Emails show White House knew of terrorists’ Benghazi claim within two hours. So why blame a video for two weeks?
The Obama administration/campaign’s story about what happened in Benghazi on Sept. 11 keeps having run-ins with the facts. The latest comes from Reuters:
Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.
The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.
The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi assault, which President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials ultimately acknowledged was a “terrorist” attack carried out by militants with suspected links to al Qaeda affiliates or sympathizers.
Administration spokesmen, including White House spokesman Jay Carney, citing an unclassified assessment prepared by the CIA, maintained for days that the attacks likely were a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film.
The story goes on to say officials referred to evidence that the violence “erupted spontaneously” — an apparent reference to the alleged protests about an alleged anti-Muslim video. But as we now know, there was no protest leading up to the attacks on the consulate, so it’s hard to understand what sort of evidence they could have been describing. A claim of responsibility by an al-Qaida affiliate, on the other hand, would seem to have been sufficient evidence not to frame the issue even once as a matter of First Amendment freedoms gone wrong.
Unless, of course, one happened to be running for re-election and basing one’s pitch to voters in large part on the idea that al-Qaida is on its way to defeat.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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382 comments Add your comment
MarkV
October 24th, 2012
11:30 am
Kyle and others also fail to explain their theory about why the White House would want to downplay the attack, or the possible, but still not proven role of Al Qaeda. There have been terrorist attack in the Middle East and elsewhere quite frequently, some also attributed to Al Qaeda. Why should the circumstances of this attack be suddenly more politically damaging?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 24th, 2012
11:31 am
“Perhaps Kyle could enlighten us about his understanding of the words “the White House KNEW.”
Maybe because one of the addressees of the e-mails in question is the WHITE HOUSE Situation Room, MarkV?
Are you really going to hang your hat on that argument?
Kyle Wingfield
October 24th, 2012
11:31 am
Let me make sure what point you’re trying to make @ 11:26, MarkV: Are you actually arguing there was a possibility that, at 6 p.m. and just two hours after emails went out with the subject line: “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack,” NO ONE in the White House bothered to read the emailed update that Ansar al Sharia had claimed responsibility?
Is that the absurdity you’re floating here?
md
October 24th, 2012
11:32 am
Some of you have some awful funky logic.
So, we are all sitting in a meeting and the boss asks “what the heck just happened”?
And the options were:
We got some e-mails saying it might be a terrorist group…..and
It might be because of all the protests over this movie…….
Now, the operative word is “might”, meaning they just don’t know.
So the selected option is to run with one of the 2 when one is not sure if either is correct?
Let’s hope you guys don’t sit in board rooms making decisions…………
Pizzaman
October 24th, 2012
11:32 am
“….sources not connected with US Spy Agencies or the US State Department and requesting anonymity…” So who was it Kyle? The dish washer at the Senate cafeteria? Or is this Trump’s big announcement?. Did you ever consider this is all “Trumped” up? To be believed one has to be believable. Not just publish something you wish was/is true.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 24th, 2012
11:32 am
“Why should the circumstances of this attack be suddenly more politically damaging?”
Uh, Election 2012, MarkV?
In case you’ve been in a bunker somewhere for the past 2 years . . .
Francis
October 24th, 2012
11:33 am
The sad part is that the liberal media does not care about it. If Mr. Obama wins this election, it will be a sad day for this country. It will show that the liberal media has the power to control the destiny of this country.
Kyle Wingfield
October 24th, 2012
11:34 am
Darwin @ 11:30: As far as I’m aware, the Bush administration didn’t wait until late September 2012 to confirm the attacks were carried out by terrorists — and didn’t continue peddling some known-to-be-bogus alternative theory for weeks afterward. That’s the issue here.
Kyle Wingfield
October 24th, 2012
11:37 am
Pizzaman @ 11:32: Unless you’re contesting the authenticity of the emails, I’m not sure why that matters.
As for Trump, I have such a low opinion of his political acumen that I expect his “big revelation” to be either meaningless or actually damaging to Romney’s chances. Trump — like Gloria Allred, the other publicity hound scheduling a “bombshell” presser today — is a sideshow.
