Petraeus testimony on Benghazi contradicts previous House statement [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: AP


Former CIA chief's testimony that attack was work of extremists goes against previous statement about US-made film

Associated Press in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 November 2012 14.47 GMT

Former CIA director David Petraeus was sneaked into the Capitol on Friday, away from photographers and television cameras, to face lawmakers' questions for the first time about the deadly attack on the US consulate in Libya just one week after he resigned over an extramarital affair.

The retired four-star army general, formerly one of the country's most respected military leaders, entered through a network of underground hallways leading to a secure room. CIA directors typically walk through the building's front door.

Petraeus is under investigation by the CIA for possible wrongdoing in his extramarital affair, though that is not the subject of Friday's closed-door hearings. The 11 September attack in Benghazi, which killed the US ambassador and three other Americans, created a political firestorm, with Republicans claiming that the White House misled the public on what led to the violence.

Representative Peter King, chairman of the House homeland security committee, emerged just after 9am to say the hearing before his committee was over. He said there were discrepancies between what Petraeus had previously told the committee about the Benghazi attack and what he said on Friday. King said that earlier, Petraeus had said it was principally a reaction to an anti-Muslim video produced in the US; on Friday he said it was an attack by extremists.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/16/petraeus-testimony-benghazi-contradicts