Benghazi talking points omitted link to al Qaeda
By Jennifer Rizzo, with reporting from Pam Benson
Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified on Capitol Hill on Friday that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was an act of terrorism committed by al Qaeda-linked militants.
That's according to Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who spoke to reporters after the closed hearing, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes.
The account Petraeus gave was different from the description the Obama administration gave on September 14, King said.
Then, the attack was described as "spontaneous," the result of a protest against an anti-Muslim film that got out of control outside the compound.
Petraeus told lawmakers Friday that he had discussed the possibility of it being a terrorist attack in his initial briefing in September, according to King.
"He had told us that this was a terrorist attack and there were terrorists involved from the start," King said. "I told him, my questions, I had a very different recollection of that (earlier account)," he said. "The clear impression we (lawmakers) were given was that the overwhelming amount of evidence was that it arose out of a spontaneous demonstration and it was not a terrorist attack."
The "spontaneous" adjective was "minimized" during Petraeus' testimony Friday, King said.
The cause of that discrepancy is unclear, King said.
Earlier an official said that Petraeus' aim in testifying was to clear up "a lot of misrepresentations of what he told Congress initially."
The former CIA director was expected to tell the congressional committees that he did develop unclassified talking points in the days after the attack but had had no direct involvement in developing the ones used by Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Rice has been under fire for suggesting the attack on the consulate was a spontaneous event spurred by a protest against the anti-Muslim film.
King said the original talking points were much more specific about the involvment of Al Qaeda.
"Final ones just said indications of extremists," King said. "It said indicate even though it was clearly evident to the CIA that there was Al Qaeda involvement."
Questions still remain over the development of the talking points.
“Basically it is still not clear how the final talking points emerged. (Petraeus) said it went through a long process involving many agencies including the Department of Justice, including the State Department and no one knows yet exactly who came up with the final version of the talking points other than to say the original talking points prepared by the CIA were different from the ones that were finally put out,” said King.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee disagreed with King, saying that the talking points did not change.
"The talking points were not changed," Smith said. "The talking points were very basic and straight forward."
Several democrats who were briefed said Petraeus explained the unclassified talking points did not make mention of extremist elements because it was still classified – and could have compromised intelligence sources, CNN's Dana Bash reported.
Smith took part in a separate briefing with the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.
Clapper read to the group the original three talking points used by Ambassador Rice. There was no mention of al Qaeda or Ansar Al Sharia in those points, according to Smith.
"This has become so partisan and so political," he said.
A senior U.S. official told CNN that the talking points were drafted by the CIA and "reflected what it believed at that point in time." The memo was reviewed "CIA leadership and coordinated in the interagency at a senior level," the official said.
The first draft of the CIA unclassified talking points stated there were indications the attack was linked to al Qaeda, but during the interagency process when the talking points were reviewed, al Qaeda was changed to extremists. The official said the change “was not a political decision.”
"The points were not, as has been insinuated by some, edited to minimize the role of extremists, diminish terrorist affiliations, or play down that this was an attack. There were legitimate intelligence and legal issues to consider, as is almost always the case when explaining classified assessments publicly." the official explained. "First, the information about individuals linked to al-Qaeda was derived from classified sources. Second, when links were so tenuous—as they still are—it makes sense to be cautious before pointing fingers so you don’t set off a chain of circular and self-reinforcing assumptions. Third, it is important to be careful not to prejudice a criminal investigation in its early stages.”
The official said the controversy over the word "terrorist" caught the intelligence community by "surprise."
“Most people understand that saying “extremists” were involved in a direct assault on the mission isn’t shying away from the idea of terrorist involvement," the official said. "People assumed that it was apparent in this context that extremists who attack US facilities and kill Americans are, by definition, terrorists. Because of the various elements involved in the attack, the term extremist was meant to capture the range of participants."
The talking points, the senior U.S. official explained, "were a reflection of the understanding at the time that could be provided at an unclassified level. They were preliminary and were never meant to be the final word on the issue."
On who authorized the final version of the talking points, a US intelligence official said, "We're reviewing the coordination trail."
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
500000 Scrapebox Blast Live SEO blog Comment Backlinks: https://www.seoclerk.com/Link-Building/842132/500000-Scrapebox-Blast-Live-SEO-blog-Comment-Backlinks
https://www.seoclerk.com/user/jackpower99
zithromax dosis https://zithromaxes.com/ zithromax treatment
princeton guidelines erectile dysfunction https://plaquenilx.com/ erectile exercises
what is hydroxychloroquine for https://hydroxychloroquinex.com/ hydroxychoriquine
sanafi https://tadalisxs.com/ tadora 20 mg
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the pictures
on this blog loading? I'm trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it's the blog.
Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Feel free to visit my homepage: to do stickers
Your way of explaining all within this post is
actually nice, all be able to effortlessly know it, Thanks a whole lot.
Also visit my web blog; BryonCHeppel
Remarkable things here. I am very glad to peer your article.
Thanks a lot and I am looking forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a
e-mail?