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 24th, 2012
11:38 am
You know what the biggest difference between you libs and us cons are? If I mess up, I’ll say my bad and will make every effort to not let it happen again. You libs refuse to say you messed up and say we will do better the next time. Yes, foreign countries are dangerous and Americans take certain risks in choosing to be there but for god’s sake, don’t cover it up when a event happens. As Herman Cain says daily”we are not stupid”! Places like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where troops are ordered to go, we know there is danger there and accept that fact. I am sick of you libs not being transparent and twisting the facts to support your case.
Interested Observer
October 24th, 2012
11:40 am
“…the attackers, recognized as members of a local militant group called Ansar al-Shariah, did tell bystanders that they were attacking the compound because they were angry about the video. They did not mention the Sept. 11 anniversary. Intelligence officials believe that planning for the attack probably began only a few hours before it took place.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/us/politics/questions-and-answers-on-the-benghazi-attack.html?_r=0
I’ve followed this story closely, and I’m still not sure why the rest of us are supposed to be as outraged as Republicans want us to be. After all, whether or not the attack was inspired by the video is irrelevant…either way it was a terrorist attack. President Obama acknowledged that fact the day after the attack and again the day after that. Even Mitt Romney realizes that this is weak tea…which is why he changed the subject in the foreign policy debate after being questioned specifically about this subject.
Can we move on to the next faux outrage now?
Kyle Wingfield
October 24th, 2012
11:41 am
Tom @ 11:38: Leaving out one letter of a blocked word doesn’t cut it. You can repost your comment with something like “messed up.”
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
11:41 am
But then again, we libs gave the Cons all kinds of heck after we found out the Bush administration had fabricated all their justification for going to war with Iraq. Lies that have cost the world 10,000s of lives. and left us holding a sack of the steamy.
Remember that Cons? The lies that ruined Colin Powell’s career? The leis about the mushroom cloud?
Thousands of American troops dead. 10’s of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead. Some lies are bigger than others, agree?
JackThrock
October 24th, 2012
11:42 am
Here’s are a few questions I’d like answered:
1. Mr. President, why did you go to bed while America was under attack?
2. Mr. President, why did you not take your security briefing on September 12, choosing instead to fly to NV for a fundraiser?
3. Mr. President, why did you not take any security briefings since September 5?
4. Mr. President, why have you dropped from your stump speech further mentions of al qaida being “on the run”?
5. Mr. President, given the fact that the international media has been all over the consulate grounds in Benghazi, why have you not insisted that the FBI get to Libya and investigate this attack immediately?
6. Mr. President, when will you lay out all of the facts for the American people, indicating what was known when by whom and why certain decisions were made the way they were?
What are the chances of getting answers to ANY of these questions before the election?
Zero
getalife
October 24th, 2012
11:42 am
” It is impossible to look at the G.O.P.’s behavior in the last four years — from its unwillingness to consider Obama’s jobs bill, which was praised by independent economists, to the unwillingness of its presidential candidates to consider a $1 increase in taxes for $10 of spending cuts, to the time it spent on sheer lunacy such as questioning the president’s birth certificate — and not conclude that many in the party just wanted Obama to fail in the hope that they could pick up the pieces. Too many Republicans, particularly moderate business types, don’t want to admit how much their party has been led around of late, not by traditional conservatives, but by a radical Tea Party base that has driven decent, smart conservatives — like Bob Bennett of Utah, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Richard Lugar of Indiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine — out of office.
What I’d say about Obama’s domestic and Middle East policies is that, given the messes and political constraints he inherited in both arenas, he did about as well as anyone could. He kept the homeland safe, prevented us from getting drawn into any sinkholes and killed bad guys. It is not the stuff of foreign policy legend, but it was not bad. I’d say the same at home. He stanched the bleeding in the economy and initiated some smart reforms in education, energy and health” Friedman.
Intellectual honesty.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
11:43 am
the Bush administration didn’t wait until late September 2012
They didn’t wait a whole year? But Obama did?
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 24th, 2012
11:44 am
Kyle – Ok, my mistake, will see it not happen again!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
11:46 am
Has anyone who doesn’t watch the Faux News Outrage channel see this subject as damaging to the President?
