Benghazi review finds systematic security faults
An independent panel charged with investigatingthe deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and threeother Americans has concluded that systematic management and leadershipfailures at the State Department led to "grossly" inadequate securityat the mission in Benghazi.
"Systematic failures and leadership and managementdeficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Departmentresulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghaziand grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the panelsaid.
The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security andthe Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism, saying there appeared to be alack of cooperation and confusion over protection at the mission in Benghazi, acity in eastern Libya that was relatively lawless after the revolution thattoppled Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Boarddetermined that no individual officials ignored or violated their duties andrecommended no disciplinary action now. But it also said poor performance bysenior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in thefuture.
The report appeared to break little new ground about thetimeline of the Benghazi attack during which Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens,information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and TyroneWoods — who were contractors working for the CIA — were killed. Stevens'slaying was the first of a U.S. ambassador since 1988.
But it confirmed that contrary to initial accounts, therewas no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incidentrested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, administrationofficials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an anti-Islamic filmmade in the U.S. that had begun in Cairo, Egypt, earlier that day. Thosecomments came after evidence already pointed to a distinct militant attack.U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on numerous TV talk shows the Sunday afterthe attack and used the administration talking points linking it to the film.An ensuing dispute in the heat of the presidential campaign eventually led Riceto withdraw her name from consideration to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton assecretary of state in President Barack Obama's second term.
The review board determined that there had been noimmediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11thanniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. However, the report saidthere had been several worrisome incidents in the run-up to the attack thatshould have set off warning bells.
While criticizing State Department management in Washingtonalong with the local militia force and contract guards that the missiondepended on for protection, the report said U.S. personnel on the ground inBenghazi "performed with courage and readiness to risk their lives toprotect their colleagues in a near-impossible situation."
It said the response by Diplomatic Security agents on thescene and CIA operatives at a nearby compound that later came under attackitself had been "timely and appropriate" but absolved the militaryfrom any blame. "There was simply not enough time for armed U.S. militaryassets to have made a difference."
The State Department sent a classified version of the reportto lawmakers on Tuesday and shortly thereafter released an unclassifiedversion. The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security,particularly at high threat posts. In an accompanying letter to Congress,Clinton thanked the board for its "clear-eyed, serious look at serioussystemic challenges" and said she accepted all the recommendations.
Some of those challenges were revealed in earliercongressional hearings when several State Department officials discussedcompeting demands for security and cost prohibitions.
Clinton said the department had already begun to implementsome of the recommendations. They include increasing by several hundred thenumber of Marine guards stationed at diplomatic missions throughout the world,relying less on local security forces for protection at embassies, consulatesand other offices, and increasing hiring and deployment of highly trained DiplomaticSecurity agents at at-risk posts.
Members of local Libyan militias provided some securityaround the consulate, but in the attack it became unclear whose side they wereon.
The report also called on Congress to fully fund the StateDepartment's security initiative, noting that budget constraints in the pasthad led some management officials to emphasize savings over security despitenumerous requests from the Benghazi mission and embassy in Tripoli for enhancedprotection.
"For many years the State Department has been engagedin a struggle to obtain the resources necessary to carry out its work withvarying degrees of success," it said. This has led to efficiencies butalso "had the effect of conditioning a few State Department managers tofavor restricting the use of resources as a general orientation."
It said the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazibefore and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeatedrequests ... for additional staffing."
"The solution requires a more serious and sustainedcommitment from Congress to support State Department needs, which, in total,constitute a small percentage of the full national budget and that spent fornational security," it said. "Congress must do its part to meet thischallenge and provide necessary resources."
Congress has denied some funding requests from the StateDepartment for more security.
In her letter to lawmakers, Clinton urged Congress tosupport the department's security requests, noting that "all of us ...have a responsibility to provide the men and women serving this country withthe best possible security and support."
Retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and a former JointChiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, led the independent review,studying thousands of pages of cables and other documents, hours of video andintelligence and interviewing more than 100 people, including survivors. Theywill testify before the House and Senate foreign affairs committees behindclosed doors on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the State Department's two deputy secretaries,William Burns and Thomas Nides, will testify in open sessions before the HouseForeign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Clinton was to have appeared at Thursday's hearing butcanceled after fainting and sustaining a concussion last week while recoveringfrom a stomach virus that dehydrated her. Clinton is under doctors' orders torest.
The Benghazi attack has highlighted the larger question ofhow U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers can do their jobs in unstableenvironments, as al-Qaida spreads across Africa, without also expanding theirsecurity. Diplomats have said that overreacting to the attack could producewhat some are calling a "Benghazi effect" that would wall them offfrom the people they are supposed to be engaging.
In her letter to lawmakers, Clinton said, "We willnever prevent every act of terrorism or achieve perfect security" but shestressed that "our diplomats cannot work in bunkers."
"We must accept a level of risk to protect this countrywe love and to advance our interests and values around the world," shesaid.