| Benghazi Attack: Effort To Drive Out Western Influence |
| Oct-18-2012 |
| Keywords: intelligence, benghazi, attack, |
New reports out tonight that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya may have been part of a broader effort to drive out western intelligence presence.
Fox News is reporting that two military sources said that attack may "have been part of a broader campaign to drive the U.S. and western presence -- and particularly a growing CIA contingent -- out of eastern Libya."
The attack on the consulate on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. was preceded by some 230 security incidents over the previous year.
In June of this year, the U.S. Consulate was attacked when an IED was placed on a perimeter wall of the consulate, now believed to be a potential probing effort to measure the consulate security staff's response.
That attack, along with separate assaults on the International Red Cross and the British ambassador's convoy also point to efforts to drive out westerners from the nation still contending with civilian infighting following the ouster of Gaddafi.
Militants, some linked to al Qaeda, are taking advantage of the weapons proliferation in the region following the fall of the Qaddafi regime. Some believed to have acquired portable surface-to-air missiles called MANPADS.
Former CIA Director Porter Goss telling Fox News 'the idea that militants were trying to achieve the expulsion of western forces and diplomats from the region "is a very accurate assessment."'
The speculation about the motive for and cause of the attack comes as officials in Washington are still trying to get to the bottom of why the Obama administration has been so confused as to its understanding of the attack which occurred over a month ago.
The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said an intelligence error is to blame.
"I think we do know what happened now. There's no question but that it was a terrorist attack, there is no question but that the security was inadequate and I think that there is no question that we need to work on our intelligence," she said in a recent interview with a local CBS station in San Francisco.
Those assertions come after Secretary Hillary Clinton on Monday took responsibility for the security issues at the consulate in Benghazi.
A day later, President Obama further confused the issue, saying that he takes responsibility for the safety of every American serving abroad.
Adding fuel to the fire as to the administration's characterization of the attack, during the presidential debate, Obama claimed he called the attack "an act of terror." His claim that not only caught the ear of Republican challenger Mitt Romney but some in the press as well.
The president in fact did not specifically call the attack and act of terror, but rather referred to it specifically as "senseless violence." Later in the his Rose Garden speech he used the phrase "acts of terror" in a general sense, appearing to refer to the original 9/11 attack. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 9:00 PM Email to a friend |
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