WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House oversight committee charged on
Tuesday that officials in Washington turned down repeated requests for
increased security in Benghazi, Libya, before the fatal attack on the
diplomatic compound there last month.
In a letter
to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, leaders of the committee
listed more than a dozen episodes, several of them violent, in the past
six months that they said formed the basis for repeated requests by the
diplomatic mission in Libya for more security resources.
“Based on information provided to the committee by individuals with
direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the
ambassador’s life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western
diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to Sept. 11,
2012,” the letter said.
“Multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the
committee that, prior to the Sept. 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya
made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi,” it said.
“The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials
in Washington.”
In June, the letter asserts, Mr. Stevens was threatened in a posting on a
Facebook page supporting the old regime in Libya.
Other episodes included harassment, beatings, unsuccessful bombings,
gunfights and attacks with rocket-propelled grenades, directed not only
at Americans but also at other international representatives and the new
Libyan authorities.
“Put together, these events indicated a clear pattern of security
threats that could only be reasonably interpreted to justify increased
security for U.S. personnel and facilities in Benghazi,” the letter
said.
One episode cited by the House committee was the firing in May of
rocket-propelled grenades at a Red Cross office less than a mile from
the United States diplomatic office in Benghazi, an attack that occurred
in the early-morning hours and caused no casualties. A Facebook posting
that claimed responsibility said, “We announce that Libya is an Islamic
state,” adding, “Now we are preparing a message for the Americans for
disturbing the skies over Derna,” a port city in eastern Libya.
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