Pizzaman
October 24th, 2012
11:47 am
Kyle @ 11:31:
I would hope any WH would have looked at the “From” line immediately after the “Subj” line and IF the source was/is creditable act on it.
The real unfortunate thing about this is the Repubs desperate attempt to make this an “October surprise” and continue to give whoever is responsible page one headlines. I suppose the next thing you’ll do is publish the plans currently underway to give these people the dirt nap they deserve.
Interested Observer
October 24th, 2012
11:48 am
Kyle @11:34: NOBODY peddled any “didn’t continue peddling some known-to-be-bogus alternative theory.”
“Ms. Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has said that the judgments she offered on the five talk shows on Sept. 16 came from talking points prepared by the C.I.A., which reckoned that the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans had resulted from a spontaneous mob that was angry about an anti-Islamic video that had set off protests elsewhere. That assessment, described to Ms. Rice in briefings the day before her television appearances, was based on intercepted communications, informants’ tips and Libyan press reports, officials said.
Later that Sunday, though, American intelligence analysts were already sifting through new field reports that seemed to contradict the initial assessment. It would be several days, however, before the intelligence agencies changed their formal assessment based on those new reports, and informed administration officials about the change. Intelligence officials say such a lag is typical of the ever-changing process of piecing together shards of information into a coherent picture fit for officials’ public statements…
The gap between the talking points prepared for Ms. Rice and the contemporaneous field reports that seemed to paint a much different picture illustrates how the process of turning raw field reports, which officials say need to be vetted and assessed, into polished intelligence assessments can take days, long enough to make them outdated by the time senior American officials utter them.
Intelligence officials, alarmed that their work has been turned into a political football, defend their approach, noting that senior administration officials receive daily briefings that reflect the consensus of the nation’s array of intelligence agencies, but can also dip into the fast-moving stream of field reports, with the caveat that that information is incomplete and may be flat wrong…
‘Right now, there isn’t any intelligence that the attackers preplanned their assault days or weeks in advance,’ said the intelligence official. ‘The bulk of available information supports the early assessment that the attackers launched their assault opportunistically after they learned about the violence at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.’”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/explanation-for-benghazi-attack-under-scrutiny.html?pagewanted=all
Matz
October 24th, 2012
11:48 am
I’m flabbergasted at the arrogance of ordinary citizens who are outraged — OUTRAGED, I tell you! — that they are not privy to the details of day-to-day security issues in the war-torn, hostile regions of the Middle East, in which the security and safety of our intelligence personnel, alliances, and other covert and diplomatic operatives likely depend on NOT blabbing every little detail of everything that happens, just to please the entitlement mentality of the average schmo who thinks his input is pertinent and his opinion actually matters.
Funny I didn’t hear this kind of outrage when Boss Cheney held is energy policy meetings or testified at the 9-11 commission in secret. “You want a transcript? Go *bleep* yourself!” “Right to know?” Yeah, right.
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 24th, 2012
11:48 am
Kyle – Is there any way to take out the bad word and leave the post?
Interested Observer
October 24th, 2012
11:49 am
Correction to previous comment
NOBODY peddled any “known-to-be-bogus alternative theory.”
getalife
October 24th, 2012
11:49 am
mitt has another rape problem and he endorsed the con and made an ad for the con. mitt still endorses him.
mitt lost the women vote.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 24th, 2012
11:51 am
Matz, Bush isn’t on the ballot.
Obama is.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 24th, 2012
11:52 am
“mitt has another rape problem ”
The most dishonest, misleading and moronic post of the day.
Not surprising who it came from.
Pizzaman
October 24th, 2012
11:53 am
Kyle @ 11:37. Yes! I’m contesting the authenticity of the e-mails. No responsible organization would act on an anonymous source. And in this case it would take weeks or months to verify the culprits before acting.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
11:54 am
Who did Mitt rape?
Aquagirl
October 24th, 2012
11:55 am
One, I have ALWAYS disagreed with the invasion of Iraq. ALWAYS. So that dog of yours doesn’t hunt.
Amazingly enough, it’s not about your personal fee-fees on the Iraq war, Tiberius.
