Former deputy CIA director defends editing Benghazi talking points

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Guardian

The former deputy director of the CIA insisted on Wednesday that he didn't edit the widely debunked talking points on the 2012 Benghazi attack due to political pressure to protect President Barack Obama and onetime secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

In a rare open session, Mike Morell offered a lengthy defense of his actions and the work of the spy agency in the politically charged aftermath of the 11 September 2012 assault on the diplomatic mission in Libya. Four Americans, including US ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in two separate terror attacks over a chaotic period of several hours.

Morell deleted references to al-Qaida in versions of the talking points that were used by Susan Rice, then US ambassador to the United Nations, in a series of Sunday talk show appearances. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of trying to mislead the American people about an act of terrorism in the heat of the presidential campaign.

In his testimony, Morell said he was deeply troubled by allegations made by lawmakers and some in the media "that I inappropriately altered and influenced CIA's classified analysis and its unclassified talking points about what happened in Benghazi, Libya in September 2012 and that I covered up those actions."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/cia-mike-morell-defends-benghazi-talking-points

[Javaman]

1. BENGHAZI1!!??

queue the crazy right wing to use this for...who the hell knows but it will end in them saying it's further proof of a "cover up".

[louis-t]

2. And every time a repug screams BENGHAZI

please remind them that we have hundreds of consulates and embassies and the Republican controlled House said no to increased funding for security two years in a row.

[cheapdate]

3. Finally, we learn in this article what Republicans are really upset about:

"The White House wants to ignore reality and perpetuate the fallacy that al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists are on the verge of defeat," Rogers said.

That was unexpected. I thought it was about all that other crazy shit.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Last I read on the subject of al-Qaida

was an article stating they'd become stronger than ever largely due to the USA's publicity campaign on their behalf.

[cheapdate]

5. Violent Islamic fundamentalism is a problem

that has not been solved, nor will it be solved, by military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, or by drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere.

[alp227]

6. Original AP.org story with updates

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/former-cia-official-disputes-claims-benghazi