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Clinton: No rest until we find Libya attackers
Updated 3:47 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pledging a full and open inquiry into the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, amid demands from Congress for speedy answers to questions about the security of the mission and concerns that the FBI investigation into the incident has been delayed.
In Washington Wednesday, Clinton said that active efforts are underway to find out who was responsible for the attack and to bring them to justice.
"There are continuing questions about what exactly happened in Benghazi on that night three weeks ago. And we will not rest until we answer those questions and until we track down the terrorists who killed our people," she said.
She added: "Nobody will hold this department more accountable than we hold ourselves, because we served with and we knew the four men that we lost. They are not just names or profiles to us. They are our colleagues and our friends."
At the State Department with Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov, Clinton was asked by CBS News' Margaret Brennan about a claim by congressional committee leaders that there were multiple requests for increased security in Tripoli and Benghazi from diplomatic staff there that were rejected.
"It's essential that we go through all of the information and the entire context so that we can get a full and complete, accurate understanding of what happened," said Clinton. "I take this responsibility very seriously, and I believe that our diplomats and the American people deserve a rigorous, careful process. Now we are already working with congress and the relevant committees, and we will continue to respond to questions and requests in a cooperative way."
An independent five-member board appointed by Clinton will begin this week looking at whether security at the consulate was adequate and whether proper procedures were followed before, during and immediately after the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans on the 11th anniversary of 9/11.
U.S. consulate attack in Libya
"The men and women who serve this country as diplomats deserve no less than a full and accurate accounting wherever that leads and I am committed to seeking that for them," Clinton told reporters at the State Department on Wednesday.
Clinton promised "a process that is as transparent as possible" although she stressed that "it will take time."
Previous inquiries into attacks on diplomatic missions have taken months to complete.
But faced with Republicans in Congress impatient for full details of any possible negligence before November's presidential election, Clinton pledged that the State Department would share information as appropriate with lawmakers as soon as possible.
At the same time, she cautioned that the Accountability Review Board led by former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Adm. Mike Mullen, should not be rushed to judgment.
"I am asking the board to move as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy," she told reporters. "In the interim, we will provide as much accurate information to the Congress and the public.""
"Over the course of this review, there will be naturally be a number of statements made, some of which will be borne out and some of which will not," Clinton warned. "I caution everyone against seizing on any single statement or piece of information to draw a final conclusion."
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"Chuckles' aka VP Joe Biden laughed during a National Debate with a National Audience watching...and throwing the Intelligence Community under the Bus,JOE,,People DIED....AMERICANS----DIED...WHAT'S SO FUNNY...
Where's "Clueless" aka UN Ambassador Rice...She sure was out there Lickadee Split to say "It was a Video", really....Now where has she been since that story fell apart....Sure haven't seen her on FIVE different news stations lately......hemm....lights come on...Roaches scatter!!!!
CBS Nightly News asked her a SIMPLE, STRAIGHTFORWARD QUESTION:
Did you refuse to give Christopher Stevens security after he requested it?
Yes or No Sec. Clinton. Not blah, blah, blah, blah. She responded to the CBS Correspondent was idiotic. I can only conclude the answer is yes.
This "investigation" that Sec Clinton has initiated is a joke. Clinton and Obama know what they did - or, more accurately, did not do.
What is there to "investigate?" Only two people need to be "investigated" = Clinton and Obama (why wasn't he attending intel meetings - not just "reading reports," if he was even doing that?).
They should both be impeached for failing to do their SWORN duty.
Pretty sure that letting your charges be killed and deriliction of duty regarding security would get you dismissed from any position of authority.
TIME FOR HILLARY CLINTON TO PACK IT IN..POOR LEADERSHIP, THERE IS NO EXCUSE
'Sending in the FBI' who can't seem to get to the Embassy or Safe House.
You have just ruined any chance you had of being President. Why? Because you let Obama put you right under the bus, and American's have a memory.
The DoS Office of Inspector General and the Congress need to initiate investigations immediately to prevent DoS careerist from destroying evidence showing the true reason DoS/CIA operations to aid and abet corporate "freedom" to plunder Libyan oil resources.
Stop playing politic's America and start doing what is right! American people are so obsesed with party that they forget that WE ARE AMERICA not the party and not the Government! We are suppose to keep these people accountible and we have failed that but playing PARTY POLITICS!!! Shame on us!