Diplomatic security in Libya 'weak,' former military team chief says [ournewsa.blogspot.com]

Diplomatic security in Libya 'weak,' former military team chief says [ournewsa.blogspot.com]

شعبده بازی های جدید آخوندی

شعبده بازی های جدید آخوندی

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A former security officer charged with protecting diplomats in Libya testified Wednesday that the team on the ground struggled to get the security it needed in the run-up to the deadly September attack. 

Lt. Col, Andrew Wood, former head of a 16-member U.S. military team in Libya, testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during the first hearing Congress has held to examine the Sept. 11 strike on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. 

Wood said "diplomatic security remained weak" through 2011. 

"The (regional security officer) struggled to obtain additional personnel but ... was never able to attain the numbers he felt comfortable with," he said. 

The committee hearing followed assertions Tuesday night by the State Department that it never concluded the Sept. 11 attack stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam. 

The claim appeared to raise even more questions among lawmakers, considering Obama administration suggested early on the video was related. 

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the oversight committee, said Wednesday that it appears the department is beginning "the process of coming clean." 

Wednesday's hearing, though, was meant to focus on security in Libya in the run-up to the attack. Four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed in the assault. 

A State Department document released by the committee Tuesday showed 230 "security incidents" over a one-year period between 2011 and 2012. 

Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom, who was testifying Wednesday, also claimed in an Oct. 1 email that he had argued for additional security, citing the "number of incidents that targeted diplomatic missions." 

However, Nordstrom suggested the U.S. government was eager to give the impression that Libya was safer than it was and declined. 

The committee hearing on Wednesday fuels an already-charged debate on Capitol Hill, both about security in Libya over the past year and about the administration's public statements describing what happened after the attack. 

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., reacting Wednesday to the latest claims, said he's just "at a loss" for why administration officials ever tried to connect the attack to the film in the first place. 

"From the very beginning, everyone knew this was a terrorist attack. I mean, there's no question, and that's why this has been totally bizarre," said Corker, who recently returned from Libya. 

The Obama administration used the film explanation for more than a week after assailants killed four Americans. Most notably, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said in several TV interviews five days after the attack that it appeared to be "spontaneous" violence spinning out of protests of the film. 

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland backed up Rice's statements in a press briefing a day later: "I would simply say that ... the comments that Ambassador Rice made accurately reflect our government's initial assessment." 

But asked Wednesday about the administration's initial -- and since retracted -- explanation linking the violence to protests over an anti-Muslim video circulating on the Internet, one State Department official said, "That was not our conclusion." He called it a question for "others" to answer, without specifying. 

Meanwhile, the White House said Wednesday that counterterrorism adviser John Brennan has met with Libya's president on a visit to Tripoli. 

The White House says Brennan reinforced U.S. support for Libya as it continues a transition to democracy. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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