The Senate Benghazi Report - We Still Don't Know What Really Happened or Why

The Senate Intelligence Committee issued its long-awaited report last Monday, finding that the deadly September 11, 2012, attack by militants on US diplomatic posts in Benghazi, Libya, was preventable. The report blamed the State Department for inadequate security precautions in the months before the attacks on the American diplomatic post and CIA compound, and it definitely declared that individuals tied to al-Qaida groups were involved in the Benghazi attack, challenging recent claims that the terror network was not a factor. The findings released Monday came nearly one year after then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under congressional questioning over the nature of the attack, shouted at lawmakers : “What difference, at this point, does it make?” The Obama administration initially claimed the attack spontaneously developed out of a protest against an anti-Islam film, but has since given progressively more complicated assessments. But, even today, administration officials downplay al-Qaida involvement, recently seizing on a questionable New York Times report (see my blog of December 30, 2013) that supported those claims. While the Senate report does not implicate the al-Qaida “core” (groups located in Pakistan and along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border), it clearly blames some of the most influential al-Qaida branches, including al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The Senate report concludes that : “Individuals affiliated with terrorist groups, including AQIM, Ansar al-Sharia, AQAP, and the Mohammad Jamal Network, participated in the September 11, 2012, attacks.” The militant Ansar al-Sharia was, separately, labeled by the State Department as a terror group last week, in part over its alleged involvement in the Benghazi strike. The Senate report stressed its conclusion that the intelligence still suggests the attack was not “highly coordinated,” but rather “opportunistic” and possibly put in place in “short order” after protests over an anti-Islam film elsewhere in the region, especially Cairo : “It remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attacks,” according to the report, which, however, reaffirmed that there was no protest in Benghazi before the attack. US intelligence agencies had issued numerous reports warning that security in eastern Libya was deteriorating and that US personnel and posts in Benghazi were at risk, according to a declassified report also released by the committee. But the committee said the State Department "failed to increase security enough to address the threat," even though the US diplomatic post in Benghazi had suffered two earlier, but less damaging, attacks during the previous six months. Four Americans, including Christopher Stevens, the US Ambassador to Libya, were killed on September 11, 2012, when militants attacked the underprotected US diplomatic compound in Benghazi and a better-fortified CIA base nearby (the State Department hired the "February 17th Martyr’s Brigade" to defend the diplomatic mission, a group linked to lawless Libya militia and accused of having links to al-Qaida). The attack became a political flashpoint in Washington in the run-up to the 2012 election. Republicans argued that President Obama tried to play down its significance as he campaigned for a second term. GOP Senator Marco Rubio said : “Throughout this investigation, the Obama administration was more of a roadblock than a contributor to committee efforts to look into the root cause of these attacks....This is especially troubling given that no one at the State Department, which has direct responsibility for the safety of US diplomatic posts overseas, has been held accountable. Despite many promises of ensuring justice for those behind this attack, that has not happened. This complete absence of accountability is unacceptable, and it is my hope that this administration will finally commit the intelligence, diplomatic and military resources to bring those responsible for these attacks to justice.” Rubio and Senator Richard Burr called the Senate's report incomplete. "This bipartisan report is a step forward in our understanding of these events, but should not by any means be viewed as a final verdict," Senator Burr said. "To the extent this report is incomplete, it is not due to the Committee's unwillingness to investigate, but the State Department's intransigence. It is our obligation and duty to continue to ask probing questions and investigate all details as they continue to come to light - as they invariably will." The Senate report also said it found no evidence that US spy agencies or the State Department had received specific warnings pinpointing that exact day for an attack. However, it said the CIA and State Department had both sent "general warning notices to facilities worldwide" about possible attacks on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on the United States. The report put heavy blame on the State Department and intelligence services : "Despite the clearly deteriorating security situation in Benghazi and requests for additional security resources, few significant improvements were made by the State Department" to the diplomatic compound where Stevens died, though the CIA base was better protected, the report said. The committee said murky intelligence reporting in the immediate aftermath of the attacks led to confused or erroneous public statements by "policymakers" who initially blamed the attack on a protest against an anti-Islamic video produced in the United States that had appeared on the Internet. The committee said US spy agencies "took too long to correct these erroneous reports." A CIA spokesman said the agency had cooperated with the investigation and will "examine the committee's recommendations pertaining to agency practices and procedures." A State Department official said, "The Department is focused on preventing another tragedy like this one." ~~~~~ Dear readers, this bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report represents the first time that congressional Democrats have joined Republicans in affirming that the Benghazi attack was led by al-Qaida, that the State Department could have prevented the death of four American diplomats in Benghazi if it had not ignored the intelligence reports and pleas for assistance from the diplomatic mission, and the report less directly blamed State Department "policymakers" for not providing leadership in protecting Benghazi diplomats and for refusing security measures they say could have prevented the deaths of the US ambassador and three other Americans - clearly a reference to Hillary Clinton, who was then Secretary of State. The Senate report stated that increased security was needed. Since the release of the Senate report, GOP Senator John McCain, a senior congressional military expert, has reiterated his conclusion that the attack was, indeed, planned because mortar fire such as that which hit the US facilities must be planned to be accurate. McCain says everyone in Congress and the US military knows this. Unfortunately, the Senate intelligence Committee Report also says that 15 people in Libya who have tried to help the FBI investigate the murders have been killed. Not a positive sign of improved security needed to achieve future cooperation with America in Libya and the Middle East. Benghazi has not been buried with this Senate report. Its reliance on Obama administration witnesses, largely uncorroborated by witnesses who were in Benghazi when the attack occurred because blocked from testifying by the State and Justice departments, cannot be the final word. Benghazi will not be over until Mr. Obama explains why he went to bed during the attack...until Mrs. Clinton explains why she refused to protect Ambassador Stevens and his group...until America has the conviction that it knows what really happened in Benghazi - and why.