Columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized the Obama administration's treatment of the Benghazi terrorist attack like a crime rather than an act of war on Special Report Tuesday, pointing out a similar approach by the Clinton administration in responding to the al-Qaeda attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 led to huge difficulties in holding the guilty parties responsible.

News broke Tuesday that federal agents and prosecutors investigating Benghazi filed charges against Ahmed Khattalah, leader of a Libyan militia officials believe orchestrated the assault. According to CNN, the charges under seal are the first criminal counts to emerge from the probe.

KRAUTHAMMER: Well, it's about time. It turns out the administration tried to run from Benghazi but can't hide. I think it's a little curious the timing of this leak about the charges being filed against the Benghazi suspects. We have known who they are. Obviously journalists have spoken with them. They've been out there in the open for days, for weeks, for months. I'd say better late than never, but it does remind me of the critique of the Clinton administration after the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. When we sent the FBI to investigate in Yemen, there was resistance by the authorities. We were then pre-9/11, looking at the law enforcement paradigm, treating it like a crime instead of like war. I'm glad that we have the sealed indictments, but the question is if we have the intelligence, we have CIA on the ground, we have operatives out there, why haven't we snatched them, interrogated them. The answer is that this administration from the beginning decided to undo everything the Bush administration had done, so we've had no interrogations, nowhere to put them, nowhere in Guantanamo. All you can do is an indictment, a trial in New York, or nothing.

"When you do the law enforcement model, you are completely handicapped in trying to deal with terrorism, and that's why it's always been the wrong one," Krauthammer said to close the segment.

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