Clinton set for long-awaited Libya testimony
More than four months after the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in eastern Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will deliver long-awaited testimony on the historic security failure.
The secretary, after missing prior sessions before Congress due to illness, is set to take lawmakers' questions Wednesday before a House and Senate committee. As Clinton prepares to leave the department after a busy four years, the hearing is a chance to address what is arguably the biggest controversy of her tenure.
"There's no question there hasn't been the accountability within the department," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the incoming top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News. "I think this is going to be the beginning, I hope ... of a top-to-bottom review."
Congress has already held multiple hearings to date, with lower-level officials testifying, on the Benghazi attack. The administration has gradually backed off its position that the attack was spontaneous -- an assertion that drew the ire of congressional lawmakers who said it was clearly planned. An official State Department-sanctioned report has resulted in several officials leaving their current posts, after finding "systemic failures" left the Benghazi compound inadequately protected.
The hearing Wednesday, though, is a forum for lawmakers to question Clinton on what she might have known about requests for security at the Benghazi post -- and what she thinks should be done to improve security going forward, as she prepares to leave the department. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., has been nominated to replace her.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday "there was no question" that Clinton "considered it her responsibility to learn the lessons from this, and to take the department forward in implementing whatever lessons were learned."
There are also questions about how the Obama administration responded to the crisis during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. Fox News has learned from senior U.S. defense officials that a FAST team of Marines out of Spain was asked by State Department officials to change out of their Marine uniforms after being asked to leave for Libya to help -- this required them to deplane and delayed them by about 90 minutes, according to Pentagon officials.
Then there is the decision by Clinton and State Department Undersecretary of Management Patrick Kennedy not to mobilize the Counterterrorism Security Group, which is composed of experts on terrorism from across government agencies and makes recommendations to the deputies who assist the president's Cabinet in formulating a response to crises involving terrorism.
Further, there are questions about the perceived delays CIA officials -- stationed in Benghazi -- encountered that night and their frustration that air support was not sent from nearby Sigonella air base. In recent weeks, Fox News has learned that the rescue unit that left Tripoli was told that "fast fliers" -- or air support -- would be above when they landed in Benghazi. They weren't.
Still, the department's review board concluded: "The Board members believe every possible effort was made to rescue and recover Ambassador Chris Stevens and Sean Smith. The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference."
Lawmakers have waited months to ask Clinton direct questions about the Benghazi attack, in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed. That attack, though, may just be the starting point for Wednesday's hearings amid mounting questions about the hostage crisis in Algeria and the French-led military campaign in neighboring Mali.
Corker told Fox News "there's going to be a lot of questions about just the overall policies of this administration as it relates to" Al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/23/senator-calls-for-top-to...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Central Scrutinizer on
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Clinton Shouts: 'What Difference Would It Make?'
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton choked up at a Benghazi hearing today on Capitol Hill:
For me, this is not just a matter of policy, it's personal," said Clinton, holding back tears. "I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews. I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters. It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to lead the men and women of the State Department and USAID. Nearly 70,000 serving here in Washington and at more than 275 posts around the world. They get up and go to work every day -- often in difficult and dangerous circumstances thousands of miles from home -- because they believe the United States is the most extraordinary force for peace and progress the earth has ever known."
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lol
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Permalink Reply by Christopher on
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She had to read that part from the script?
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Permalink Reply by Citizen Quasar on
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I submit that, just like Bill Clinton (Anyone notice a resemblance?) when he had his "heart attack" that Hitlery had NOTHING medically wrong occur to her but that she has been having her body secretly upgraded. Perhaps she now has the Cheney Heart like Bill. In any case, I think this is a more likely explanation for her skanky assed absence than that she "hit her head."
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Permalink Reply by Lawrence Edward Calcutt on
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No sooner said then done. It took all of 1 minute.
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Permalink Reply by truth on
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Bruce Braley calls on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to release...
Friday, January 25, 2013 12:23 PMU.S. Rep. Bruce Braley on Friday called on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to release a video showing real-time footage of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Four Americans were killed in the attack, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. The incident has become a point of controversy between Republicans in Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration, with critics questioning whether the administration hid facts or misrepresented its understanding of the situation in the days and weeks after it occurred.
Braley, a Democrat from Iowa, and other congressmen were shown the video last month. In a letter dated Friday, Braley asked Clinton to declassify “as much of (the video) as possible.”
“I’m calling on the Administration to release this video because the American people deserve transparency and a clearer understanding of what really happened in Libya on that terrible day,” Braley said in a statement announcing the letter. “Without endangering any national security, I believe that this video can be declassified in order to give everyone a true understanding of this attack.”
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Permalink Reply by Benito Turturici on
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While Bill aand Hillary were occupying the Govenors Mansion in Mena, Arkansas, they were IMPORTATING TONS of Cocaine and sending back Arms/Weapons back to S America. ever heard of the Iran-Contra affair ?? http://youtu.be/nxaFGsdGxnc
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