Washington: A two-year Congressional probe into an attack on a US diplomatic post in Libya’s Benghazi city has cleared the Obama administration of accusations of mishandling its response, media reports said Saturday.
The report released Friday by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee found the CIA and the military acted properly in responding to the attack, in which ambassador Christopher Stevens and three colleagues were killed, Press TV reported.
CNN said that up to 35 CIA operatives were working in Benghazi during the 2012 attack but it was never reported how many of them died or injured.
“CIA ensured sufficient security for CIA activities in Benghazi and, without a requirement to do so, ably and bravely assisted the State Department on the night of the attacks,” said the report, based on “thousands of hours of detailed investigation” and interviews.
“Appropriate US personnel made reasonable tactical decisions that night, and the committee found no evidence that there was a stand-down order or a denial of available air support. The CIA received all military support that was available,” it added.
The report concluded that there was no intelligence failure, no delay in sending a CIA rescue team, and no missed opportunity for a military rescue.
But it said the stormed diplomatic compound had inadequate security and had needed CIA assistance. It also said the administration’s inaccurate description of the attack was due to fragmentary and contradictory intelligence.