Did the United States have advance intelligence saying an attack was being planned against the Benghazi consulate or U.S. personnel in Libya on Sept. 11?
Two weeks after Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered in Benghazi, Libya, the Obama administration has conceded it was an act of terrorism.
The attack on the U.S. Consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now admits, was part of a broader effort by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, working “with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions under way in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.”
Yet 11 days ago, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice was trotted out on every Sunday talk show to blame the massacre on a mob inflamed by the Internet video “Innocence of Muslims,” which insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
As Human Events’ John Hayward relates, Rice told Fox News:
“This was not a pre-planned, premeditated attack. … What happened initially was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in Cairo as a consequence of the video. … People gathered outside the embassy, and then it grew very violent. Those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons – which, unfortunately, are quite common in post-revolutionary Libya – and that then spun out of control.”
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