STR/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- An explosive report in The New York Times suggests the White House was correct in its initial assessment that the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was triggered by an anti-Islam movie that infuriated the Muslim world.



In fact, the Times article says there was no proof, as has been long alleged by Republican critics of the Obama administration's response to the attack, that al Qaeda or its affiliates plotted the siege responsible for the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.



The Times goes on to say, "The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO's extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel (Mommar) Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam."



Mark Basseley Youssef's 14-minute video posted on YouTube, called Innocence of Muslims, depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a fraud and womanizer. This touched off riots worldwide, some of them turning deadly. He was released from prison last fall after serving 12 months for probation violations stemming from the making of the film.



While Republicans are already in an uproar about the Times' report, the newspaper says its investigation was thorough and "centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context."



New York Congressman Peter King, a vocal critic of the administration, said that the Times was wrong to say that the al-Shariah militant group, which was involved in the consulate attack, has "no known affiliations with terrorist groups."



Michigan Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also told Fox News Sunday, "I dispute that, and the intelligence community, to a large volume, disputes that."



Congressman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, also appeared incredulous, saying, "Intelligence indicates al Qaeda was involved."



Meanwhile, the White House hasn't disputed the Times article since it gives credence to what then-United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice said during a round of Sunday talk shows just days after the assault, that Youssef's movie was the catalyst for the Benghazi incident.

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