Hillary Clinton on Benghazi: "I do feel responsible"

[bemildred]

Source: CBS

In highly-anticipated testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this morning cited a "personal" commitment to improving diplomatic security abroad in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in Benghazi. But even while taking personal responsibility for the deaths of four Americans in the attacks, Clinton defended her own actions and those of her staff with regard to the response to Benghazi, and outlined the steps she says the State Department has taken to prevent future similar occurrences.

Clinton, growing emotional at times during her testimony, stressed her belief in the continued importance of U.S. diplomacy abroad, but cited the inherent risk of taking an active role in "unstable" political environments."

"We have come a long way in the past four years and We cannot afford to retreat now. When America is absent, especially from unstable environments, there are consequences. Extremism takes root, our interests suffer, our security at home is threatened," she said. "Our men and women who serve overseas understand that we accept a level of risk to protect this country we love. And they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation."

She argued, however, that diplomatic personnel "cannot work in bunkers and do their jobs. So it is our responsibility to make sure they have the resources they need and to do everything we can to reduce the risks."



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57565373/hillary-clinton-on-benghazi-i-do-feel-responsible/

[tularetom]

1. They keep picking the same scab over and over again

And she tries to remain civil while answering the same question 50 different ways in the hopes that the fools will just shut the fuck up.

[Botany]

2. The republicans cut funding for our embassies and consulates?

Hillary is holding her tongue better than i would.

[1springhill]

3. It was actually increased..............

But not by the amount they were asking for however.

[bemildred]

4. Here:

From 2009. This has been a persistent problem as long as I can remember. I don't usually post STRATFOR, but I make an exception here for the prespective on the problem. Beirut is my "favorite", but there are many such incidents.

Counterterrorism Funding: Old Fears and Cyclical Lulls

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20090318_counterterrorism_funding_old_fears_and_cyclical_lulls

It has been 11 years since a U.S. Embassy has been reduced to a smoking hole in the ground, and the public's perception of the threat appears to be changing once again. In The Washington Post article, Stephen Schlesinger, an adjunct fellow at the Century Foundation, faults the new Inman building that serves as the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York for being unattractive and uninviting. Schlesinger is quoted as saying: "Rather than being an approachable, beckoning embassy -- emphasizing America's desire to open up to the rest of the globe and convey our historically optimistic and progressive values -- it sits across from the U.N. headquarters like a dark, forbidding fortress, saying, 'Go away.'" When opinion leaders begin to express such sentiments in The Washington Post, it is an indication that we are now in the lull period of the counterterrorism cycle.

[Botany]

5. the security portion of the funding was cut

GOP Rep: I ‘Absolutely’ Voted To Cut Funding For Embassy Security
By Ben Armbruster on Oct 10, 2012 at 12:20 pm


Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) said today that he voted to cut funding for U.S. embassy security amid political attacks from Republicans that the Obama administration did not do enough to secure the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya that was attacked last month.
Republicans and their allies have been trying to politicize the attack — which killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya — suggesting, without evidence, the Obama administration may have ignored intelligence that the attack was imminent, didn’t properly secure the Benghazi compound and is now trying to cover it up.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/10/985191/chaffetz-absolutely-funding-embassy-security/

[former9thward]

6. It did not end up being cut.

That bill was never voted on by the Senate.

[nzb6jr]

7. In four years Benghazi will be forgotten

The testimony by Mrs. Clinton today will be a distant memory by 2016 when she becomes our next president. And undoubtedly she will serve two consecutive terms. She is loved and respected throughout the country and around the world. The bigger question now is who will we run in 2024. I predict there will be essentially no opposition party (there isn't one NOW). Frankly I see no objection to the U.S. having only one political party. The GOP is completely irrelevant and has been for decades. When the political party is endorsed by the majority why is there a need for an opposing party? We need to place our complete trust in the DMC and they will lead us and this country in a better way.

[David__77]

9. No, she will not ever be president.

And she exercised very poor judgment with the right-wing hacks she employed making her rancid commercials during the 2008 primary. Her campaign was sickening, and she has never apologized for it. She should, if she hopes to be even acceptable to many Democrats.

[David__77]

8. Of course the US-led NATO war against Libya caused this to happen.

It's not the matter if improper security measures; rather, it's consciously creating the conditions for international terror to flourish. Today, in the Levant, the US, Turkey, and Qatar are doing what they can to help out Salafi extremism. Such business carries a high cost.