Benghazi Questions Unanswered
MCCAIN, GRAHAM, and AYOTTE: Critical Questions Still Unanswered on Benghazi
With U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s withdrawal from consideration for the position of secretary of state, some have assumed that Congress will now be less insistent on a full accounting of the facts surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi that resulted in the murder of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
This is wrong, for one simple reason: The president of the United States is ultimately responsible for the safety of Americans serving our nation overseas. Regardless of whom the president nominates for national security positions in his administration, the American people deserve to know what happened three months ago in Benghazi - and why.
The release this week of the State Department’s Accountability Review Board (ARB) shows widespread failure within Mr. Obama’s administration.
Contrary to Mrs. Rice’s assertion after the attack, the ARB found that security at the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was “grossly inadequate” - the result of “systemic failures” of leadership and management. The report thoroughly discredits the administration’s narrative - pushed for two weeks after the attack - that the murder of four Americans was a result of a “spontaneous” protest to an offensive video.
While the ARB report sheds important light on some of the failings within the State Department, many important questions still remain unanswered, including: