Benghai Timeline

 Congress to continue probes of Benghazi attacks

November 07, 2012|Mark Hosenball | Reuters

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-07/news/sns-rt-us-usa-campaign-benghazibre8a62cg-20121107_1_benghazi-ambassador-christopher-stevens-investigators

(ESAM OMRAN AL-FETORI, REUTERS)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just because the election is over, that does not mean that U.S. President Barack Obama is going to get an easy ride over his administration's handling of the September 11 attacks on U.S. missions in Benghazi, Libya.

While Republican attacks on Obama over the handling of the assault, which killed four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, became a major part of the campaign in recent weeks, an investigator said on Wednesday the inquiry was never related to the election.

With majority control of the House of Representatives, Obama's Republican critics will continue to wield broad investigative powers, including the ability to subpoena evidence and testimony from administration officials.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held a contentious hearing in early October on the Benghazi attacks, will continue its investigation, a spokesman for the committee said.

The Republican vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, said his panel would proceed with its review of the Benghazi attacks.

Investigators seek to understand "how terrorists were able to successfully breach our diplomatic facilities, why the administration obscured the role of al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists in its presentations to the American people, and why there appears to be a lack of urgency in finding and holding accountable those responsible for the deaths of four Americans," Chambliss wrote in an email to Reuters. He also said the investigation was never related to the campaign.

The office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, could not be immediately reached for comment. Last month, Feinstein announced that the panel would hold a closed oversight hearing about Benghazi on November 15, with additional hearings to follow.

A spokesman for the White House had no comment on the Congressional inquiries and the State Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.

One step Capitol Hill investigators might take is to conduct on-site visits to Libya to pursue their inquiries, said a Republican Congressional aide.

Republicans also want to investigate the questions of who set a policy under which security measures at U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya were supposed to be inconspicuous and convey an appearance of normality, and what the Obama administration knew about the reliability of Libyan militias on which U.S. diplomats in Benghazi relied for security.

The aide said congressional investigators may also seek to examine whether security measures at other diplomatic posts in the region, and elsewhere around the world, match up to intelligence reporting on potential threats.

U.S. officials now acknowledge that in the months before the attacks, there was extensive intelligence reporting about the activities of Islamic militants in the Benghazi area. They also acknowledge that within hours of the Benghazi attacks, the U.S. had information indicating that people affiliated with three militant movements - Ansar al Sharia, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Egypt based Muhammad Jamal group - were likely involved in the attack.

During the final phase of the attack - in which mortar rounds were fired at the CIA's relatively well-fortified Benghazi base, killing two security officers - the attackers also managed within a space of a few minutes to adjust the aim of the mortar, indicating what multiple government officials said was some measure of skill or training on their part.

Before the election, some Republicans harshly attacked the Obama administration for making public statements that played up the possibility - subsequently discredited by intelligence reports - that the assaults were a spontaneous protest against a U.S. made anti-Islamic video, while playing down the involvement of militants.

(Editing by Paul Eckert and Carol Bishopric)

The list of suspects in the Libya terror attack now extends to a handful of suspected militants aligned with an Egyptian group known as the Jamal Network, Fox News has learned. 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/08/benghazi-attack-suspect-list-expands-to-include-egyptians/

A U.S. official said the Jamal Network is committed to violence to attain its political ambitions, adding they are "hard-core, violent extremists in Egypt who are trying to develop a relationship with Al Qaeda." 

Fox News is told that there are between two- and three-dozen suspects actively being investigated at any one time in connection with the Benghazi attack. The suspect list is fluid, drawn from intelligence ranging from intercepts to witness accounts, with new names being added and dropped on a regular basis. 

The majority of the suspects were described to Fox News as "locals" who come from Libya and are followers of the group Ansar al-Shariah, which wants to establish an Islamic state with adherence to strict Shariah law. 

The additional suspects are being investigated after one Tunisian suspect, Ali Ani al-Harzi, was first arrested in Turkey -- after being identified through telephone intercepts where he bragged to friends about his involvement -- and transferred to Tunisian custody.

There is also at least one suspect with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq. 

The radical ties of the suspects further raises questions about the degree of planning that may have been involved in an attack initially described as "spontaneous." 

The Jamal Network takes its name from Mohammed Jamal Abu Ahmed, who was released from an Egyptian jail during the Arab Spring and is now trying to establish himself as a leader in Jihadi circles. U.S. officials believe he established training camps in Libya, and it was in these camps that some of the fighters linked to the attack were trained. 

Within the last 10 days, Egyptian police have broken up a "terrorist cell" linked to the Jamal network. As many as 12 militants were arrested.   

In the October raid, Libyan Karim Ahmed Essam al-Azizy, who was linked to the consulate attack, was killed. 

Mohammed Jamal reportedly has secured financing from the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen, and he has sought permission to formally establish an Al Qaeda affiliate of his own in Egypt. 

An analyst who does open source intelligence collection for the government told Fox News that Egypt and the Sinai peninsula are the new training ground  for Al Qaeda. "Egypt and the Sinai are the new ground zero for Al Qaeda activity. It's fertile ground given the release of high-ranking Jihadists with connections to Zawahri including his brother. Egyptian security forces are unable to penetrate the Sinai."

Analysts search for clues in al-Zawahiri remarks on Benghazi

By Paul Cruickshank

Editor's note: "Al Qaeda," a five-volume collection of writings about the terrorist network, edited and introduced by CNN Terrorism Analyst Paul Cruickshank, was published last week.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri again referenced the Benghazi, Libya, attack in an audio tape posted on jihadist websites last week, in remarks that, like all his statements, were immediately carefully scrutinized by counter-terrorism analysts searching for clues about the terrorist network's operations.

Al-Zawahiri had called for Americans to be targeted in Libya the day before the diplomatic mission was attacked, leading to speculation that al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan had some sort of role or influence in the attack.

Al-Zawahiri made the passing reference to the September 11 attack on Benghazi in a message addressed to al Qaeda's affiliate Al-Shabaab in Somalia, in which he also referenced violent protests outside U.S embassies in Egypt and Yemen that occurred just before and just after the Benghazi attack. But notably, the al Qaeda chief did not claim responsibility for the deadly attack in eastern Libya.

"They were defeated in Iraq and they are withdrawing from Afghanistan, and their ambassador in Benghazi was killed and the flags of their embassies were lowered in Cairo and Sanaa (Yemen), and in their places were raised the flags of tawhid (monotheism) and jihad," al-Zawahiri stated, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group

U.S. and Libyan officials believe the attack in Benghazi was carried out by pro-al Qaeda jihadists, and are investigating the possible involvement of members of a local constellation of Islamist militants known as Ansar al Sharia, as well as regional extremist networks, including al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

The killing of four Americans, including the ambassador, in such a high-profile attack was hailed as a victory by al Qaeda sympathizers on online forums, after a series of setbacks in recent years for the terrorist network and its allies, and their failure to hit back at American interests.

But al-Zawahiri has notably not taken credit for the September 11 attack on Benghazi, despite the fact he called for an attack on Americans in Libya in a tape released on the eve of the assault on the U.S. compound.

His specific call in a 9/11 anniversary video for Libyan jihadists to attack Americans to avenge the death in a drone strike in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region of senior Libyan al Qaeda operative Abu Yahya al-Libi in June was circulating at least 18 hours before the attack on the compound, according to terror analyst Ben Venzke of the terrorist-monitoring group IntelCenter, leaving open the possibility that it played a role. The video was the first time al-Zawahiri acknowledged al-Libi's death.

The attack on the U.S. mission and CIA annex in Benghazi appears to have been exactly the sort of terrorist attack al-Zawahiri was for years pressing for internally within the al Qaeda organization. Intelligence retrieved from Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound following his death in May 2011 indicated al-Zawahiri disagreed with bin Laden's focus on attacking the U.S. homeland, and pressed for the group and its affiliates to focus on the more achievable goal of attacking U.S. interests in the Muslim world, according to the Washington Post.

But Venzke told CNN in September that given the timing of al-Zawahiri's September 10 statement, it was hard to believe the message from al-Zawahiri instigated the attack in Libya.

"Based on more than a decade of threat analysis we have carried out, it would be unusual to have such a rapid correlation between a threat statement and an attack, but it is not outside the realm of possibility," Venzke said.

Other analysts suggest it is possible al-Zawahiri was given some advance warning that an operation against American interests was in the works in Libya, and say that his September 10 statement may have served as a "go" signal for the attack. Intelligence recovered from Abbottabad revealed that al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan were more regularly in communication through couriers with the leaders of affiliated groups in North Africa and the Middle East than many terrorism analysts previously believed.

According to several news reports, one group suspected of possible involvement in Benghazi attack is a network run by Muhammad Jamal Abu Ahmad, an Egyptian militant formerly part of al-Zawahiri's group released from prison in Cairo in 2011. Citing Western officials, the Wall Street Journal reported Jamal petitioned al-Zawahiri to set up an al Qaeda affiliate, suggesting the possibility he may have been in communication with al Qaeda's leader.

But U.S. officials have told CNN they believe it is unlikely that "core" al Qaeda was behind the Benghazi attack. Some officials believe the operation, though not spontaneous, was quickly put together - after the perpetrators heard that violence had broken out at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier that day - rather than the result of weeks of planning.

Aaron Zelin, a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told CNN that al-Zawahiri's most recent statement points against the main al Qaeda group being involved.

"Nowhere does Zawahiri claim responsibility for the attack in Benghazi or involvement with the demonstrations in Egypt or Yemen. This suggests that while Zawahiri approves of it, actual links between these actions and al-Qaeda Central in Pakistan are probably thin," he told CNN.

But Noman Benotman, a senior analyst at the Quilliam Foundation, has said an al-Zawahiri role in the attack should not yet be ruled out. "My guess is that Zawahiri knew something was in the works before releasing the tape," he told CNN in late September. "It would have been very strange for him to wait so long otherwise before acknowledging the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi."

Benotman indicated that if al-Zawahiri did have a role in the Benghazi attack, he may delay claiming responsibility for a variety of reasons, including not wanting to provoke the kind of U.S. response in Libya that might jeopardize his wider strategic goals.

"Remember it took Zawahiri a whole year to claim responsibility for the July 7, 2005, London bombings," Benotman told CNN.

Benotman, a former leading member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who last met al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan in 2000, believes Zawahiri's priority in Libya is to create a safe-haven for the terrorist group as part of a strategy of encircling Egypt, a country long viewed by the Egyptian as the ultimate prize. In the past year pro-al Qaeda jihadists have significantly expanded their presence to the east of Egypt's population centers in the Sinai and to their west in eastern Libya.

Al-Zawahiri in statements since the Arab Spring has urged followers in Libya to make preparations for a possible armed campaign against any pro-Western government that might emerge in the country. "Prepare, and be ready and recruit," al-Zawahiri stated in September 2011, after the fall of the Moammar Gadhafi regime.

Benotman told CNN he believes the reason no militant group in Libya has yet come forward to claim responsibility for the consulate attack is they fear they would be blamed for the resulting backlash against jihadists in the country.

Al-Zawahiri first mentioned the Benghazi attack in an audio tape released on October 12 in which he praised the perpetrators.

"Greetings to the honorable free ones protecting Islam, and (greetings) upon those who raided the American embassy in Benghazi, and the ones who protested in front of the American embassy in Cairo and downed its American flag and raised instead the flag of Islam and jihad. And I invite them to continue their confrontation with the American Crusader-Zionist aggression on Islam and Muslims, and I invite the rest of Muslims to follow their lead," he stated, according to a translation by Flashpoint Partners, an American outfit tracking jihadist websites.

Post by: By Paul Cruickshank

Acting CIA chief has been through this before

By Pam Benson, CNN

Sun November 11, 2012(CNN) -- Once again, Michael Morell is being called on to fill in as acting director of the CIA, this time after the resignation of David Petraeus on Friday.

It was only last year, during the two-month gap from the time Leon Panetta left the CIA until Petraeus took over the helm, that Deputy Director Morell oversaw the agency.

The career intelligence officer joined the CIA in 1980. Much of his early career focused on Asian issues, and he has had a steady climb up the career ladder.

He served as then-CIA Director George Tenet's executive assistant and presided over the daily intelligence briefing for President George W. Bush. After a three-year overseas assignment in the mid-2000s, he returned to headquarters, where he became the associate deputy director responsible for the day-to-day operation of the agency.

After spending two years as the director of intelligence, overseeing the work of analysts, he was appointed to his current position as Deputy Director in May 2010.

In his statement on the resignation of Petraeus, President Barack Obama expressed trust in Morell continuing the work of the CIA.

"I have the utmost confidence in Acting Director Michael Morell and the men and women of the CIA who work every day to keep our nation safe," he said.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/15/1014241/timline-benghazi-attack/?mobile=nc

Six weeks following the assault on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya, many questions remain regarding the nature of the attacks, what the Obama administration knew and when, and the way that knowledge was delivered to the public. Adding to that confusion is the GOP’s desire to politicize the issue in the run-up to the presidential election.

Mitt Romney was widely scorned for criticizing Obama in the assault’s immediate aftermath for allegedly sympathizing with the attackers. But days later, Romney, his allies and other pundits found an opening to again criticize the administration. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice claimed that the attack in Libya was an outgrowth of the protests in Cairo against an anti-Muslim film. But the administration’s story soon changed.

This shift in story — while always likely given the nature of intelligence — launched a new round of condemnation against Obama. Accusations and speculation of administration lies and cover-ups have been the major focus of the narrative since then.

But the reality is much more nuanced than what the built-up narrative suggests. The following is a timeline of not the attack itself, but the response to it, by the Obama administration, Mitt Romney’s campaign and the right-wing:

September 11, 2012: Protests take place at the U.S. embassy in Cairo. The anger was reportedly sparked by a video, purported to be the trailer of a full-length movie, called “The Innocence of Muslims,” that portrayed Islam in a highly negative and derogatory light. This demonstration will soon spread to other cities throughout the Middle East, including Khartoum, Sanaa and Tunis.

September 11: Dozens of armed militants launch an attack on an American diplomatic outpost in the Libyan city Benghazi.

The lag tracks with earlier reporting indicating a delay in the intelligence community revising earlier assessments of the causes of the attack.

New Detailed Account of Benghazi Attack Notes CIA’s Quick Response

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/11/new-detailed-account-of-benghazi-attack-notes-cias-quick-response/

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Intelligence officials have disclosed a new detailed timeline of the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, acknowledging the CIA played a greater role in responding to the attack than has previously been disclosed.  A senior U.S. intelligence official also insisted that the CIA security team that initially responded to the attack was not given orders “to stand down in providing support,” as had been suggested in media reports.

The timeline provided by a senior U.S. intelligence official gives the first precise account of how CIA security teams provided the first response to the Sept. 11 attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

The attack has become a political hot potato in the presidential campaign, with conservatives accusing the administration of not being transparent.  The State Department has previously released a detailed account of the night’s events, but did not acknowledge a CIA role in the response.  The timeline given by a senior Intelligence official  confirms that the facility previously described by the State Department as an annex, was in fact, a facility housing CIA security officers.  It does not provide any additional details on the current intelligence assessment that the attack was an opportunistic result of earlier protests that day outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo over an anti-Muslim movie.

The official says there was “no second guessing” of those on the ground in Libya by senior officials either in Libya or Washington.

“There were no orders to anybody to stand down in providing support,” said the official.  The official’s comments appeared to be a direct rebuttal of a Fox News report that CIA teams on the ground had been told by superior officers to “stand down” from providing security support to the consulate.

According to the official, upon learning of the attack at the consulate, the security team at the annex responded “as quickly and effectively as possible.”  The official described how the security team tried to rally additional support from local Libyan forces and heavier weapons, but that when that could not be accomplished “within minutes” they moved out to the compound. The official called the security team “genuine heroes” who risked their lives to save those at the compound.

According to the new timeline the annex received a call at 9:40 p.m. local time that the consulate was coming under attack. A team of six CIA security operatives left the annex for the mission within 25 minutes of that call.

Over the next 25 minutes the security team approached the compound and attempted to secure heavy weapons.  They encountered heavy enemy fire when they entered the consulate compound to locate Stevens and the other Americans who were there at the time of the attack.

At 11:11 p.m., an unarmed U.S. military surveillance drone arrived over the compound.  U.S. officials have told ABC News that the drone had been redirected to Benghazi from an ongoing mission elsewhere in Libya.

By 11:30pm, all of the Americans, with the exception of the missing Stevens, had left the compound in vehicles that immediately came under fire. The annex itself came under sporadic small arms and RPG fire for the next 90 minutes before the attackers eventually dispersed.

At around 1 a.m. an additional CIA team of about six security officers from the embassy in Tripoli had arrived at Benghazi. U.S. officials have acknowledged that the embassy in Tripoli had chartered an aircraft to take the team to Benghazi. The official disclosed the new detail that two U.S. military officers were part of the team that flew in from Tripoli.

Upon learning that the situation at the annex had calmed down, the team that came in from Tripoli initially wanted to focus their attention on locating Stevens, who had been taken to a local hospital.

When the team finally managed to secure transportation and an armed escort into Benghazi, they learned that Stevens “was almost certainly dead and that the security situation at the hospital was uncertain.” At that point they headed to the annex to help evacuate the Americans located there.

They arrived at the annex at 5:15 a.m., just before mortar rounds begin to hit the complex. The attack killed two security officers, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, who were located on the annex’s roof.  Doherty had been part of the security team that had flown in from Tripoli. The new attack on the annex lasted only 11 minutes. Less than an hour later everyone at the annex was evacuated with the help of ‘a heavily armed Libyan military unit.“

CNN) -- The Pentagon released Friday an hour-by-hour timeline of the September 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, highlighting when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and senior commanders were informed of the attack and when decisions were made to move forces to assist. The release comes as the Obama administration is facing increasing questions over its response to the attack.

Obama administration continues explanations on Benghazi decision-making

September 11 (Events are listed using the time in Benghazi

9:42 p.m. -- Armed men begin their assault on the U.S. Consulate.

9:59 p.m. -- A surveillance drone is directed to fly over the U.S. compound.

10:32 p.m. -- The Office of the Secretary Defense and the Joint Staff are notified of the attack by the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. "The information is quickly passed to Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey."

11 p.m. -- Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey meet with President Obama at the White House where they discuss the unfolding situation and how to respond. The meeting had been previously scheduled.

11:10 p.m. -- The surveillance drone arrives over the Benghazi facility.

11:30 p.m. -- All surviving U.S. personnel are evacuated from the consulate. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and State Department computer expert Sean Smith were killed in the initial assault.

September 12                          

Midnight to 2 a.m. -- Panetta and other senior leaders discuss possible options for further violence if it were to break out. Panetta gives verbal orders for Marine anti-terrorist teams from Rota, Spain, to prepare to deploy to Tripoli and Benghazi. Panetta also orders a special operations force team training in Croatia and an additional special operations force team in the United States to prepare to deploy to a staging base in southern Italy.

1:30 a.m. -- A six-man security team from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli in Benghazi.

2:39 a.m. to 2:53 a.m. -- The National Military Command Center gives formal authorization for the deployment of the two special operations force teams.

5:15 a.m. -- Attackers launch assault on U.S. annex facility in Benghazi. Two former U.S. Navy SEALs are killed Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

6:05 a.m. -- A C-17 in Germany prepares to deploy to evacuate consulate personnel.

7:40 a.m. -- The first wave of Americans are evacuated to Tripoli via airplane.

10 a.m. -- A second group, including those killed in the attack, are flown to Tripoli.

2:15 p.m. -- The C-17 departs from Germany for Tripoli.

7:17 p.m. -- The C-17 leaves Tripoli with the American consulate personnel and the bodies of Stevens, Smith, Woods and Doherty.

7:57 p.m. -- The U.S. special op team Croatia arrives at a staging base in Italy.

8:56 p.m. -- One of the Marine anti-terrorist teams from Spain arrives in Tripoli.

9:28 p.m. -- The U.S.-based special operations force team arrives at its staging base in Italy.

September 11: Governor Mitt Romney’s campaign issues a statement condemning the Obama administration’s response to the global protests:

ROMNEY: “I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

September 12: Initial reports surface that Ambassador Chris Stevens has been killed, along with other American citizens. The story of how continues to shift throughout day as details emerge.

September 12: In the immediate aftermath of news of Ambassador Stevens’ death, Republicans criticized the Romney campaign’s statement. But the campaign stuck to its attack. When asked about the statement, Romney foreign policy advisor Richard Williamson, replied, “It was accurate.”

September 12: The New York Times reports that “[f]ighters involved in the assault…said in interviews during the battle that they were moved to attack the mission by anger over a 14-minute, American-made video that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, as a villainous, homosexual and child-molesting buffoon.” The Times continues to stand by its story.

September 12: President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton give remarks on the death of Ambassador Stevens and others. Both pledge justice against the perpetrators of the attacks. In his speech, Obama refers to the attack as an “act of terror”:

OBAMA: No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.

September 13: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says during a press briefing and a later press gaggle that the protests around the world were due to reaction to the video. In the gaggle, Carney made clear he didn’t want to speculate in light of the ongoing investigation. His remarks were later taken to mean that the Benghazi attack was based on video.

September 13: President Obama, at a campaign rally in Denver, CO, reiterates the previous day’s statement, referring to the events in Benghazi as an act of terror:

OBAMA: So what I want all of you to know is that we are going to bring those who killed our fellow Americans to justice. I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America.

September 16: United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice goes on all five major Sunday news shows to explain current administration thinking on the Benghazi attack. During her statements, Rice says that the attacks were in part a response to the anti-Islam video that had spurred protests across the region. But, contrary to the popular narrative, Rice did not give a definitive answer as to what exactly took place in Benghazi, for example, in her appearance on ABC’s This Week:

RICE: [O]ur current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous — not a premeditated — response to what had transpired in Cairo. In Cairo, as you know, a few hours earlier, there was a violent protest that was undertaken in reaction to this very offensive video that was disseminated.

We believe that folks in Benghazi, a small number of people came to the embassy to — or to the consulate, rather, to replicate the sort of challenge that was posed in Cairo. And then as that unfolded, it seems to have been hijacked, let us say, by some individual clusters of extremists who came with heavier weapons, weapons that as you know in — in the wake of the revolution in Libya are — are quite common and accessible. And it then evolved from there.

We’ll wait to see exactly what the investigation finally confirms, but that’s thebest information we have at present.

September 19: National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen calls the assault in Benghazi an “opportunistic attack” in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. “I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy,” he said.

September 19: CNN reports that Ambassador Stevens remained concerned about security in Libya in the months before his death. CNN’s reporting is later revealed to be based on finding Stevens’ personal journal in the Benghazi site’s wreckage.

September 20: CBS reports that Libyan witnesses maintain that there were no protestsimmediately prior to the attack on the outpost in Benghazi. The statement contradicts Rice’s statements on the Sunday morning shows that the attack was sparked by the Cairo protest against the anti-Muslim video.

September 20: Fox News begins pushing the idea that the administration’s shift in narrative on the Benghazi attack is a “cover-up,” first on Sean Hannity’s show, then elsewhere.

September 21: Clinton appoints an independent panel, led by veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering, to investigate potential failures in the State Department’s procedures in Benghazi.

September 21: Citizens in Benghazi protest against the militias based in their city, culminating in the expulsion of the Ansar al-Sharia militia — the group suspected of the attack that killed Ambassador Stevens — from their headquarters.

September 24: President Obama speaks before the U.N. General Assembly on the need to protect freedom of speech. Right-wing commentators later criticize the President for focusing on the video rather than terrorism.

September 26: The Daily Beast reports that some U.S. intelligence officials had “strong indications” that the Benghazi attack was perpetrated by al-Qaeda affiliated groups just 24 hours after the assault — providing fuel to the “cover up” narrative.

September 27: Right-wing blogs continue to point to FBI being unable to access Benghazi site, despite CNN being able to, as a sign of administration deception or incompetence.

September 28: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence takes responsibility for the intelligence community’s claim, repeated by Rice, that the Benghazi attack was launched in response to the protests against the anti-Muslim video in Cairo.

September 28: Rep. Peter King (R-NY) calls for Rice’s resignation over her comments on September 16th:

KING: I believe that this was such a failure of foreign policy messag[ing] and leadership, such a misstatement of facts as was known at the time … for her to go on all of those shows and in effect be our spokesman for the world and be misinforming the American people and our allies and countries around the world, to me, somebody has to pay the price for this.

September 30: Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), in an appearance on Fox News, refers to the situation as “Benghazi-gate” and maintains that it is a scandal worse than Watergate.

October 3: Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee Darrel Issa (R-CA) calls the first witnesses in a forthcoming hearing on the administration’s handling of security in Libya.

October 4: An FBI team reaches the Benghazi site, collecting evidence for about twelve hours.

October 8: Romney delivers a foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute. In his remarks, Romney criticizes the Obama administration’s narrative on the events in Benghazi:

ROMNEY: This latest assault cannot be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting Islam, despite the administration’s attempts to convince us of that for so long.

No, as the Administration has finally conceded, these attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists who use violence to impose their dark ideology on others, especially women and girls; who are fighting to control much of the Middle East today; and who seek to wage perpetual war on the West.

October 9: State Department officials say in response to inquiries on whether the attack was prompted by protests against the video, “That is a question that you would have to ask others. That was not our conclusion. I’m not saying that we had a conclusion, but we outlined what happened.”

October 10: In a phone interview, Romney says to Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin, “I think there was misleading on the part of the administration” with regards to Benghazi.

October 10: During a hearing that House Democrats warned would be highly partisan prior to its beginning, testimony was given by several current and former State Department officials that security in Benghazi was lacking. Career official Deputy Assistant Secretary Charlene Lamb took the majority of the blame for the decisions made regarding diplomatic security.

October 10: The officials also testified that they denied requests for greater security in Libya, but those requests “were largely focused on extending the tours of security guards at the American Embassy in Tripoli — not at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, 400 miles away.” Former Regional Security Officer for Libya Eric Nordstrom also says, ““Having an extra foot of wall, or an extra half dozen guards or agents would not have enabled us to respond to that kind of assault.”

October 12: Prior to the vice presidential debate, Obama campaign Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter remarks that Libya has “only become a political issue” thanks to Romney and Paul Ryan. The Romney campaign and other pundits then attacked Cutter, suggesting she claimed Romney and Ryan made the Libya attacks “an issue,” when in fact she said they made the attacks a “political issue.”

October 13: Ambassador Stevens’ father says that it would be “abhorrent” for his son’s death to become a political issue. His statement comes following a request by the mother of a former Marine killed in Benghazi that Romney no longer tell a story involving her son on the campaign trail.

October 14: Romney campaign surrogate Rudy Giuliani explicitly says that Romney should be “exploiting” Libya for political gain.

“I’M THE PRESIDENT AND I’M ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE”

October 15: Secretary of State Clinton says in an interview with CNN that she takes responsibility for the security situation in Benghazi.

CLINTON: I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.

October 16: News reports begin to indicate that while the Benghazi attacks may not have grown out of a protest against an anti-Muslim film Rice said in her Sept. 16 remarks, the assault may have been both an act of terrorism and carried out in response to the video.

October 16: In the second presidential debate, Romney says that President Obama never called the Benghazi attack an “act of terror” on Sept. 12. He is corrected by moderator Candy Crowley. Afterwards, Republicans and right-wing pundits say that Obama was not referring to Benghazi specifically on Sept. 12. They also claimed Crowley had walked back her assertion that the President’s statement was correct. But Crowley says she did no such thing.

October 16: During the debate, President Obama responded to a question on Secretary Clinton’s CNN interview by taking responsibility himself for the security in Benghazi:

OBAMA: Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me.I’m the president and I’m always responsible, and that’s why nobody’s more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.

The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime.

October 17: Romney’s main attack on President Obama is that he waited two weeks to say the Benghazi assault was a terror attack. While this claim is indeed false, it appears that Romney himself does not live up this standard. The GOP presidential nominee referred to the incident as terrorism eight days after Obama did.

October 18: Mary Commanday, the mother of slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, tells CBS News that she doesn’t believe blaming the government for her son’s death is appropriate. “I don’t think it’s productive to lay blame on people.”

October 18: Rep. Peter King undercuts two right-wing talking points on Benghazi, both acknowledging that Obama referred to Benghazi as an “act of terror” in his Sept. 12 speech and that he “didn’t expect” Obama to have the full story the day after the attack.

October 18: In a new account, the Wall Street Journal reports that newly gained data cast doubt over the talking points the intelligence community had provided to U.N.

Ambassador Susan Rice while she was making her Sept. 16 appearances on several Sunday morning news shows:

Despite their growing uncertainty, intelligence officials didn’t feel they had enough conclusive, new information to revise their assessment. Ms. Rice wasn’t warned of their new doubts before she went on the air the next morning and spoke of the attacks being spurred by demonstrations, intelligence officials acknowledged.

More information casting doubt on the protest element came in on Sunday morning, around the time that Ms. Rice was completing her TV appearances, the officials said. She began taping the shows early Sunday morning. By the time intelligence analysts began to realize “there’s enough here to build a body of evidence that there probably were not protests, those things were already recorded and she [Ms. Rice] was already out there,” a senior intelligence official said.

The Obama administration would be hammered for weeks on Rice’s statements.

October 18: Ahmed Abu Khattab — a leader in the Ansar al-Sharia militia suspected by the Libyan and U.S. governments of taking part in the attack — meets with Reuters and New York Times reporters in Benghazi. During their interview, he indicates that, while he did not take part in the attack, it was in response to the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video.

October 19: Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera and Peter Doocy both report that the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video may have had something to do with the Benghazi assault. Their statements are the first on Fox News to veer from the narrative attacking the administration’s early statements.

October 20: The LA Times and Washington Post both publish articles critical of a simplified narrative surrounding Benghazi. In the former, intelligence officials are quoted as saying that the Sept. 11 assault was spontaneous, was not ordered by al Qaeda, and was in response to the video. In the latter, columnist David Ignatius confirms that the CIA provided the talking points for the administration and Congress on their initial beliefs regarding causes of the Benghazi attack, including that it stemmed from a protest.

October 21: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in a CNN interview praised Romney’s response to the attack in Benghazi, saying that it closely mirrored Ronald Reagan’s to the Iranian hostage crisis. He is wrong on both counts.

October 22: The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama was told in his daily intelligence briefing for over a week that the attack in Benghazi grew out of a protest.

Since the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, which left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead, questions have persisted over what happened that night, whether there was adequate security at the compound and the manner in which the Obama administration initially characterized the attack.

Below is an account, compiled by CBS News, from sources who spoke to us in Washington and Benghazi about the attack in that eastern Libyan city and the investigation that followed.

Security Incidents Prior to the Benghazi Attack

December 2011: Terror plot thwarted, but Benghazi emergency plan warns of many Islamic terrorists still operating in area.

March 2012: U.S. Embassy in Tripoli lead security officer, RSO Eric Nordstrom, requests additional security but later testified he received no response.

April 10, 2012: explosive device is thrown at a convoy carrying U.N. envoy Ian Martin.

May 22, 2012: A rocket-propelled grenade hits the offices of the International Red Cross.

June 6, 2012: An IED explodes outside the Benghazi consulate compound.

June 11, 2012: An RPG hits a convoy carrying the British Ambassador. The U.K. closes its consulate. Col. Wood, military Site Security Team (SST) commander.

July 2012: RSO Nordstrom again requests additional security (perhaps via cable signed by Amb. Stevens dated July 9, see below).

July 9, 2012: Amb. Stevens sends a cable requesting continued help from military SST and State Dept. MSD (Mobile Security Deployment team) through mid-Sept. 2012, saying that benchmarks for a drawdown have not been met. The teams are not extended.

Before death, Amb. Stevens warned of "violent" Libya landscape

Early August: State Dept. removes the last of three 6-man State Dept. security teams and a 16-man military SST team from Libya.

August 2, 2012: Ambassador Stevens sends a cable to D.C. requesting "protective detail bodyguard postions" -- saying the added guards "will fill the vaccum of security personnel currently at post... who will be leaving with the next month and will not be replaced." He called "the security condition in Libya ... unpredictable, volatile and violent."

August 8, 2012: A cable from Amb. Stevens to D.C. says "a series of violent incidents has dominated the political landscape" and calls them "targeted and discriminate attacks."

Aug. 27, 2012: The State Department issues a travel warning for Libya citing the threat of assassination and car bombings in Benghazi/Tripoli.

Timeline of 9/11 Consulate Attack As It Unfolds

September 11, 2012: 9:43 a.m. Benghazi time (3:43 ET): Amb. Stevens sent cables to D.C., including a Benghazi weekly report of security incidents reflecting Libyans' "growing frustration with police and security forces who were too weak to keep the country secure."

Hours before the assault, nearly 750 miles away in Cairo, events were taking shape that would inform the early narrative surrounding the events in Benghazi:

12:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. ET): The U.S. Embassy in Cairo releases a statement on its website disavowing a YouTube film named "Innocence of Muslims," which mocks the Prophet Mohammad. Later that afternoon, protesters who had gathered outside the embassy compound stormed the gates and tore the American flag down.

9:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. ET): In the walled Benghazi compound, U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens says good night to the Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin and retires to his room in Building C, a large residence w/ bedrooms and a safe haven.

There are three other structures in the compound: Building B, a residence with bedrooms and a cantina and dining room; a Tactical Operations Center (TOC) located across from building B, containing offices, one bedroom and security cameras; and barracks located by the front gate, staffed by Libyan security guards. At this time, there are five diplomatic security agents (DS) on site - three based in Benghazi and two traveling with Stevens. According to a U.S. State Department account given Oct. 9 there was "nothing unusual outside of the gates."

9:40 p.m. (3:40 p.m. ET): Gunfire and an explosion are heard. A TOC agent sees dozens of armed people over security camera flowing through a pedestrian gate at the compound's main entrance. It is not clear how the gate was opened. The agent hits the alarm and alerts the CIA security team in the nearby annex and the Libyan 17th of February Brigade, one of several powerful militias serving as a de facto security presence in Benghazi. The embassy in Tripoli and the State Dept. command center alerted.

State Dept. Diplomatic Security follows events in real time on a listen-only, audio-only feed, according to testimony of Charlene Lamb, the dep director for international programs, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Oct 10.

10 p.m. (4 p.m. ET): At the compound, several DS agents leave to get tactical gear from Build B. One stays in Build C with Ambassador Stevens and Info Officer Sean Smith. The mob sets fire to the 17 Feb Brigade barracks. DS agent Scott Strickland moves Stevens and Smith to the closest area "safe haven" Building C. The other agents, currently in Building B and the TOC come under attack. The attackers get into Building C, light furniture on fire, then the building's exterior. Stevens, Smith and Agent Strickland move to the bathroom and lay on floor but decide to leave safe haven after being overcome by smoke. Stricklnd goes out an emergency escape window. Stevens and Smith do not follow. Strickland returns several times but can't find them in the overwhelming smoke. He goes up to the roof and radios the other agents. Three agents return to Building C via armored vehicle. They search and find Smith's body, but not Stevens. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is told of the incident "shortly after it began at 4 p.m.," CBS News' Margaret Brennan reported Sept. 14. Clinton spoke to the Libyan President Mohammed Magariaf to "enlist his full support." Meanwhile, the U.S. military began moving an unarmed drone over Benghazi to provide real-time intelligence to the CIA team on the ground. It would take roughly an hour to arrive.

10:05 p.m. (4:05 p.m. ET): An alert from the State Department Operations Center is issued to a number of government and intelligence agencies, including the White House Situation Room, the office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the FBI. "US Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack" -- "approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well. Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four COM (Chief of Mission/embassy) personnel are in the compound safe haven."

10:25 p.m. (4:25 p.m. ET): A six-member CIA team arrives from the annex with 40 to 60 members of 17th of February Brigade. The team removes Smith's body.

10:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. ET): Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his top military adviser learn of the incident.

10:54 p.m. (4:54 p.m. ET): An alert from the State Dept. Operations Center: "the firing... in Benghazi has stopped. A response team is on site attempting to locate COM personnel."

11 p.m. (5 p.m. ET): Just ahead of the weekly meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey, White House National Security Advisor Tom Donilon tells President Obama of the attack and the fire at the main villa.

The president and those officials discuss possible responses to the situation. At the compound, the 17th of February Brigade says they can't hold the perimeter and withdraws. DS agents make final search for Stevens and leave with the CIA team in an armored vehicle heading for the annex, taking fire along the way.

Of note, when CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer visited the compound in one of several trips to Libya, she found little evidence of an extensive firefight at the compound's walls and main gate, likely indicating the fiercest fighting occurred away from the compound.

Midnight (6 p.m. ET) Agents arrive at the annex, which receives sporadic small-arms fire and RPG rounds over a roughly 90-minute period. The security team returns fire and the attackers disperse.

Of note, when CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer visited the compound in one of several trips to Libya, she found little evidence of an extensive firefight at the compound's walls and main gate, likely indicating the fiercest fighting occurred away from the compound.

Midnight (6 p.m. ET) Agents arrive at the annex, which receives sporadic small-arms fire and RPG rounds over a roughly 90-minute period. The security team returns fire and the attackers disperse.

Over the next two hours, Sec. Panetta holds a series of meetings and issues several orders: Two Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) platoons stationed in Rota, Spain prepare to deploy - one to Benghazi and the other to the Embassy in Tripoli; A special operations team in Europe is ordered to move to Sigonella, Sicily - less than one hour's flight away from Benghazi; An additional special operations team based in the U.S. is ordered to deploy to Sigonella.

12:07 a.m. (6:07 p.m. ET): An alert from the State Dept. Operations Center states that the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli reports the Islamic military group "Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibilty for Benghazi Attack"... "on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli."

12:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. ET): A six-man security team, including two Defense Dept. personnel, leave Embassy Tripoli for Benghazi.

1:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. ET): The U.S. security team from Embassy Tripoli lands in Benghazi and learn that the ambassador is missing. They try to arrange for transportation into town, with the goal of locating Stevens.

4:07 a.m. (10:07 p.m. ET): Secretary Clinton issues a statement acknowledging the death of one State Dept. officer.

5:00 a.m. (11:00 p.m.): A second U.S. Predator drone arrives to relieve the first.

5:15 a.m. (11:15 p.m. ET): U.S. Regional Security Office Tripoli gets a phone call from an Arabic-speaking source who says a Westerner has been found in Benghazi and is at a hospital. It's believed to be Ambassador Stevens. Transfer to airport is arranged.

At around the same time, the additional security team finds transportation from the airport under the escort of the Libyan Shield, a local militia, but goes to the annex after learning Stevens dead. Just after their arrival, the annex takes mortar fire, sustaining three direct hits. The precision of the attacks indicates a level of sophistication and coordination. Former U.S. Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty are killed in the mortar assault, which lasts just 11 minutes before dissipating; a DS agent and annex security member are severely wounded. After the mortar attack, about 30 Americans evacuate the annex and head to the airport, with the assistance of the Libyan security.

Ambassador Stevens is confirmed dead later that morning, as Americans see his body at the airport [BK – how did he get there from hosptil - ]

7:40 a.m. (1:40 a.m. ET): Unable to fit on one plane, the first wave of Americans - consisting of U.S. diplomats and civilians - departs Benghazi and heads to Tripoli, leaving behind security staff and bodies.

10:00 a.m. (4 a.m. ET): The second flight leaves Benghazi for Tripoli with U.S. security members and bodies. President Obama is told of Stevens' death. State Department tells all diplomatic posts to review their security posture and to enhance it

7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET): Americans transported on C-17 for Ramstein, Germany.

Around 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET): U.S. special forces team arrives in Sigonella, Sicily, becoming the first military unit in the region.

Around 9 p.m. (3 p.m. ET): A FAST platoon arrives in Tripoli.

10:19 p.m. (4:19 p.m. ET) C-17 carrying Stevens and Americans arrives in Ramstein.

Post-Attack Response and Investigation

Sept. 12: Secretary Clinton announces the death of Stevens and Smith via press release.

Clinton holds a video conference with the entire embassy staff in Tripoli, which by then also included everyone who was evacuated from Beghazi, as reported by CBS News' Margaret Brennan Sept. 14.

Play VIDEO

Clinton: Ambassador's death a "senseless act of violence"

Clinton later delivers live remarks from the Treaty Room of the U.S. State Department.

President Obama addresses the public: "Make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people. Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. ... No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for."

The president spends time with State Department personnel in an impromptu visit that is closed to the press.

Play VIDEO

Obama suspects Libya attack targeted Americans

In an interview with President Obama the same day, "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft presses the president on early accounts that the attack stemmed from a spontaneous protest, saying it didn't "sound like your normal demonstration."

"We're still investigating exactly what happened," Mr. Obama said. "I don't want to jump the gun on this. But you're right that this is not a situation that was exactly the same as what happened in Egypt. And my suspicion is….that there are folks involved in this who were looking to target Americans from the start."

Meanwhile, Clinton visits the Near Eastern Affairs bureau, and the information technology bureau where Sean Smith was assigned, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports. Clinton later references the assault as an "attack by a small and savage group."

Meanwhile, senior State Dept. officials share initial details of the attack in Benghazi with members of the press via phone briefing. A senior official says in response to an inquiry about alleged protests outside of consulate that night: "We frankly don't have a full picture of what may have been going on outside of the compound walls before the firing began. ... With regard to whether there is any connection between this Internet activity and this extremist attack in Benghazi, frankly, we just don't know. We're not going to know until we have a chance to investigate."

Play VIDEO

Officials eye suspected al Qaeda link in consulate attack

Play VIDEO

Officials: Ansar al Sharia lead suspect in consulate attack

Play VIDEO

Inside the ruined U.S. Consulate in Libya

Play VIDEO

Exclusive: Tour of battle-torn Libyan safe house

CBS News' David Martin reports that some U.S. officials already were looking at the attack as a terrorist act, perpetrated by people either associated with or who sympathize with al Qaeda, that took advantage of the protest.

The FBI officially opens an investigation into the deaths of Stevens and the three other Americans killed, as reported by CBS News' Andres Triay and Bob Orr.

Sept. 13: A government official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the FBI is planning to send investigators to Germany to interview U.S. Consulate personnel who were evacuated there, as reported by CBS' Pat Milton.

CBS News' David Martin reports that a radical Islamic group called Ansar al Sharia is the lead suspect in the attack, according to U.S. officials. The name means "Supporters of Islamic law."

Sec. Clinton remains in regular contact with other top officials such as Secretary Panetta and Gen. Dempsey, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports.

Marine anti-terrorist teams similar to the one sent to Tripoli land in Yemen to protect the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, reports CBS News' David Martin. There are two more of these teams on standby but so far no plans to send them to particular embassies.

CBS News' Charlie D'Agata gets access to an injured Libyan guard based inside the consulate who offers a firsthand account of the attack and makes the first mention of Blue Mountain, a British security firm contracted by the State Department that employed Libyans to conduct procedural security measures inside the compound, including x-rays of equipment.

Sept. 14: The bodies of Stevens, Smith, Woods and Doherty are returned to the U.S. They are welcomed in a televised ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. Secretary Clinton publicly denounces the "Innocence of Muslims" video.

CBS News' Brennan reports that Clinton visits the Situation Room and Oval Office "half a dozen times this week" and spends "countless hours" there.

CBS News' Cami McCormick reports on protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. The number of protestors outside the Khartoum Embassy is estimated at 2,000. Police use tear gas against the stone-throwing protestors. The demonstrators were trying to get in the compound but police held them back.

CBS News' Charlie D'Agata interviews members of the 17th of February Brigade's VIP protection team involved in the evacuation and obtains exclusive photos of an injured American being evacuated to the airport from the annex under the brigade's escort. They put the total number of Americans evacuated from Benghazi at 32.

Sept. 15: CBS News' D'Agata is the first reporter to locate the secret CIA annex in Benghazi. He reports that the roof of the house is covered in mortars. CBS News broadcasts images of the helmets and bloodied flak jackets discovered there.

Sept. 16: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice tells Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation" that there is no information that suggests the attack was preplanned.

"We'll want to see the results of that investigation to draw any definitive conclusions. But based on the best information we have to date, what our assessment is as of the present is in fact what began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy ... sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that -- in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent. ... We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned."

Earlier in that same program, Libyan President Magariaf tells Schieffer that the assault was preplanned and some of the attackers were foreigners.

"The way these perpetrators acted and moved ... this leaves us with no doubt that this has preplanned, determined - predetermined ... It was planned -- definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who -- who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their -- since their arrival."

Magariaf also claimed "about 50" people had been arrested in connection with the attack.

- Magariaf separately states Ahmed Boukhatala is one of the lead suspects. CBS News interviews Boukhatala over mango juice off camera and he admitted he was there that night but denies any involvement in the attack. At that point, he had still not been questioned and was moving freely in Benghazi, challenging Magariaf to "come to my house and arrest me" if he was a suspect.

Since the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, which left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead, questions have persisted over what happened that night, whether there was adequate security at the compound and the manner in which the Obama administration initially characterized the attack.

Play VIDEO

Inside room of murdered U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens

Post-Attack Response and Investigation

Sept. 12: Secretary Clinton announces the death of Stevens and Smith via press release.

Clinton holds a video conference with the entire embassy staff in Tripoli, which by then also included everyone who was evacuated from Beghazi, as reported by CBS News' Margaret Brennan Sept. 14.

Play VIDEO

Clinton: Ambassador's death a "senseless act of violence"

Clinton later delivers live remarks from the Treaty Room of the U.S. State Department.

President Obama addresses the public: "Make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

"Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. ... No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for."

The president spends time with State Department personnel in an impromptu visit that is closed to the press.

Play VIDEO

Obama suspects Libya attack targeted Americans

In an interview with President Obama the same day, "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft presses the president on early accounts that the attack stemmed from a spontaneous protest, saying it didn't "sound like your normal demonstration."

"We're still investigating exactly what happened," Mr. Obama said. "I don't want to jump the gun on this. But you're right that this is not a situation that was exactly the same as what happened in Egypt. And my suspicion is, is that there are folks involved in this, who were looking to target Americans from the start."

Meanwhile, Clinton visits the Near Eastern Affairs bureau, and the information technology bureau where Sean Smith was assigned, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports.

Clinton later references the assault as an "attack by a small and savage group."

Meanwhile, senior State Dept. officials share initial details of the attack in Benghazi with members of the press via phone briefing. A senior official says in response to an inquiry about alleged protests outside of consulate that night: "We frankly don't have a full picture of what may have been going on outside of the compound walls before the firing began. ... With regard to whether there is any connection between this Internet activity and this extremist attack in Benghazi, frankly, we just don't know. We're not going to know until we have a chance to investigate."

Play VIDEO

Officials eye suspected al Qaeda link in consulate attack

Play VIDEO

Officials: Ansar al Sharia lead suspect in consulate attack

Play VIDEO

Inside the ruined U.S. Consulate in Libya

Play VIDEO

Exclusive: Tour of battle-torn Libyan safe house

CBS News' David Martin reports that some U.S. officials already were looking at the attack as a terrorist act, perpetrated by people either associated with or who sympathize with al Qaeda, that took advantage of the protest.

The FBI officially opens an investigation into the deaths of Stevens and the three other Americans killed, as reported by CBS News' Andres Triay and Bob Orr.

Sept. 13: A government official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the FBI is planning to send investigators to Germany to interview U.S. Consulate personnel who were evacuated there, as reported by CBS' Pat Milton.

CBS News' David Martin reports that a radical Islamic group called Ansar al Sharia is the lead suspect in the attack, according to U.S. officials. The name means "Supporters of Islamic law."

