Shockingly, Benghazi Probe Finds Failures, But No One To Be Disciplined

Who could have seen this coming when no underling wants to indict their superiors?

(The Hill) An independent review of the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi made public Tuesday night faults “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels” of the State Department.

The report by the Accountability Review Board says the local mission’s reliance on Libyan guards and militia members was “misplaced” and that the Libyan government’s response was “profoundly lacking.” However it “did not find reasonable cause to determine that any individual U.S. government employee breached his or her duty.”

Surprise!

NPR writes

Despite those failures, the board found that no individual U.S. official ignored or violated his or her duties and no cause for any disciplinary action.

So, there was lots wrong with the handling of the situation, but, hey, no one did anything wrong, despite 4 deaths.

Back to The Hill article

The report also confirms that there was no peaceful protest ahead of the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, as the Obama administration initially said in the days after the attack.

Well, yeah, that’s what most of us living in Reality Land knew as soon as it happened.

The report also found fault with Stevens, who was given a long leash because of his professed expertise about Libya and the security situation following Muamar Gadhafi’s overthrow.

“Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi,” the report says. It also confirmed that Stevens decided to travel to Benghazi on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks “independently of Washington, per standard practice.”

Ah, so we’re blaming the dead guy. Who asked for increased security many, many times. Which was denied many, many times.

Hey, where’s the report on who gave the stand down orders and refused to send in US military assets to attempt to save our citizens?

Fortunately, now that the horse has already escaped the barn (from the NPR article)

“[T]he State Department is asking permission from Congress to transfer $1.3 billion from funds that had been allocated for spending in Iraq. This includes $553 million for additional Marine security guards; $130 million for diplomatic security personnel; and $691 million for improving security at installations abroad.”

Oh, good, let’s make the Iraq mission less safe. Perhaps we could spend less on Chevy Volts for our embassies instead.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!