Patrick Goodenough
CNS News
May 16, 2013
After days of media leaks and back-and-forth wrangling about
administration officials’ deliberations on talking points about the
Benghazi attack, the White House late Wednesday released documents
showing that both CIA and State Department officials pressed for the
removal of all references to al-Qaeda and previous terror activity in
Libya.
Among the 100 pages released is a draft of talking points being
prepared for Congress and then public release about the Sept. 11 attack
on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, with extensive pen alterations by CIA
deputy director Michael Morell.
Dated Sept. 14 but not time-stamped, the document shows that Morell
wanted to strike sentences including an entire portion reading:
“The Agency has produced numerous pieces on the threat of
extremists linked to al-Qaeda in Benghazi and eastern Libya. Since
April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign
interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June
attack against the British Ambassador’s convoy. We cannot rule out that
individuals had previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also
contributing to the efficacy of the attacks.”
Morell did not, however, make amendments to the part of the draft
that linked the Benghazi attack to a demonstration at the U.S. Embassy
in Cairo hours earlier (by Muslims purportedly enraged by an online
video clip denigrating Mohammed.)
Full article here
