
A Clinton telling the truth when it could hurt them --- NEVER.
Or Obama for the matter......
your flat as broke, your families are struggling, your jobless and china owns you...!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but, you keep backing up your politicians who got you in all this mess...?????????
your country needs mental healthcare!!!!!!!!!!!!
something seriously wrong with who you back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This blimp with a concussion is just continuing the Clinton family tradition of lying her ass off. She's been poked in the ass with a cigar once too often.
Former First Lady, former Senator, future former SOS, and future Presidential Candidate (again) Clinton to congressional committee....
"We're still investigating that Mr. Congressman, we hope to ascertain exactly what happened"...
"I don't have an answer to that Mr. Congressman, the investigation is still on going and we hope to have those answers soon".
"The investigation is still in progress and it would be premature for me to suggest anything until the investigation is concluded".
"I'm sorry Mr. Congressman, but I can't speak for the President and the investigation is still in progress".
and of course the old favorite..
"I'm sorry Mr. Congressman, but I cannot recall".
"Thank you gentlemen. Good luck with your inquiry. Bye now".
Well, the Republicans have done a great job in getting asnwers from her. Now if the situation were reversed and she were a Republican, the left media would have been all over Clinton and she would have been blasted and excoriated.