Posted: 10/18/2012 at 9:21am | IP Logged

Senator: White House Response on Libya 'Bizarre, Misleading'

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CBN News

The terror attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was the deadliest blow against American diplomatic personnel in decades and has led to finger-pointing over who knew what when.

The Obama administraton's handling of the aftermath of that attack has become a daily headline and a hot topic on the campaign trail.

The fallout has led to questions of why the Obama administration still said the attack was sparked by a riot over a YouTube video about the Muslim prophet Mohammed days after intelligence officials said the administration knew it was an orchestrated terror attack.

Lawmakers have also questioned why the consulate wasn't granted the additional protection it requested from Washington after two smaller attacks on the American compound.

"We weren't told they wanted more security. We did not know they wanted more security," Vice President Joe Biden said during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 11.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed up his claim on the eve of the second presidential debate.

"The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals," Clinton said during a visit to Peru.

How soon did the White House really know this was an orchestrated terror-attack? Sen. Bob Corker, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just returned from a trip to Libya. He said the White House knew in "real time" exactly what was going on.

He spoke more about what he found out, on "The 700 Club" Oct. 18. Watch that interview, following this report.

Then came the debate over semantics. When the president claimed during the second debate that he referenced "acts of terror" the day after the attack, several questioned whether that was the same as classifying the tragedy as a terror attack.

Moderator CNN's Candy Crowley weighed in with her own interpretation of those words during this debate exchange:

Romney: I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.
Obama: Get the transcript.
Crowley: It -- it -- it -- he did in fact, sir. So let me -- let me call it an act of terror.
Obama: Can you say that a little louder, Candy?
Crowley: He -- he did call it an act of terror.

Crowley later said Romney was basically right in what he said about the administration's response.

Congress is investigating what happened. More than a month after the attack that killed four Americans, some lawmakers suggest there are still more questions than answers.