Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


             Report: Inadequate Security at US Mission in Benghazi

   by VOA News

   An independent U.S. panel investigating the September 11 attack in
   Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans has concluded that
   security at the mission in Benghazi was "grossly inadequate."
   The Accountability Review Board says senior-level "systematic failures
   and management deficiencies" within two State Department bureaus led to
   a security posture that was inadequate to deal with the terrorist
   attacks at the facilities in the eastern Libyan city.
   The board also said the number of diplomatic security staff members in
   Benghazi at the time of the attack was "inadequate," in spite of
   repeated requests from diplomats in Libya for additional staffing.
   The panel's findings were made public late Tuesday. Earlier, the State
   Department sent a classified version of the report to Congress.
   The four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack included Ambassador
   Christopher Stephens, in what was the first murder of a U.S. ambassador
   since 1988.
   In the aftermath of the attack, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
   convened the review panel and asked it to conduct an independent
   investigation.
   In a Tuesday statement to Congress, Clinton said she was taking steps
   to ensure that the panel's recommendations were "implemented quickly
   and completely."
   The recommendations included calls for increased security at temporary
   facilities in high-risk areas. The panel also urged the State
   Department to lengthen the duty assignments for program and security
   personnel at high-risk posts. It said the "short-term, transitory
   nature" of staffing at the Benghazi mission had resulted in "diminished
   institutional knowledge" and lack of continuity.
   Clinton said she had already launched a worldwide security review, with
   special emphasis on high-threat posts. She also said the State
   Department had begun hiring and training additional diplomatic security
   personnel.
   The leaders of the review panel will present their findings to House
   and Senate foreign relations committees in a closed session on
   Wednesday. State Department officials will testify, publicly, before
   the committees on Thursday.
   The attack in Benghazi and the initial response from President Barack
   Obama's administration became a highly charged issue in the weeks
   leading up to Mr. Obama's November re-election.
   U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice received heated criticism after
   she initially described the attack as a "spontaneous reaction" to
   protests near the U.S. embassy in Cairo. At the time, anti-U.S.
   protests had erupted in Egypt and other locatopms in response to an
   anti-Islamic video that was produced in the United States.
   Rice said she was repeating information that had been provided to her
   by the U.S. intelligence community. However, ongoing Republican
   criticism led Rice to withdraw her name from consideration to replace
   Clinton as Secretary of State.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/report-inadequate-security-at-us-miss
   ion-in-benghazi/1567685.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/report-inadequate-security-at-us-mission-in-benghazi/1567685.html