Benghazigate: State Department Officials Say We Never Concluded the Benghazi Consulate Attack was Related to Protest about a YouTube Video

RUT-ROH, the Hillary Clinton State Department just contradicted the Obama White House … Move over Watergate, you have Benghazigate and this one is much, much worse. Just four weeks before the 2012 election.

The State Department stated that  “it never concluded that the consulate attack in Libya stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam”. Really, because that is not what the Obama Administration tried to put forth to “We the People”

The State Department said Tuesday it never concluded that the consulate attack in Libya stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam, raising further questions about why the Obama administration used that explanation for more than a week after assailants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

The revelation came as new documents suggested internal disagreement over appropriate levels of security before the attack, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.

Briefing reporters ahead of a hotly anticipated congressional hearing Wednesday, State Department officials provided their most detailed rundown of how a peaceful day in Benghazi devolved into a sustained attack that involved multiple groups of men armed with weapons such as machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars over an expanse of more than a mile.

But asked about the administration’s initial — and since retracted — explanation linking the violence to protests over an anti-Muslim video circulating on the Internet, one official said, “That was not our conclusion.”

More at the AP.

Michelle Malkin asks the question if the VIDEO was not the reason why the violence occurred in Benghazi, then why did they trot out U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice on the Sunday talk shows and present a narrative that was false? All the while she still hadn’t received the memo several days after the attack.

The news that the State Department never concluded that the Benghazo consulate attack and murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans was not a result of a video comes as Hot Air reminds us on the eve of the House hearings on the Benghazi, Libya Consulate attack.  Will individuals now tell the truth to insulate themselves from this debacle? Worse than that, the attempted cover up of the incompetence that took place in not protecting a US Ambassador in a hostile area.

Two new questions for you, then, as the hearings get going. First, if State didn’t circulate the “spontaneous protest” nonsense within the administration, who did? Eli Lake traced it back to a set of CIA talking points distributed to Congress early on, but as far as I know, no one’s ever explained why the CIA was pushing that theory when there were at least a dozen intel reports within the first hours pointing to something more sinister and deliberate. And second, if State was innocent in pushing the “spontaneous protest” line, how is it that Susan Rice — a top State Department employee, don’tcha know — ended up being the administration’s chief mouthpiece for that talking point on the Sunday shows? Didn’t anyone from State think of mentioning to her beforehand, “Oh, by the way, we have zero evidence to support what you’re about to go on national TV and say”?

The result of this hearing could rock the polls even more than the past Presidential debate.

Washington Post Confirms Security was Lax before Benghazi Attack, State Dept Did Nothing to Address Issues

As reported at the WAPO, security was woefully nonexistent prior to the attacks at Benghazi. How could that possibly be in a region rife with terrorism and on the anniversary of 9-11? The Post confirms, that the State Department never took those security concerns seriously even with the many indicators that would have shown there more security was required. The result, Ambassador Stevens dead and three others. The Obama Administration has a lot of explaining.

On the eve of his death, U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was ebullient as he returned for the first time in his new role to Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city that embraced him as a savior during last year’s civil war. He moved around the coastal town in an armored vehicle and held a marathon of meetings, his handful of bodyguards trailing discreetly behind.

But as Stevens met with Benghazi civic leaders, U.S. officials appear to have underestimated the threat facing both the ambassador and other Americans. They had not reinforced the U.S. diplomatic outpost there to meet strict safety standards for government buildings overseas. Nor had they posted a U.S. Marine detachment, as at other diplomatic sites in high-threat regions.

A U.S. military team assigned to establish security at the new embassy in Tripoli, in a previously undisclosed detail, was never instructed to fortify the temporary hub in the east. Instead, a small local guard force was hired by a British private security firm as part of a contract worth less than half of what it costs to deploy a single U.S. service member in a war zone for a year.

The two U.S. compounds where Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a sustained, brutal attack the night of Sept. 11, proved to be strikingly vulnerable targets in an era of barricaded embassies and multibillion-dollar security contracts for U.S. diplomatic facilities in conflict zones, according to interviews with U.S. and Libyan officials and eyewitnesses in recent days.

Hot Air has much, much more on this tragedy that appears could have been adverted, if the situation had been taken more serious.

Obama Fails as Commander in Chief … Bloomberg National Poll Has Romney Ahead of Obama on Terrorism, 48% to 42% Following Benghazi-gate

LOST IN SMALLNESS, THE FOREIGN POLICY EDITION: Following the terror attacks on the Libyan Consulate on the 11th anniversary of 9-11 and the continued unrest in the Middle East, don’t look now but Romney has taken the lead in the polls on terrorism. America needed a leader and instead they got a politician and a “Campaigner” in Chief.