$#!^ happens. When that $#!^ happens, we try to find out what’s going on so we can deal with the situation. Perhaps key informants don’t keep banking hours or answer their cellphones at our command. This may frustrate the average American, who can’t even sit in a drive-thru for 3 minutes but gathering intelligence and getting the full story just may take some time.
If you have unrealistic expectations and think the main point of our intelligence gathering is informing YOU and the media of what’s going on, that’s some breathtaking arrogance. Constant second guessing and armchair quarterbacking only impresses your Tea Potty friends with the tricorn hats.
Obama and Clinton have done a good job in their behind the scenes work. I trust them to take care of business. If you approve of the previous guy who bungled the job, or don’t wail about his incompetence maybe you should question your judgement before you start trumpeting how Things Should Be Done.
Lordy, the internet is full of know-it-alls. Nobody here knows the full story on who said what to who when, or why they said it. If you want to play Jack Bauer in public don’t complain when you get eye rolls.
Francis
October 24th, 2012
11:55 am
Four Americans were left to die in Benghazi and the liberal media is covering it up. It’s a shame.
JackThrock
October 24th, 2012
11:56 am
getalife:
Intellectual honesty requires Americans of all stripes to answer questions HONESTLY. We agree on that. Completely.
The questions before us today relate to Benghazi. That is the issue. Bush and Tea Partiers had NOTHING to do with the way in which Pres Obama and his administration handled this terrorist attack. Bush and the TP had NOTHING to do with him not attending security briefings or parsing words on “acts of terror.” Bush and the TP had NOTHING to do with him going to sleep while America was under attack or putting a fundraiser ahead of the daily security briefing. Bush and the TP had NOTHING to do with the clearly political line the admin was pushing about a “mob.” Nothing.
We are dealing with what is before us TODAY. Not four years ago or even 11 years ago. Today.
Intellectual honesty runs in ALL directions, or at least it should.
Bruno
October 24th, 2012
11:56 am
I’ve followed this story closely, and I’m still not sure why the rest of us are supposed to be as outraged as Republicans want us to be. After all, whether or not the attack was inspired by the video is irrelevant…
Interested Observer–I can’t say that I’m “outraged” by the Obama Admin’s handling of this incident, but I am bothered for a few reasons. First and foremost, I think that we deserve basic honesty from our leadership. Unless there is some overriding national security concern in play, then we are entitled to hear the facts straight up. When there are security concerns, withholding information until a later date is acceptable, but not straight-up lying. Secondly, I was offended by the Obama Admin’s kowtowing to the radical Islamists via their “sympathy” for their poor, hurt little feelings that someone dared make a video which is critical/disrespectful to Mohammed. As Romney emphasized the other night, Muslims world-wide need to grow up and join the 21st century with the rest of the world, a world which includes freedom of speech and equal rights for all people.
getalife
October 24th, 2012
11:57 am
Kyle.
Are you saying the CIA lied while they had operations to get the terrorists?
Really?
You cons are not the brightest Americans are you?
RW-(the original)
October 24th, 2012
11:58 am
Is somebody using the name Darwin really complaining about changes? The mind boggles….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This is a fairly volatile situation, and it is in response not to United States policy, obviously not to the administration, not to the American people. It is in response to a video, a film, that we have judged to be reprehensible and disgusting — that in no way justifies any violent reaction to it.”–Jay Carney’s White House press briefing 9/14/12
iggy
October 24th, 2012
11:58 am
This comes as no surprise. Obama, Biden and Clinton are born liars.
getalife
October 24th, 2012
11:59 am
Finn,
Over three hundred million Americans if they are dumb enough to elect him.
getalife
October 24th, 2012
12:00 pm
Psst, classified .
JDW
October 24th, 2012
12:01 pm
Back in the real world, where adults live…
There was a variety of information coming in,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday on Air Force One. “The whole point of an intelligence community and what they do is to assess strands of information and make judgements about what happened and who was responsible.”
“This is an open source, unclassified email about a posting on a Facebook site,” Carney said. “I would also note that within a few hours the organization itself claimed that it had not been responsible. Neither should be taken as fact. That is why there is an investigation.”
