Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus told lawmakers during private
hearings Friday that he believed all along that the deadly attack on the U.S.
consulate in Libya was a terrorist strike, even though that wasn't how the
Obama administration initially described it publicly. Petraeus testified that
the CIA draft written in response to the raid referred to militant groups Ansar
al-Shariah and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb but those names were replaced
with the word "extremist" in the final draft, according to a congressional
staffer. The staffer said Petraeus testified that he allowed other agencies to
alter the talking points as they saw fit without asking for final review, to
get them out quickly. Rep. Peter King
said it's still not clear how the final talking points emerged used by U.N.
Ambassador Susan Rice five days after the attack when the White House sent her
to appear in a series of television interviews. Rice said it appeared the
attack was sparked by a spontaneous protest over an anti-Muslim video. King
said Petraeus had briefed the House committee on Sept. 14 and he does not
recall Petraeus being so positive at that time that it was a terrorist attack.
"He thought all along that he made it clear there was terrorist
involvement," King said. Lawmakers spent hours Thursday interviewing top
intelligence and national security officials, trying to determine what
intelligence agencies knew before, during and after the attack. They viewed
security video from the consulate and surveillance footage by an unarmed CIA
Predator drone that showed events in real time.
In the end, no real decision was made on whether or not anyone knew
about the attacks beforehand. However, I’m sure this isn’t going to be the last
we hear of this story since it resulted from such a terrible event.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/petraeus-believed-terrorists-behind-libya-attack-145946656--politics.html
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