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(CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday took on
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Five things we learned from the Benghazi hearings
updated 9:27 PM EST, Wed January 23, 2013
Clinton testimony emotional, fiery
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hillary Clinton testifies for more than five hours before two congressional committees
- Clinton, at one point, grew exasperated with line of questioning over Benghazi response
- Some Republican lawmakers say they are not satisfied with Clinton's answers
- Four Americans killed in September 11 attack, including U.S. ambassador to Libya
Conservative GOP members
challenged Clinton on the lack of security at the diplomatic compound in
Benghazi as well as the erroneous account that the attack grew
spontaneously from a protest over an anti-Islam film produced in the
United States.
At two hearings, which
together totaled more than five hours, Clinton acknowledged a "systemic
breakdown" cited by an independent review of issues leading up to the
armed assault and said her department was taking additional steps to
increase security at U.S. diplomatic facilities.
Here are five things we learned from the hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees.
1. What Clinton did the day of the Benghazi attack
Clinton spent the better
part of last September 11 trying to get a handle on security at several
other U.S. embassies in the Middle East where anti-American protests
were in full swing over an anti-Muslim film produced in the United
States.
She said the U.S. embassy
was "under assault" by crowds trying to scale the wall. American
embassies in Yemen and Tunisia were also facing a "serious threat.
Clinton personally called the president of Tunisia, she said, to "beg
him to send reinforcements, which he did, to finally save our embassy."
Clinton tears up at Benghazi hearing
Clinton, senators clash over Benghazi
Clinton's heated exchange over Benghazi
By 4 p.m. that day,
Clinton was notified about the Benghazi attack. In the coming hours, she
was in meetings and spoke with staff, the American Embassy in Tripoli
and other U.S. officials.
Directing the U.S.
response from the State Department, Clinton stayed in touch with
officials across the administration and with the Libyan government.
She instructed her staff
to "consider every option, to just break down the doors of the Libyan
officials to get as much security support as we possibly could."
Clinton said in the
hours and days following the attack in Benghazi, there were "no delays
in decision-making. No denials of support from Washington or from our
military," something an independent board established to review the
matter cited in its report.
2. U.S. diplomatic posts in some 20 countries under threat
Clinton said threats to U.S. diplomatic posts are ongoing.
"Sitting here today, we
probably have at least 20 other posts that are under a serious threat
environment as I speak to you," she told senators. "We operate in places
where we know that our facilities are being surveilled for potential
attacks where we have a steady Intel stream of plotting."
Clinton detailed what
the State Department has done to begin implementing the 29
recommendations of the Accountability Review Board to improve security
at diplomatic posts in high-threat areas, in addition to a few of her
own.
Specifically, Clinton
has appointed a team, led by her deputy, to focus on tightening
security, sent joint teams of military special forces and diplomatic
security threat analysts to more than a dozen high-risk posts and
appointed a senior official to focus exclusively on those areas.
The State Department is
also working to streamline requests for security so they make their way
more quickly up the chain of leadership.
Despite the threat, Clinton stressed the importance of U.S. leadership and diplomatic presence in the Middle East.
"We've come a long way
in the past four years, and we cannot afford to retreat now," Clinton
told senators. "When America is absent, especially from unstable
environments, there are consequences. Extremism takes root, our
interests suffer, our security at home is threatened."
3. Clinton not shying away from a fight
Clinton grew emotional and held back tears when talking about U.S. personnel killed in the Benghazi attack.
"For me, this is not
just a matter of policy, it's personal. I stood next to President Obama
as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at
Andrews," Clinton said as she choked back tears. "I put my arms around
the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers, the sons and
daughters, and the wives left alone to raise their children."
But she lost patience
with the focus of Republican senators on talking points used by U.N.
Ambassador Susan Rice on the next Sunday's talk shows that focused on a
protest at the U.S. post in Benghazi, which turned out not to have taken
place.
When Sen. Ron Johnson
pressed Clinton on why the State Department didn't call U.S. personnel
who were evacuated from Benghazi to determine whether there was a
protest, Clinton took him to task.
"With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans," Clinton reminded Johnson as she banged her hand on the table.
"Was it because of a
protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided
they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it
make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can
to prevent it from ever happening," she said.
4. Militants in Mali and Algeria have arms from Libya
Clinton warned the
security situation in northern Mali, where international forces are
battling militants, has been exacerbated by flow of weapons from
neighboring Libya following the fall of Moammar Gadhafi.
She said there was "no doubt" such weapons were also used in an attack by militants on an Algerian natural gas plant last week.
She noted the aftermath of the Arab spring has changed power dynamics and stretched security forces across the region thin.
Calling the campaign
struggle against the Islamic fighters a necessary response to "a very
serious, ongoing threat," Clinton said the "United States cannot permit
northern Mali to become a safe-haven for Islamist rebels that could
eventually pose a more direct threat to U.S. interests."
Nothing the increased
strength of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the regional affiliate of
the al Qaeda network fighting along side local Malians, Clinton warned
that the United States must prepare for the possibility that groups like
AQIM could threaten direct attacks on U.S. interests as they gain
power.
"You can't say because
they haven't done something they're not going to do it," Clinton said.
"This is not only a terrorist syndicate, it is a criminal enterprise. So
make no mistake about it, we've got to have a better strategy."
5. Republicans still aren't buying it
While their tone was generally respectful, several Republican senators made clear they were unsatisfied with Clinton's answers.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ),
one of the administration's toughest critics since the Benghazi attack,
took Clinton to task for what he considered lackluster attention to the
growing threat in Benghazi.
McCain wanted to know
why Clinton hadn't read a cable from Ambassador Christopher Stevens
warning that the mission in Benghazi could not survive a sustained
assault.
Sen. Rand Paul said it would have been an offense worthy of firing Clinton had he been president.
McCain also blasted Clinton's answers to questions about the administration's claim that a protest had taken place in Benghazi.
"The American people deserve to know answers, and they certainly don't deserve false answers," McCain told Clinton.
Clinton was more
diplomatic with her old friend, saying she respected his strong feelings
for the incident given his own relationship with Stevens, but that they
disagreed about what happened and when it happened with respect to
explaining events.
In addition to lessons
the State Department learned about improving security at diplomatic
posts, Clinton, who called the Benghazi attack an act of terrorism since
Day One, suggested the administration might learn another lesson.
"Just withhold. Don't say what you don't know for sure until it's finally decided."
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