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The latest developments are certain to add fuel to the
politically charged debate over the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens
and three other Americans when insurgents struck the U.S.
Republicans have complained that in the heat of the 2012
presidential campaign, the Obama administration was trying to conceal that the
attack was the work of terrorists and not a protest over an anti-Islamic film
that got out of hand. Such revelations just before the election perhaps could
have undercut President Barack Obama's record on fighting terrorism, including
the killing of Osama bin Laden, one of his re-election strengths.
Democrats have in turn accused Republicans of trying to
capitalize on the attack to score political points. The White House has
insisted that it made only a "stylistic" change to the intelligence
agency talking points from which Rice suggested on five television talk shows
that demonstrations over an anti-Islamic video devolved into the Benghazi
"There's an ongoing effort to make something political
out of this," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday of the
disclosure of the emails, which the administration had provided to lawmakers.
"The problem with that effort is that it's never been clear what it is
they think they're accusing the administration of doing."
A scathing independent report in December found that
"systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior
levels" of the State Department meant that security was
"inadequate for Benghazi
The report largely absolved then-Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton, seen by many as the early Democratic favourite for president in
2016.
The State Department emails and other internal
administration deliberations were summarized last month in an interim
investigative report by Republicans on five House committees. New details about
political concerns and the names of the administration officials who wrote the
emails concerning the talking points emerged on Friday.
Before the presidential election, the administration said
Rice's talking points were based on the best intelligence assessments available
in the immediate aftermath of the attack. But the report and the new details
Friday suggest a greater degree of White House and State Department
involvement.
Following congressional briefings in the days after the attack,
members of Congress asked the CIA for
talking points to explain the assault, and the CIA
under the direction of David Petraeus put together an assessment.
It said Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaida took part
in the attack, cited reports linking the attack to the group Ansar al-Sharia,
mentioned the experience of Libyan fighters and referred to previous warnings
of threats in Benghazi
Numerous agencies had engaged in an email discussion
about the talking points that would be provided to members of Congress and to
Rice for their public comments. In one email, then-State Department spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland worried about the effect of openly discussing earlier warnings
about the dangers of Islamic extremists in Benghazi
Nuland's email said such revelations "could be abused
by members of Congress to beat the State Department for not paying attention to
(central intelligence) agency warnings," according to a congressional
official who reviewed the 100 pages of emails.
The final talking points that weekend reflected the work of
several government agencies — CIA , FBI,
State Department, the office of the Director of National Intelligence —
apparently determined to cast themselves in the best light as the investigation
was just getting underway.
The reference to al-Sharia was deleted, but Nuland wrote
later that night, "these don't resolve all my issues and those of my
building leadership, they are consulting with NSS ,"
a reference to the National Security staff within the White House.
Senior administration officials met that Saturday morning to
finalize the talking points. Deputy CIA
Director Mike Morell worked with the officials to produce a final set of
talking points that deleted mentions of al-Qaida, the experience of fighters in
Libya and Islamic extremists, according to the congressional official, who
spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to
speak publicly about the emails that still have not been released.
The next day, Sunday, Sept. 16, Rice appeared on the talk
shows and said evidence gathered so far showed no indication of a premeditated
or co-ordinated strike. She said the attack in Benghazi Cairo California
"In fact this was not a preplanned, premeditated
attack. That what happened initially was that it was a spontaneous reaction to
what had just transpired in Cairo Libya
Administration officials said Friday they deleted the
references to terror groups because it was then unclear — and still is — who
was responsible for the attack.
Rice's depiction of the chain of events contrasted with one
offered by Libya's Interim President Mohammed el-Megarif, who said at the time
there was no doubt the perpetrators had predetermined the date of the attack.
"It was planned, definitely. It was planned by
foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago,"
el-Megarif said. "And they were planning this criminal act since their
arrival."
___
Associated Press writer Donna Cassata and AP White House
Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.
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