Report Hint At Systematic Failures During The Benghazi Attack

Report Hint At Systematic Failures During The Benghazi Attack

Deficiencies in the leadership and management in two State Department bureaus coupled with systematic failures resulted to the deaths during the Benghazi attack last September 11, according to an independent panel report.

The report went into the specifics on the Benghazi attack that resulted to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens along with three other Americans. Former Ambassador Tom Pickering and Mike Mullen, a former Joints Chief Chairman headed the independent review panel.

The co-chairs are expected to give a briefing to a congressional committee about the report’s classified version while the Senate and the House are expected to conduct hearings about the report.

Among the people who are supposed to testify on the Benghazi attack was Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, but she unavailable due to flu. Instead Thomas Nides and William Burns, two of her deputies, will take her place.

The US consulate in Benghazi, which had minimal defense, was attacked by militants on last September 11. The consulate was set on fire during the Benghazi attack. Ambassador Stevens along with Sean Smith were killed at the consulate while two other Americans, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were killed in a mortar attack at a safe house of the CIA.

The incident resulted to questions whether there was ample security at the consulate. The State Department was also questioned on whether it acted on requests for additional protection.

Officials also said that contradicting reports were provided by US spy agencies on the people responsible for the attacks. Some agencies indicated that the Benghazi attack was an offshoot of protests against a US-made video that was anti-Muslim while others pointed to al-Qaeda.

A number of Republican lawmakers also criticized the comments of UN Ambassador Susan Rice that hinted at the possibility that the Benghazi attack was a spur-of-the-moment reaction to the US-made video. However, Rice later clarified that she merely relayed the intelligence reports on the Benghazi attack.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday December 20 2012, 1:45 AM EST. Ref: NBC News. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0