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| Obama still faces tough questions on Benghazi attack after debate | Obama still faces tough questions on Benghazi attack after debate |
| (8 days later) | |
| Barack Obama deftly fended off Mitt Romney's attempt to pin accusations of a cover-up over the Benghazi killings on him at the presidential debate on Tuesday, with the Republican candidate emerging worse for the encounter. | Barack Obama deftly fended off Mitt Romney's attempt to pin accusations of a cover-up over the Benghazi killings on him at the presidential debate on Tuesday, with the Republican candidate emerging worse for the encounter. |
| But there are still difficult questions over the death of the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans that the Republicans can be expected to ensure haunt the president up until the election. | But there are still difficult questions over the death of the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans that the Republicans can be expected to ensure haunt the president up until the election. |
| Although there is so far little evidence that the issue is having a noticeable impact on voters more concerned with the state of the economy and unemployment, it does eat at Obama's characterisation of his Middle East policy as a mix of growing success against terrorism while championing freedom in the Arab world. | Although there is so far little evidence that the issue is having a noticeable impact on voters more concerned with the state of the economy and unemployment, it does eat at Obama's characterisation of his Middle East policy as a mix of growing success against terrorism while championing freedom in the Arab world. |
| There are two key questions the president has not addressed. One was posed by a member of the audience at the debate and sidestepped by Obama: who was responsible for turning down the requests from US diplomats in Libya for greater security? | There are two key questions the president has not addressed. One was posed by a member of the audience at the debate and sidestepped by Obama: who was responsible for turning down the requests from US diplomats in Libya for greater security? |
| Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said the buck stops with her but said the actual decision lay with security officials. Obama responded to a Republican call to "man up" and accept responsibility by accepting responsibility at the debate. But he did not address how it was that Stevens was left so vulnerable to an attack. | Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said the buck stops with her but said the actual decision lay with security officials. Obama responded to a Republican call to "man up" and accept responsibility by accepting responsibility at the debate. But he did not address how it was that Stevens was left so vulnerable to an attack. |
| The answer appears to lie in a mix of poor intelligence after a series of earlier relatively minor attacks, financial pressures caused by Republican cuts to the state department security budget and the reality that it's almost impossible to be prepared everywhere. Look at the 1983 US marine barracks bombing in Beirut which killed 241 Americans or the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Kenya that left 223 dead. | The answer appears to lie in a mix of poor intelligence after a series of earlier relatively minor attacks, financial pressures caused by Republican cuts to the state department security budget and the reality that it's almost impossible to be prepared everywhere. Look at the 1983 US marine barracks bombing in Beirut which killed 241 Americans or the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Kenya that left 223 dead. |
| Internal state department memos reflect a friction between security officials and diplomats on the ground in Libya pressing for more resources and state department officials in Washington balancing a budget greatly shrunk by the Republican-controlled Congress. | Internal state department memos reflect a friction between security officials and diplomats on the ground in Libya pressing for more resources and state department officials in Washington balancing a budget greatly shrunk by the Republican-controlled Congress. |
| Perhaps the more difficult question for Obama is the one Romney botched in the debate: why was the administration was so hesitant to call the Benghazi assault a terrorist attack? | Perhaps the more difficult question for Obama is the one Romney botched in the debate: why was the administration was so hesitant to call the Benghazi assault a terrorist attack? |
| The day after the attack, Obama made a reference to "acts of terror" in speaking about the death of Stevens and the three other Americans. He said: "No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America." | The day after the attack, Obama made a reference to "acts of terror" in speaking about the death of Stevens and the three other Americans. He said: "No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America." |
| Conservatives have tried to say that Obama was talking about attacks in general, including 9/11, not Benghazi in particular. But both speeches were framed by events in Libya and most Americans are likely to accept that is what the president was talking about. | Conservatives have tried to say that Obama was talking about attacks in general, including 9/11, not Benghazi in particular. But both speeches were framed by events in Libya and most Americans are likely to accept that is what the president was talking about. |
| But it does not explain why his senior officials shied away from similar language, most notably the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who was sent on the television talk show circuit to characterise the attack as growing out of a spontaneous anti-American demonstration over a hateful video that denigrated the Prophet Mohammed. | But it does not explain why his senior officials shied away from similar language, most notably the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who was sent on the television talk show circuit to characterise the attack as growing out of a spontaneous anti-American demonstration over a hateful video that denigrated the Prophet Mohammed. |
| Even by the time Rice was speaking, it was clear that even if the demonstration had provided cover for the attack, the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi was by a group of well organised and well armed men who kept the attack up for hours. | Even by the time Rice was speaking, it was clear that even if the demonstration had provided cover for the attack, the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi was by a group of well organised and well armed men who kept the attack up for hours. |
| While administration officials said the attack was spontaneous, Republicans argued that it was a planned al-Qaida plot. State department officials conceded that it was clear the assault was planned. But probably in hours to take advantage of a volatile situation in the region over the video, not over days and weeks. And, they noted, not all armed Islamists are al-Qaida. In fact, there is only tangental evidence of an al-Qaida connection. | While administration officials said the attack was spontaneous, Republicans argued that it was a planned al-Qaida plot. State department officials conceded that it was clear the assault was planned. But probably in hours to take advantage of a volatile situation in the region over the video, not over days and weeks. And, they noted, not all armed Islamists are al-Qaida. In fact, there is only tangental evidence of an al-Qaida connection. |
| Clinton has said the initial statements were the result of poor intelligence over what happened in a bloody and confusing night of fighting. | Clinton has said the initial statements were the result of poor intelligence over what happened in a bloody and confusing night of fighting. |
| Republicans have described that explanation as a cover-up. They say the Benghazi assault is evidence that Obama's claim to have al-Qaida on the run after the killing of Osama bin Laden is hubris and that his Middle East policy is in a shambles. | Republicans have described that explanation as a cover-up. They say the Benghazi assault is evidence that Obama's claim to have al-Qaida on the run after the killing of Osama bin Laden is hubris and that his Middle East policy is in a shambles. |
| But the president's critics may be pushing too hard. When Romney tried to accuse him of a cover-up, Obama lashed out. | But the president's critics may be pushing too hard. When Romney tried to accuse him of a cover-up, Obama lashed out. |
| "The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we lost four of our own, governor, is offensive," he said. | "The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we lost four of our own, governor, is offensive," he said. |
| Many Americans will believe it. | Many Americans will believe it. |
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