USA: U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defends her handling of Benghazi attack during testimony

Record ID: 258693

  • Title: USA: U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defends her handling of Benghazi attack during testimony
  • Date: 23rd January 2013
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 11, 2012) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) (NIGHT SCENES) FIRE ENGULFING U.S.S EMBASSY THAT KILLED FOUR AMERICANS INCLUDING AMBASSADOR CHRIS STEVENS
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Libya
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7MGN9L5H4Z7CSCTZZT7ES5UZZ
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chokes up as she defends handling of Benghazi attack, but reaffirms she takes full responsibility.


    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday (January 23) defended her handling of the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi that killed four Americans, an event that threatens to stain her legacy at the State Department.
    Clinton cast the incident, the first in which a U.S. ambassador was killed since 1988, as part of a long history of such violence as well as the result of regional instability since the Arab Spring of popular revolutions began in 2011.
    Speaking in congressional testimony delayed by more than a month because of her ill health, Clinton offered her first detailed accounting of the first days after the attack, saying she directed the U.S. response from the State Department.
    "I take responsibility," Clinton said, echoing comments she first made in a TV interview on October 15 and stressing that she has accepted all of the recommendations of an independent review panel that ultimately held lower-level officials responsible.
    "Nobody is more committed to getting this right. I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger and more secure," she added.
    The attack could haunt Clinton - who is expected to step down in the coming days once her designated successor, Senator John Kerry, is confirmed by the U.S. Senate - should she decide to run again for president in 2016, a possibility she has played down.
    Militants attacked and overwhelmed the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 in a sustained assault that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
    The official inquiry concluded that the State Department was completely unprepared to deal with the attack, citing "leadership and management" deficiencies, poor coordination and unclear lines of authority in Washington. The inquiry did not find Clinton personally at fault.
    Four State Department officials were put on administrative leave following the board's report.
    A separate Senate committee report said the State Department made a "grievous mistake" in keeping the Benghazi mission open despite inadequate security and increasingly alarming threat assessments in the weeks before the attack.
    Clinton was originally due to appear before the committee on December 20 but had to cancel after she suffered a concussion when she fainted due to dehydration. Doctors later found she had a blood clot in her head and hospitalized her for several days.
    Clinton became emotional during her testimony saying, "For me this is not just a matter of policy. it's personal. I stood next to President Obama as the marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews. I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers the sons and daughters and the wives left alone to raise their children. It has been one of the great honors of my life to lead the men and women of the State Department and USAID."
    She lashed out at Republican Senator Ron Johnson's comments claiming the American people were mislead in the hours following the attack during what was first classified as a protest on the Benghazi embassy.
    Clinton responded, "With all due respect, the fact is that we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because some guys out for a walk one night who decided to go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to keep if from happening again."
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