2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumGOP Senator Criticizes Susan Rice For NOT Revealing Classified Information
GOP Senator Criticizes Susan Rice For NOT Revealing Classified Information
Not letting up on the GOP attack on Ambassador Susan Rice, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) today wondered on MSNBC why Rice did not augment the unclassified talking points provided to her on the Benghazi attacks with classified information to which she had access.
Speaking with MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell, Ayotte pointed out that Rice had reviewed classified intelligence related to the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya which contained previously unreleased information. This access, in Ayottes opinion, should have been disclosed on live television during Rices now infamous Sunday news show appearances on Sept. 16:
AYOTTE: Thats one of the questions I have, and one of the questions that didnt feel I get a satisfactory answer to. Which is if you knew that even though the classified version obviously had references to Al Qaeda in it being involved or individuals with ties to Al Qaeda involved in it then how could not know that when you go on every Sunday show and not include that fact that it would leave a very different impression to the American people. Particularly on two of those networks where she also said in an answer to another question that Al Qaeda had been decimated.
-snip- (video on the link below)
Counter to Ayottes accusations, had Rice revealed classified information during her Sept. 16 interviews she would be in much more of a position to be scolded by the Republican Party. Leaking classified information is punishable by law, and while she does have a high-level clearance, Rice is not in a position to arbitrarily declassify the items that she has the ability to access. If Rice had gone beyond her unclassified talking points, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen noted today, (there's) no doubt she would now be being hounded for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
-snip-
Full post here: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/11/28/1252081/ayotte-susan-rice-benghazi-classified-info/
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)See this is what happens when you are out arguing just to argue ... you say really stupid stuff!
I think Ms. Ayotte, having asked that question, just disqualified herself from holding any security related committee post.
EC
(12,287 posts)that she was advocating releasing classified info. She shouldn't even be in the Senate, it's over her head and someday she is going to be on a committee and she is going to reveal classified info.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)just the use of the label Al Qaeda, is used to cause an effect on Public opinion. The supposed link of Al Qaeda came from Petraeus and now it has elevated to the intelligence agency, supposedly hearing attackers that were involved with the incident, bragging about it, to an Al Qaeda group in Northern Africa. One of the earlier supposedly links to Al Qaeda was about an interned prisoner, who was at Quantanimo and released by the United States. This guy was a Libyan, that participated in the revolution against Gaddaffi. The story keeps changing about the Al Qaeda link.
Another area where the story keeps getting muddier is now the assistant CIA chief tells them the FBI changed the talking points after it was the CIA earlier. The story just keep changing and changing to give this perception of Al Qaeda, instead of Ansar Al Sharia and other militant groups, that were responsible for security and attached to the existing Government of Benghazi.
If you step back, the CIA is changing the story, but keeps giving the Republicans their talking points about Al Qaeda and the perception, Al Qaeda is not as decimated as President Obama claims in the campaign. They can't make it stick though. They want Qbama to seem weak on Foreign Policy period, which is what John McCain wants also.
I have a hunch, that this was a CIA operation that went wrong. They keep bringing up four personnel killed. The Republicans are misreprenting things themselves, to the public. Everyone that I have seen so far, had their own classified briefings. They know everything Susan Rice supposedly know about Benghazi. So why are they keeping up this charade to the public, as if they don't know?
It is political. What some of us already know, that the Republicans fail to mention, two or three of the people that were killed, were employed by the CIA. Two were killed in actual combat with the attackers. That is no different, than a soldier getting killed in combat. So lets put this into perspective.