House Intel Committee dismisses some Benghazi myths

The House Intelligence Committee dismissed on Friday a number of the most persistent myths about the 2012 terrorist attacks at a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi.

The committee, chaired by Republican Chairman Mike Rogers of Michigan, found the U.S. government didn’t fail to send assistance to the Americans under siege by Islamic militants and there was no “stand down order” from the State Department. The committee also dismissed the notion that there was an “intelligence failure” the allowed the attacks to occur.


But the committee did rule that a number of individuals involved with Al Qaeda were involved with the attacks and Abu Sufian bin Qumu, a Libyan national, “probably played some role” in the attacks. Qumu was a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay before he was transferred to Libya in 2001.

“We spent thousands of hours asking questions, poring over documents, reviewing intelligence assessments, reading cables and emails, and held a total of 20 Committee events and hearings. We conducted detailed interviews with senior intelligence officials from Benghazi and Tripoli as well as eight security personnel on the ground in Benghazi that night,” Rogers and Maryland Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the committee said. “Based on the testimony and the documents we reviewed, we concluded that all the CIA officers in Benghazi were heroes. Their actions saved lives.”

Some Republicans in Congress have continued to cling to initial reports that surfaced after Ambassador Chris Stevens and two others were killed in the attacks. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the White House have been routinely criticized for failing to protect Stevens and for not quickly sending aide to protect the Americans.

But Rogers’ committee has long said its investigation would disproved those myths. The report, released quietly on a Friday night, dismisses the bulk of the most damning critics against the administration. The report was first reported by the AP.

Earlier this year, the House established a select committee to investigate the attacks. A spokesperson for the panel said on Friday that Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) would incorporate the Intel Committee’s findings into the Benghazi panel’s work.

“It will aid the Select Committee’s comprehensive investigation to determine the full facts of what happened in Benghazi, Libya before, during and after the attack and contribute toward our final, definitive accounting of the attack on behalf of Congress,” the spokesperson said.

The report is likely to spur criticism against the State Department over the shape of its security protocols as the agency knew it was unprepared to defend the outpost in case of a well-organized and heavily armed attack - a high probability in highly volatile region.

The report said State Department agents felt “ill-equipped and ill-trained to contend with the threat environment in Benghazi.”