Tuesday, April 1, 2014

CIA officer confirmed no protests before misleading Benghazi account given



CIA officer confirmed no protests before misleading Benghazi account given
Information on ground rejects protest account


Updated: 12:04 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, 2014
By Guy Taylor
The Washington Times



Photo by: Manuel Balce Ceneta
** FILE ** Then-Deputy CIA Director Michael J. Morell received an email dated Sept. 15, 2012, from the Libya station chief saying that the Benghazi attack was "not an escalation of protests." (Associated Press)
Before the Obama administration gave an inaccurate narrative on national television that the Benghazi attacks grew from an anti-American protest, the CIA’s station chief in Libya pointedly told his superiors in Washington that no such demonstration occurred, documents and interviews with current and former intelligence officials show.

The attack was “not an escalation of protests,” the station chief wrote to then-Deputy CIA Director Michael J. Morell in an email dated Sept. 15, 2012 — a full day before the White House sent Susan E. Rice to several Sunday talk shows to disseminate talking points claiming that the Benghazi attack began as a protest over an anti-Islam video.

That the talking points used by Mrs. Rice, who was then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, were written by a CIA that ignored the assessment by its own station chief inside Libya, has emerged as one of the major bones of contention in the nearly two years of political fireworks and congressional investigations into the Benghazi attack.

What has never been made public is whether Mr. Morell and others at the CIA explicitly shared the station chief’s assessment with the White House or State Department.

Two former intelligence officials have told The Washington Times that this question likely will be answered at a Wednesday hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during which Mr. Morell is scheduled to give his public testimony.

Mr. Morell, who has since left the CIA, declined to comment on the matter Monday. He now works at Beacon Global Strategies, a Washington insider strategic communications firm.

One former intelligence official close to Mr. Morell told The Times on the condition of anonymity that “the whole question of communication with the station chief will be addressed in his testimony.”

“We’re confident that it will clarify the situation in the minds of many who are asking,” the former official said.

Another former intelligence official told The Times that Mr. Morell did tell the White House and the State Department that the CIA station chief in Libya had concluded that there was no protest but senior Obama administration and CIA officials in Washington ignored the assessment.

Why they ignored it remains a topic of heated debate within the wider intelligence community.

A third source told The Times on Monday that Mr. Morell and other CIA officials in Washington were weighing several pieces of “conflicting information” streaming in about the Benghazi attack as the talking points were being crafted.

“That’s why they ultimately came up with the analysis that they did,” the source said. “The piece that was coming out of Tripoli was important, but it was one piece amid several streams of information.”

One of the former intelligence officials said the Libya station chief’s assessment was being weighed against media reports from the ground in Benghazi that quoted witnesses as saying there had been a protest. Analysts at the CIA, the source said, also were weighing it against reporting by other intelligence divisions, including the National Security Agency.

“The chief of station in Tripoli who was 600 or 700 miles away from the attacks wouldn’t necessarily have the only view of what actually went on in Benghazi,” that former official said.

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack.

U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens
J. Christopher Stevens was the U.S. ambassador for Libya, and killed in the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Note: Thomas R. Pickering was the chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013, the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a co-chair for the International Crisis Group.
Susan E. Rice was the assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of State, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, and is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
Cass R. Sunstein is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, and married to Samantha Power.
Michael J. Morell is a member of the Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, works at Beacon Global Strategies, and was the deputy director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Julianne Smith is the SVP for Beacon Global Strategies, and was the deputy national security adviser to the vice president for the Barack Obama administration.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Samantha Power was a board member for the International Crisis Group, a director at the International Rescue Committee, Barack Obama’s aide, is the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, and married to Cass R. Sunstein.
Condoleezza Rice is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, was the secretary for the U.S. Department of State, Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi said he loved her & kept scrapbook of her photos, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qadhafi said he loved Condoleezza Rice & kept scrapbook of her photos, and was the Libya leader.
J. Christopher Stevens was the U.S. ambassador for Libya, and killed in the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Thomas R. Pickering was the chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013, the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a co-chair for the International Crisis Group.
Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), John F. Kerry’s brother, and was general counsel; acting secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.
John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, Melanne Verveer was her chief of staff, is a principal for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the founding chair for the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a co-chair, national finance council for Ready for Hillary, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for People for the American Way, Common Cause, the International Rescue Committee, the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Alec Baldwin is a director at People for the American Way, and was the host of Up Late With Alec Baldwin.
Alec Baldwin: 'I've Had the Entire Internet Shoved up My *ss' (Past Research for People for the American Way & Alec Baldwin)
Melanne Verveer was the EVP for People for the American Way, a field manager for Common Cause, the ambassador-at-large for global women's issues for the U.S. Department of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s chief of staff, and is the executive director for the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security is an institute at Georgetown University.
Madeleine K. Albright is a professor at Georgetown University, an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a friend of Susan E. Rice, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), was the secretary for the U.S. Department of State, and the United Nations U.S. ambassador.
Susan E. Rice was the assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of State, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration, and is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
Thomas R. Pickering was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), , the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, the chairman of review board that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2013, is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a co-chair for the International Crisis Group.
J. Christopher Stevens was killed in the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the U.S. ambassador for Libya.



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