I accept responsibility for Benghazi tragedy: Hillary
25 Jan 2013 7:48 AM IST
An emotional and combative US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accepted personal responsibility for the deadly terror attack on the American consulate in Benghazi but took on her Republican Congressional critics to blunt allegations of a cover up in Libya.
At two Congressional hearings, which together totalled more than five hours, Clinton, 65, acknowledged a ‘systemic breakdown’ cited by an independent review of issues leading up to the armed assault.
‘As I have said many times since 11 September, I take responsibility. 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 defended the Obama administration against allegations of a cover up of the attack at the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed three American nationals including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
‘For me, this is not just a matter of policy, it's personal,’ Clinton said on Wednesday in her last Congressional hearing before she steps down as Secretary of State.
At the hearings, Republican members challenged Clinton on the lack of security at the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi as well as the erroneous account that the attack grew spontaneously from a protest over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
At on Wednesday's Senate hearing, Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said: ‘We were misled that there were supposedly protests and then something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that.’
Clinton replied with a raised voice: ‘But with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans - was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans.’
UK URGES NATIONALS TO EVACUATE BENGHAZI
Britain on Thursday said it was aware of a ‘specific and imminent’ threat to Westerners in the Libyan city of Benghazi and urged British nationals to evacuate, giving no details of the nature of the danger.
An attack on the US mission in the eastern city in September last year killed four Americans, including the US ambassador, part of a wave of violence targeting foreign diplomats, military and police officers. ‘We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately,’ the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The UK foreign office declined to give more details about the nature of the threat in the city, cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya has been awash with weapons since then, and its shaky nascent institutions have struggled to rein in armed groups keen on ensuring they receive what they see as their fair share of power for helping to oust Gaddafi.
At two Congressional hearings, which together totalled more than five hours, Clinton, 65, acknowledged a ‘systemic breakdown’ cited by an independent review of issues leading up to the armed assault.
‘As I have said many times since 11 September, I take responsibility. 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 defended the Obama administration against allegations of a cover up of the attack at the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed three American nationals including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
‘For me, this is not just a matter of policy, it's personal,’ Clinton said on Wednesday in her last Congressional hearing before she steps down as Secretary of State.
At the hearings, Republican members challenged Clinton on the lack of security at the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi as well as the erroneous account that the attack grew spontaneously from a protest over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
At on Wednesday's Senate hearing, Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said: ‘We were misled that there were supposedly protests and then something sprang out of that, an assault sprang out of that.’
Clinton replied with a raised voice: ‘But with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans - was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans.’
UK URGES NATIONALS TO EVACUATE BENGHAZI
Britain on Thursday said it was aware of a ‘specific and imminent’ threat to Westerners in the Libyan city of Benghazi and urged British nationals to evacuate, giving no details of the nature of the danger.
An attack on the US mission in the eastern city in September last year killed four Americans, including the US ambassador, part of a wave of violence targeting foreign diplomats, military and police officers. ‘We are now aware of a specific and imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately,’ the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The UK foreign office declined to give more details about the nature of the threat in the city, cradle of the 2011 revolution that toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya has been awash with weapons since then, and its shaky nascent institutions have struggled to rein in armed groups keen on ensuring they receive what they see as their fair share of power for helping to oust Gaddafi.
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