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 24th, 2012
12:01 pm
“If you have unrealistic expectations and think the main point of our intelligence gathering is informing YOU and the media of what’s going on, that’s some breathtaking arrogance.”
And Aquagirl, if YOU think that an administration should be stonewalling the people it serves when four Americans are killed, it is breathtaking stupidity and ignorance of the principles this country was founded on.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
12:01 pm
If you were able to vote for W in 2004 after 3,000 American CIVILIANS died – on our soil – then just shut up already.
K? Thanks
Kyle Wingfield
October 24th, 2012
12:03 pm
Pizzaman @ 11:47: I thought you were questioning where Reuters got the emails. I see what you’re saying now. But the Reuters story explains that these emails were sent from the State Department’s Operations Center.
I (obviously) see this story differently. It appears to me that, about a week after holding a DNC with themed in large part on Biden’s football-spiking “GM is alive and bin Laden is dead” line, there was a terrorist attack on our people in Benghazi. Because “bin Laden is dead” implies that al-Qaida is also mortally wounded (and Obama and his administration/campaign officials make that point pretty explicitly at times), such an attack by al-Qaida affiliates — on a consulate in a country where we intervened militarily, and on the anniversary of 9/11 no less — would be pretty damaging to that narrative of foreign-policy success. Would it not?
And so it appears the White House tried to pin as much of the blame as possible on the video. Yet that story is continually unraveling, and I think it’s perfectly appropriate for voters to take that into account.
getalife
October 24th, 2012
12:04 pm
They have operations to find these terrorists.
Loose lips out CIA buildings and agents..
Hush.
Bruno
October 24th, 2012
12:05 pm
What I’d say about Obama’s domestic and Middle East policies is that, given the messes and political constraints he inherited in both arenas, he did about as well as anyone could.
getalife–I hope you caught Ryan’s statement regarding a Romney/Ryan administration:
“The commitment Mitt Romney and I make to you is this:
We won’t duck the tough issues…we will lead!
We won’t blame others…we will take responsibility!”
So we have a choice to make in 2 weeks: 4 more years of blaming, back-pedaling and finger-pointing, or 4 new years of solving problems and getting things done. Your choice.
JackThrock
October 24th, 2012
12:05 pm
pizzaman:
It took the Bush administration about 8 seconds to confirm it was bin laden and al qaida after the second plane hit the world trade center.
Why did it take the Obama administration two weeks to finally call this a terrorist act, especially in light of these emails?
As for questioning their authenticity, I don’t understand the basis of your reasoning that they may be fabricated. Are you suggesting the Reuters might have been duped in writing this story?
Oblama
October 24th, 2012
12:05 pm
ObamaGate = The Buck stops where? Not with Obama but with their scapegoat Hillary Clinton! Obama is letting Hillary take the fall but it isn’t going to work. We know Obama is responsible for these lies and cover ups and he is following the advice of Nanny Pelosi and Hairy Weed way to much for his future political health. Non truths – half truths – and out right lies…… that’s the Obama Plan for America.
getalife
October 24th, 2012
12:06 pm
Kyle,
It was not aq, you are wrong.
MANGLER
October 24th, 2012
12:06 pm
So whatever I post on my Facebook or Twitter account needs to be taken at face value immidiately by the White House like it seems to be by reporters? #romneyeatsbabies#ryanisprorape#areyouserious
Speaking of which, waiting for the Donald’s twitter release that will sink Obama
#yourfiredyoufatnewyorkwingnut
JDW
October 24th, 2012
12:06 pm
@RW…you do realize that your quote is in relation to the demonstrations accross the Middle East not Libya…don’t you?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 24th, 2012
12:06 pm
Maybe Biden needs to out a CIA agent to protect his boss?
Cons like them apples.
Vote Democrat,,,Beats Using Your Brain
October 24th, 2012
12:07 pm
Every Lib that criticized Romney for ‘politicizing’ this situation owes the Mittster an apology. Take a cue from Obama and apologize about a foreign policy issue.You can’t politicize the deaths of Americans any more than lying about the cause to keep from making your foreign policy look like the failure it is.