Fri Oct 5, 2012, 01:14 PM

Email Shows State Department Rejecting Request of Security Team at US Embassy in Libya

Source: ABC News

ABC News has obtained an internal State Department email from May 3, 2012, indicating that the State Department denied a request from the security team at the Embassy of Libya to retain a DC-3 airplane in the country to better conduct their duties.

Copied on the email was U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in a terrorist attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, Sept. 11, 2012, along with three other Americans. That attack has prompted questions about whether the diplomatic personnel in that country were provided with adequate security support.

No one has yet to argue that the DC-3 would have definitively made a difference for the four Americans killed that night. The security team in question, after all, left Libya in August.

But the question – both for the State Department, which is conducting an internal investigation, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is holding hearings next week – is whether officials in Washington, D.C., specifically at the State Department, were as aware as they should have been about the deteriorating security situation in Libya, and whether officials were doing everything they could to protect Americans in that country.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/email-shows-state-department-rejecting-request-of-security-team-at-us-embassy-in-libya/

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16 replies	Author	Time	Post
Email Shows State Department Rejecting Request of Security Team at US Embassy in Libya (Original post)	dipsydoodle	Oct 2012	OP
The waiver is more of a problem it seems to me.	dkf	Oct 2012	#1
What Were They Going To Do With The Antique, Sir?	The Magistrate	Oct 2012	#2
Vintage, yes. Worth a mint, no.	groundloop	Oct 2012	#7
They flew one in for an air show a few years ago.	Jackpine Radical	Oct 2012	#10
I got to watch the Gypsymoth parade in Australia.	TheMadMonk	Oct 2012	#13
Why, because they are extremely servicable with an absolute...	TheMadMonk	Oct 2012	#12
Didn't the State Dept. request more funding and was turned down by the Baggers?	secondwind	Oct 2012	#3
how would an airplane have changed anything? Sad that the MSM didn't do this post 9/11	progressivebydesign	Oct 2012	#4
A DC-3?	USMCMustang	Oct 2012	#5
Because of the maintenance requirements.	TheMadMonk	Oct 2012	#14
seems like poor judgement to send the security team home in August.	librechik	Oct 2012	#6
I wonder if Stevens ever met with his killers.	arewenotdemo	Oct 2012	#8
How Does a DC-3 Defend the Embassy Against Automatic Weapons, RPGs, and Mortars?	triplepoint	Oct 2012	#9
What exactly does prevent suicide bombers and attacks by hand held weapons?	kelliekat44	Oct 2012	#11
As you say, evacuation may have been possible.	TheMadMonk	Oct 2012	#15
Dad of US bodyguard 'blown up twice' in Benghazi says State Department should admit mistakes	sad sally	Oct 2012	#16

Response to dipsydoodle (Original post)

Fri Oct 5, 2012, 01:17 PM

dkf (32,583 posts)

1. The waiver is more of a problem it seems to me.

Last edited Fri Oct 5, 2012, 01:19 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

By Suzanne Kelly, Elise Labott, and Mike Mount

The U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, was operating under a lower security standard than a typical consulate when it was attacked this month, according to State Department officials.

The mission was a rented villa and considered a temporary facility by the agency, which allowed a waiver that permitted fewer guards and security measures than a standard embassy or consulate, according to the officials.

There was talk about constructing a permanent facility, which would require a building that met U.S. security and legal standards, the officials said.

Allowing a waiver would have been a decision made with input from Washington, Libyan officials and the ambassador, according to diplomatic security experts.

“Someone made the decision that the mission in Benghazi was so critical that they waived the standard security requirements, which presents unique challenges to the diplomatic security service as you can imagine,” said Fred Burton, vice president for Intelligence at STRATFOR, an intelligence analysis group.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/24/u-s-post-in-benghazi-had-less-than-standard-security-before-attack/

Email Shows State Department Rejecting Request of Security Team at US Embassy in Libya

1. The waiver is more of a problem it seems to me.

2. What Were They Going To Do With The Antique, Sir?

7. Vintage, yes. Worth a mint, no.

10. They flew one in for an air show a few years ago.

13. I got to watch the Gypsymoth parade in Australia.

12. Why, because they are extremely servicable with an absolute...

3. Didn't the State Dept. request more funding and was turned down by the Baggers?

4. how would an airplane have changed anything? Sad that the MSM didn't do this post 9/11

5. A DC-3?

14. Because of the maintenance requirements.

6. seems like poor judgement to send the security team home in August.

8. I wonder if Stevens ever met with his killers.

9. How Does a DC-3 Defend the Embassy Against Automatic Weapons, RPGs, and Mortars?

11. What exactly does prevent suicide bombers and attacks by hand held weapons?

15. As you say, evacuation may have been possible.

16. Dad of US bodyguard 'blown up twice' in Benghazi says State Department should admit mistakes