Sec. Clinton remains in regular contact with other top officials such as Secretary Panetta and Gen. Dempsey, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports.

Marine anti-terrorist teams similar to the one sent to Tripoli land in Yemen to protect the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, reports CBS News' David Martin. There are two more of these teams on standby but so far no plans to send them to particular embassies.

CBS News' Charlie D'Agata gets access to an injured Libyan guard based inside the consulate, who offers a firsthand account of the attack and makes the first mention of Blue Mountain, a British security firm contracted by the State Department that employed Libyans to conduct procedural security measures inside the compound, including x-rays of equipment.

Sept. 14: The bodies of Stevens, Smith, Woods and Doherty are returned to the U.S. They are welcomed in a televised ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. Secretary Clinton publicly denounces the "Innocence of Muslims" video.

CBS News' Brennan reports that Clinton visits the Situation Room and Oval Office "half a dozen times this week" and spends "countless hours" there.

CBS News' Cami McCormick reports on protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. The number of protestors outside the Khartoum Embassy is estimated at 2,000. Police use tear gas against the stone-throwing protestors. The demonstrators were trying to get in the compound but police held them back.

CBS News' Charlie D'Agata interviews members of the 17th of February Brigade's VIP protection team involved in the evacuation and obtains exclusive photos of an injured American being evacuated to the airport from the annex under the brigade's escort. They put the total number of Americans evacuated from Benghazi at 32.

Sept. 15: CBS News' D'Agata is the first reporter to locate the secret CIA annex in Benghazi. He reports that the roof of the house is covered in mortars. CBS News broadcasts images of the helmets and bloodied flak jackets discovered there.

Play VIDEO

Amb. Rice insists Libya attack "spontaneous"

Sept. 16: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice tells Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation" that there is no information that suggests the attack was preplanned.

"We'll want to see the results of that investigation to draw any definitive conclusions. But based on the best information we have to date, what our assessment is as of the present is in fact what began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy ... sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that -- in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent. ... We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned."

Earlier in that same program, Libyan President Magariaf tells Schieffer that the assault was preplanned and some of the attackers were foreigners.

"The way these perpetrators acted and moved ... this leaves us with no doubt that this has preplanned, determined - predetermined ... It was planned -- definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who -- who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their -- since their arrival."

Magariaf also claimed "about 50" people had been arrested in connection with the attack.

Magariaf separately states Ahmed Boukhatala is one of the lead suspects. CBS News interviews Boukhatala over mango juice off camera and admitted he was there that night but denies any involvement in the attack. At that point, he had still not been questioned and was moving freely in Benghazi, challenging Magariaf to "come to my house and arrest me" if he was a suspect.

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The David Petraeus mistress scandal timeline is prompting outrage in advance of the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday about the Benghazi Attack. The David Petraeus timeline is prompting session Monday. Petraeus was scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the Benghazi attacks this Thursday. Now Michael Morell will testify instead. And while officials confirm they still have the authority to call Petraeus to the hearing, critics are crying foul about the timeline of Petraeus’ resignation.

The David Petraeus mistress affair allegedly with Paula Broadwell started in 2011 shortly after he took his last post with the CIA. The affair, however, lasted only four months, officials told news Sunday. But last summer, Jill Kelley went to the FBI to report what she deemed alleged harassing emails from Paula Broadwell.

[BK – the emxils were xnnonymous xnd the FBI determined they were from PB.]

Jill Kelley Pictures Set 1
Jill  Kelley Photo 1
Jill Kelley Photo 2
Jill Kelley Photo 3
Jill Kelley Photo 4

While news reports Sunday have identified the content of the emails (“my man”, “back off”, etc), officials have yet to indicate the month that Kelley get the emails. Did Kelley only get the emails in summer 2012 if Paula Broadwell’s alleged affair with David Petraeus started in 2011 and only lasted four months? And if so, why was Broadwell referring to Petraeus as her “man”, and sending the emails allegedly through his private sector email address, if the alleged affair had ended by summer 2012?

Paula Broadwell Pictures Set 1

Scott, Paula Broadwell Photo 1
Scott, Paula Broadwell Photo 2
Scott, Paula Broadwell Photo 3
Scott, Paula Broadwell Photo 4

Assuming that Kelley reported the emails shortly after receiving them last summer, critics are questioning why did the Petraeus affair only get James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, on Tuesday.

Officials tell news that path of questions started from Kelley and went to the FBI and then the Justice Department last summer. But are we to believe that the Justice Department sat on the matter and didn’t inform Clapper until last Tuesday?

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Clapper allegedly telephoned Petraeus 5 pm on Tuesday, the night of the Presidential Election, and asked for his resignation. The next day is when the White House claims to have first learned about the scandal, when Petraeus tendered his resignation. The Senate intelligence committee has since told news that they only learned about the matter only on Friday, just hours before the Petraeus story hit national news.

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And what did House Republican Eric Cantor know? Unconfirmed reports claim that a FBI whistle blower, still unidentified, may have told Cantor two weeks earlier.

Rep. Peter King, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, says this timeline is absurdly suspect. “It seems this has been going on for several months,” King said of the investigation, “and yet, now it appears that they’re saying that the FBI didn’t realize until Election Day that Gen Petraeus was involved. It just doesn’t add up.”

“It seems this has been going on for several months,” King also told news “and, yet, now it appears that they’re saying that the FBI didn’t realize until Election Day that General Petraeus was involved. It just doesn’t add up.”

If the timing doesn’t seem suspect, certainly the content of the scandal does. Jill Kelley is said to have been a close friend of both David Petraeus and his wife Holly Petraeus.

When Jill Kelley got the Paula Broadwell emails, did she only call FBI or did she also call up Holly Petraeus as well? If she didn’t, why did a matter that began with Kelley’s summer 2012 call to the FBI prompt a resignation by Petraeus not until November 2012?

As previously noted, as soon as the scandal broke, Petraeus’ wife remained blogging online but silent about the matter.

Potentially, Broadwell and her husband were not anticipating the scandal to break last week. The two had scheduled her birthday party only to cancel it abruptly on Friday.

Petraeus can still be called by Senate. “We may well ask him,” Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. Perhaps the first question for Petraeus will be why did he suddenly tender his resignation, about an affair allegedly from 2011, and reported in summer 2012, not until November.

Military timeline from night of Benghazi attack begs more questions

By Jennifer Griffin, Adam Housley

Published November 11, 2012  FoxNews

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/11/military-timeline-from-night-benghazi-attack-begs-more-questions/

After more than nine weeks of trying to reconcile their story line with that of the State Department and the CIA, the Pentagon finally released its timeline of the Libya terror attack during a Friday afternoon, off-camera briefing with an official who could only be quoted anonymously.

The news was overtaken almost immediately by the announcement that Gen. David Petraeus had resigned, due to an extramarital affair. He was slated to testify in closed-door hearings on Capitol Hill this coming week before the Senate and House intelligence committees. Petraeus no longer plans to testify.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told "Fox News Sunday" that she "absolutely" thinks Petraeus' resignation has no connection to the Libya matter but he could be called to testify before Congress at a later date.

"We may well ask," the California senator told Fox.

However, while the Petraeus resignation has since dominated attention in Washington, an examination of the military’s version of events reveals a number of discrepancies and gaps worth closer scrutiny.

THE FIRST DISCREPANCY

The Defense Department timeline on the night of Sept. 11 begins at 9:42 p.m. local time and states, “The incident starts at the facility in Benghazi.” 

Right from the start, the Pentagon and the CIA timelines do not match. (The CIA timeline, which was released on Nov. 1, states that at 9:40 p.m., “A senior State Department security officer at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi called the CIA annex and requested assistance.”)

A source at the CIA annex that night told Fox News that when they first asked to go and help, they were told to wait.

Within 17 minutes of the start of the attack, AFRICOM commander Gen. Carter Ham, who happens to be visiting Washington and was in the Pentagon that day, redirects an unarmed, unmanned drone to Benghazi.