America needed a leader, they got a joke instead

According to a recent Bloomberg poll, Romney now leads Obama 48% to 42% on terror.  Obama’s poll numbers on terror had strictly been driven off the death of Bin Laden and drone attacks. However, that was before the debacle of Libya and the subsequent attempt to play politics and cover it up. Benghazi-gate probably has much to do with this. Barack Obama and his Administration have much explaining to do to Congress and the American as to why there was not more security at US embassies in the Middle East on the anniversary of 9-11 and why Obama and his minion mouth pieces blamed a movie trailer on YouTube for the attacks and murder of the US Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Libya. Even after they reportedly knew that it was a terror attack, they still blamed the trailer insulting the intelligence of everyone and the memory of those murdered. President Obama had a chance to act Presidential and be a leader, instead he decided to be the “Campaigner” in Chief instead, played politics and did a “Watergate” cover up of what really happened in Libya. Shameful.

The foreign-policy results of the new Bloomberg National Poll haven’t gotten much attention yet, but the survey contains some bad news for the Obama campaign. According to the poll, Mitt Romney has a 48-42 advantage over Barack Obama on the question of which candidate would be tougher on terrorism. Romney, in other words, has encroached on one of Obama’s signature strengths.

Read more

Obama Official Matthew Olsen, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Says Benghazi Killings was a terrorist attack

The gig is up for the Obama spin machine and this Obama foreign policy debacle …

Finally after eight days of denial and insulting the intelligence of Americans and spinning the truth of what happened, an Obama official admits that the attacks on the Benghazi consulate and the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans was the results of a terrorist attack. Even the Obama spin machine could not cover this travesty up. After shamelessly stating that the attacks were a result of an anti-Mohammad video trailer of a movie no one has seen, the lie is over. Four dead and an American Ambassador to Libya murdered, sodomized and dragged through the streets on the 11th anniversary of 9-11. This Administration is going to have a hard time explaining to total and complete security failure.

The Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was in fact “a terrorist attack” and the U.S. government has indications that members of al Qaeda were directly involved, a top Obama administration official said Wednesday morning.

“I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy,” Matt Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, in response to questioning from Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT) about the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

As for who was responsible, Olsen said it appears there were attackers from a number of different militant groups that operate in and around Benghazi, and said there are already signs of al Qaeda involvement.

“We are looking at indications that individuals involved in the attack may have had connections to al Qaeda or al Qaeda’s affiliates; in particular, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” he said.

However, after previously spinning the obvious that the Benghazi attacks were terror related, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined to say that security was adequate at the Libyan consulate in Benghazi. Carney was rather silent on blaming the video for the attacks. The gig is up and this foreign policy fiasco will have major ramifications. No wonder Sec, of State Hillary Clinton was no where to be found on the Sunday talk shows this past weekend.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today declined to say that security was adequate at the Libyan consulate in Benghazi during that the assault that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya last week on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, saying the matter is being studied.

Asked by Ed Henry of Fox News is there was sufficient security at the consulate, Carney replied, “I am simply saying that this is a matter under investigation.”

Carney added, however, that there were  steps “taken both seen and unseen in advance in preparation for times like 9/11.”

President Obama’s Foreign Policy Approval Rating Drops After Mideast Turmoil, Protests & Murders

Can You Say President Jimmy Carter II?

President Barack Obama’s foreign policy approval ratings drop significantly following the continued Middle East protests and deadly attack in Libya that saw the death of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans on the a11th anniversary of 9-11.  even with a skewed sampling of +5D, the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday found the president’s foreign policy approval among registered voters at 49%, down from 54%. Even worse, the fall among Independents went from 53% in August to 41%.

The first opinion poll to be conducted after last week’s deadly attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya and a spate of anti-American protests across the Muslim world has recorded a five-point drop in approval for President Obama’s handling of foreign policy.

The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday found the president’s foreign policy approval among registered voters at 49 percent, down from 54 percent one month earlier.

“The fall was steeper among independents, going from 53 percent in August to 41 percent,” NBC reported.

Is it any wonder why the Obama White House and their minions are trying to claim that the attacks were spontaneous and not a premeditated terror attack. The Obama White House would rather blame a movie trailer of a movie no one has seen, rather than take responsibility for their failed foreign Middle East policy and the fact that they ignored advance warnings and had little to no security on the anniversary of 9-11, of all days.

Rut-Roh, what is the liberal MSM to do? Their failed narrative to make the protests be all about Romney’s condemnation of Obama rather than Obama doing his job has failed. The MSM all but declared Romney’s chances over. Not so fast … Maybe, just maybe there is hope and Americans are outraged at the lack of response and the lack of responsibility from Obama in the wake of the protests and murders. All the while he just continues to campaign and fund raise as Americans are dead.