Feel free to surf to my web-site :: passport wallet
Earn 10000 a Month With Our Passive Income System – Best Autopilot income system 2021
https://warriorplus.com/o2/a/b11nr/0
Earn 500 a Day With Our Passive Income System Doing These 3 Steps: Step 1: Get our ready made niche websites, Step 2: Setup your Paypal account. Step 3: Run our Unlimited Traffic System from our Free 850 sources of traffic and start earning your income in same day.
https://jvz8.com/c/289727/331881
iskenderun escort bayanlarla tanışmak için bu siteyi ziyaret edebilirsiniz.
http://www.iskenderunescort.xyz
esenyurt escort bayanar bu sitede üstelik hepsi ücretsiz...
http://www.cuba.tc/escort-kategori/malatya-escort-bayan
My spouse and i ended up being really peaceful that Edward managed to finish up his investigations from the precious recommendations he came across using your web page. It's not at all simplistic to just find yourself handing out hints that many some people have been trying to sell. And we all fully understand we have got the writer to give thanks to because of that. The type of illustrations you made, the easy blog navigation, the relationships your site aid to promote – it is many superb, and it's assisting our son in addition to us reckon that this article is brilliant, and that is highly fundamental. Thanks for the whole lot!
https://bonuslikes.com/buy/50000-instagram-views/
Get Our Passive Income System – Step 1: Get our ready made niche websites, Step 2: Setup your Paypal account. Step 3: Run our Unlimited Traffic System from 850 sources of traffic (Approximately 35000 views a day guaranteed). Then just wait and earn your income 100 on autopilot. More info: https://www.k3reviews.com/2020/08/16/monster-mode-700k/
https://bit.ly/32Pc9iD
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this post!
It is the little changes that will make the very best changes.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
My homepage :: EdwardNZukor
Hello, Neat post. There is an issue along with your website in internet explorer, could check this… IE nonetheless is the marketplace chief and a huge component to people will leave out your excellent writing due to this problem.
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
Best Marketing Services – Cheapest on Market. SMM Supreme is the Top 5 Best Social Media Website in the World. Best Quality-Price Ratio on the market with 714,928 orders until now. – Facebook Fan Page Likes for $4.50/1000 – Instagram Followers for $0.78/1000 – Youtube Views: $1.62/1000 – Twitter followers: $2.10/1000 – Paypal Deposit – Bitcoin Deposit – Fast order processing – 1 Hour Delivery (Click on the link in the profile for more details)
https://bit.ly/2Hnl7vE
If some one wants to be updated with newest technologies therefore he must
be visit this website and also be current daily.
my blog; AlecYFlick
I read through this article fully regarding the resemblance of hottest
and earlier technologies, it's remarkable article.
My page ... zipper pouch insert
I've asked my older sister countless times to format my computer because I'm experiencing lag in the game I play. Btw, this computer has been formatted 4-5 times. But whenever I ask my sister to format my computer, she says no because she says that if you format a computer too much, the computer itself gets slower than it already was. Is this true? Or is that an excuse to get out of formatting my computer because it takes away her 2-3 hours?.
https://eee.oolpe.com
Hey there outstanding website! Does running a blog similar to this take a
lot of work? I've no expertise in coding however I had
been hoping to start my own blog in the near future. Anyway, should you
have any recommendations or tips for new blog owners please share.
I understand this is off subject but I simply needed to ask.
Thanks!
You need to get involved in a contest for starters of the best blogs over the internet. I will suggest this website!
http://yourmatrixcashmachine.com
It is the very best time to make a number of plans for the
long term and it is actually time and energy
to be at liberty. I've read this post and in case I might just I desire to counsel you few fascinating things or tips.
Maybe you could write next articles talking about this short article.
I desire to learn a lot more issues about it!
Look into my web page :: a5 dotted notebook bullet journal
Just want to say your article is as astonishing. The clarity on your put up is simply cool and that i could think you're a professional on this subject. Fine along with your permission let me to take hold of your feed to stay updated with imminent post. Thank you a million and please keep up the rewarding work.
http://www.guqinz.com
Great work! This is the type of information that are supposed to be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this put up higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
http://www.guqinz.com
MONSTERMODE 700K is a cutting-edge funnel-based app that can generate 100 commissions of up to 900+ dollars DAILY. This is made thanks to traffic conveyed on autopilot over various “viral tiers”. More details: https://bit.ly/2YfQFcC
https://bit.ly/2YfQFcC
if cbd oil is illegal why can i get it on amazon
https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicamendal/2020/11/18/justcbd-launches-cbd-gummies-for-vegans/?sh=7547dafbebd0
Spot up for this write-up, I really believe this web site requirements a great deal more consideration. I’ll likely to end up again to read a lot more, many thanks for that information.
http://6dollarmillion.xyz
Hi, i do believe that we saw you visited my site so i came to
return the favor.I am just seeking to find things
to improve my site!I suppose its ok to use several of your ideas!!
Feel free to surf to my website; DarceyBBurba
Best view i have ever seen !
https://lucky88.space/onlinecasino
detectives privados alcalá de henares
https://www.argadetectives.com/detectives-utrera-sevilla.html
erectile dysfunction when trying to conceive
erectile anxiety
erectile prescription pills
Excellent article. I am going through some of these issues as well..
https://extraproxies.com/tag/angles/
Our children's first steps, or the first home after you
were married and so on. Keep this plant away from pets and
small children, as it is toxic if eaten. It contains some robust
pre-filter that makes purifying extra efficient.