PANETTA AND DEMPSEY ARE ALERTED 50 MINUTES AFTER ATTACK

At 10:32 p.m. (4:32 p.m. in Washington), 50 minutes after the incident began, the National Military Command Center, which is the operations center at the Pentagon where Ham is overseeing the operation,  notifies Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

That means for nearly an hour, no one told the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs chairman that a U.S. ambassador is in peril and his personal security officer has pressed his “personal distress button” which sends an SMS signal back to the command authority in the U.S. and a U.S. embassy has been overrun by attackers.

A CIA team left for the consulate at 10:04 p.m. -- 28 minutes before the Pentagon says Panetta and Dempsey were told the attack had occurred.

Sources at the CIA annex in Benghazi told Fox News in an interview on Oct. 25 that they asked permission to leave for the consulate immediately and twice were told to wait. The CIA says the base chief was trying to arrange Libyan help.

PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED MEETING WITH PRESIDENT: 78 MINUTES AFTER ATTACK

At 5 p.m. in Washington, D.C. (11 p.m. in Libya), nearly an hour and a half after the attack began, according to the Pentagon’s timeline, “Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey attend a previously scheduled meeting with the President at the White House.” 

The attack has already been under way for 78 minutes, but no rescue forces from outside Libya have yet been mobilized.

By 5:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. in Libya), all surviving American personnel are rescued by the CIA annex team and leave the consulate for the CIA annex. From 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Pentagon, Panetta, Dempsey and Ham meet to discuss additional response options.

MORE CALLS FOR HELP

Upon returning to the annex, the CIA team and those that were rescued immediately begin taking fire and at midnight, according to sources on the ground that night, begin making radio calls for help and air support. Almost immediately, they begin taking fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

According to a senior U.S. defense official, “This was not one long continuous fight, but two separate incidents at two separate facilities with some separation of time.”

However, British sources who were near the consulate and annex that night tell a different story, saying there was almost continuous fire on the annex after the team fled from the consulate.

Sometime over the next two hours, according to the official Pentagon timeline, Panetta gives the “go code” for two Marine FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorism Security) teams to prepare to leave Rota, Spain. A Special Operations force which is training in Central Europe is told to “prepare to deploy to an intermediate staging base in southern Europe (Sigonella, Sicily), and a Special Operations team in the U.S. is told to prepare to deploy to Sigonella as well. 

It isn’t until 2:53 a.m. (about five hours after the incident began) that those orders are formalized by Panetta and the teams are told they can leave.

TEAM LANDS AT SIGONELLA 20 HOURS LATER

The Pentagon says that the European-based team of rescuers landed at Sigonella air base at 7:57 p.m. on Sept. 12, more than 20 hours after the attack began and 40 minutes after the last survivor was flown out of Tripoli on a U.S. C-17 transport plane.

Fox News has learned more details about the European rescue team. More than 30 Special Operations Forces, part of a Commander’s In Extremis Force, or CIF, which is normally on a short tether, are deployed in the event of a terror attack. They are a counterterror SWAT team. 

The group ordered toward Libya was from the Charlie 110 Company, based in Stuttgart, Germany, but had been training in Croatia on an exercise known as “Jackal Stone.” The training involved counterterrorism exercises.

NO PERMISSION TO LAND

Military sources familiar with the orders given to the CIF team tell Fox News the CIF plane headed to Libya -- not to first stage at Sigonella as the Pentagon timeline suggests. The Pentagon denies this, saying simply that they were ordered to an intermediate staging base. 

What cannot be confirmed is what time that team could have been outside Libyan air space. The Pentagon won’t say when they took off from Croatia.

Multiple defense sources say that the plane did not have permission to enter Libya. That permission would have to be secured from the Libyans by the State Department.

“FEET DRY OVER LIBYA”

Survivors of the attack at the annex say that they heard over the radio net that night that U.S. military assets were, “feet dry over Libya," which would refer to assets crossing from sea to land and hovering. The Pentagon denies this.

The original story board that shows the CIF movement that night is difficult to find, according to those who saw the original timeline. The official brief, according to those familiar with it, simply says that the plane landed at Sigonella at 7:57 p.m. on Sept. 12 -- 20 hours after the start of the attack, even though they were just a few hours away in Croatia.

This raises the question: what time did they get their orders and how long did it take the CIF to scramble?

The team was most likely flying on a modified MC-130 P Talon 2. A modified C-130 flying from Croatia about 900 miles from the Libyan coast could have been there under three hours from take-off. Croatia to Libya is the same distance approximately as Washington, D.C., to Miami. 

Furthermore, the modified C-130 plane used by Special Operations teams can be refueled in flight, allowing them to extend their range and hover time, if an air refueling plane is available. It can fly for nine hours without being refueled.

“It’s not like you dial up the U.S. military and service members go down a fire pole, hop on a fire engine and go. That’s not how our forces work, especially from a cold start,” according to the senior U.S. defense official who briefed the Pentagon timeline. “We are an excellent military, finest in the world, always prepared, but we are neither omniscient nor omnipresent.”

The CIF, which included dozens of Special Operators, was never utilized to help rescue 30 Americans who had fought off attackers on the ground in Benghazi until 5:26 a.m. on Sept. 12. Pentagon officials say it did not arrive in time to help. 

In the days following the attack in Benghazi, the CIF team was sent by Ham to Tunisia to remain on standby in case they were needed for other contingencies, such as a retaliatory strike, according to senior U.S. military commanders with knowledge of the operation.

“We were posturing forces to be ready for possible responses,” according to a senior U.S. defense official. “We were looking at the possibility of a potential hostage rescue.” 

To date no retaliatory strikes have taken place, and questions remain about what could have been done to help those who were in peril on the ground.

According to the Pentagon timeline, the first conference call to AFRICOM, EUCOM, CENTCOM, TRANSCOM, SOCOM and the four military branches occurred nearly five hours after the attack began.

THE CIA RESCUE TEAM FROM TRIPOLI

Meanwhile in Libya, two hours and 48 minutes after the attack on the consulate began, a six-man rescue team organized by the CIA in Tripoli that included two Tier One Army Special Operators already in Tripoli on another assignment leave the capital to help. 

However, they do not have a plane and end up chartering one too small to rescue the entire group in Benghazi and are required to make a round trip. They do not depart Benghazi with the last survivors and Ambassador Chris Stevens’ body until 10 a.m. the next day.

The CIA says that the Tripoli rescue team landed in Benghazi at 1:15 a.m. on Sept 12. The Pentagon says it landed at 1:30 a.m. Another official discrepancy.

More than four hours later, just before 5:26 a.m., former SEAL Glen Doherty, who arrived from Tripoli with the rescue team, and former SEAL Tyrone Woods are killed on the CIA annex roof by a mortar.

THE AMBASSADOR IS STILL MISSING

Security personnel at Blue Mountain Group receive a photograph of the ambassador’s body in a morgue at 7:15 a.m. At that point, Stevens’ body had still not been recovered from the hospital where Ansar Al Sharia, the presumed attackers, had surrounded it.

By 8:30 a.m., all KIA are accounted for, including the ambassador. The Pentagon’s critics say the president and defense secretary could have ordered more assets into Libya to help sooner.

Even by Wednesday morning, several challenges remained. Thirty Americans did not have a plane big enough to get them out of Benghazi; the U.S. consulate and CIA annex needed to be secured because sensitive documents remained at the consulate and annex; and an FBI team would eventually be held up in Tripoli and not be given access to the Benghazi sites for 24 days.

The two Marine FAST teams were not ordered to Libya until five hours after the attack was underway. The first FAST team didn’t arrive in Tripoli to secure the embassy until 8:56 p.m. on Sept. 12, nearly two hours after the rescued Americans had left Libya on a C-17 sent from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The second FAST team of Marines slated to go to Benghazi was never sent to Libya. Libyan looters and journalists spent the next 24 days rifling through papers and potential evidence at the compounds.

According to the senior U.S. defense official who briefed reporters on the timeline, “There has been a great deal of speculation about the use of or desirability of military responses. Some have indicated manned and unmanned aircraft options would have changed the course of events. Unfortunately, no aircraft options were available to be used or effective.”

According to a source who debriefed those who were at the CIA annex that night, “When they asked for air support, they were told they could have an unarmed drone.”