FBI team examines site of deadly Libya attack

The damage inside the burnt U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, is seen Sept. 13, 2012, following an attack on the building Sept. 11, 2012. / AFP/Getty Images

More than three weeks after a deadly assault on a U.S. Consulate in Libya killed four Americans, FBI investigators spent Thursday examining the destroyed complex in the port city of Benghazi, CBS News reports.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports a team of forensic specialists were escorted by a small U.S. military contingent that provided security, according to a U.S. official. The investigators spent several hours at the consulate and annex sites, the official estimated.

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reports the team collected whatever evidence they could from the site, given the amount of damage the area sustained in the attack, according to a U.S. official.

The official wouldn't tell Orr what was recovered from the scenes, describing the work as a general effort to collect and document potential evidence.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the assault, which the White House has referred to as a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that, according to a House committee, a State Department officer told panel members there were 13 threats made against the consulate during the six months before the attack on the facility on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The officer told committee members that the U.S. mission had made repeated requests for increased security.

A spokesman for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is holding a hearing on the controversy next week, said its source is Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom, who was stationed in Libya from September 2011 to June 2012.

• Clinton: No rest until we find Libya attackers
• GOP says White House ignored Libya warnings

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Sec. Clinton promises open investigation on Benghazi attack

According to the panel, Nordstrom has already given a private briefing to members. The State Department confirmed he will appear at a committee hearing Wednesday with the deputy assistant secretary for international programs, Charlene Lamb, who is involved in reviewing security requests, Attkisson reports.

Separately, The Washington Post reports one of its reporters found "sensitive documents" that were "only loosely secured" in the burned-out remains of the consulate Wednesday. The newspaper says the discovery "further complicates efforts by the Obama administration to respond to what has rapidly become a major foreign-policy issue just weeks before the election."

Republicans have accused the Obama administration of being unprepared for the terrorist attack by Muslim extremists on the consulate, then allegedly issuing misinformation about it.

Initially, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice suggested the attack was spontaneous, sparked by an anti-Islam video on the Web.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she's committed to finding out exactly what happened leading up to the assault and whether security requests were made but denied.

"No one wants the answers more than we do here at the (State) Department," Clinton said. It has appointed a review board to investigate the controversy.

A letter to Clinton from the committee chairman, Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and panel member Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, had said the information came from "individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya."

[HarryBosco]

Email Shows State Department Rejecting Request of Security Team at US Embassy in Libya
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/email-shows-state-department-rejecting-request-of-security-team-at-us-embassy-in-libya/#.UG7KCfX4Co4.twitter

[MrMac59]

Will the terrorists be turned over to us? We can house them at Gitmo.

[nubwaxer]

problem is that in a theocratic leaning country the religious book of whatever religion becomes a sacred book of that country. people in the usa might be horrified and indignant if someone here burnt a koran, a bible and a us flag but it's protected free speech, which is an alien concept in many parts of the world.

[b-o-b]

Are they looking for the video?

[cab_351]

why would the fbi go to another country to investigate? let alone 3 weeks later,,they have no business over there

[Pookahslife]

Mainstream Media: WHERE ARE YOU on this? The FBI is just now on the grounds investigating? When are you going to demand answers from the administration we KNOW you worship? Pleads were ignored for more security! Our ambassador and three good men were slaughtered all because Obama and his followers did not see it as necessary to offer them protection on 9/11! We know this was pre-planned and had nothing to do with the video. We know the ambassador was very concerned about their safety! There were previous attacks leading up to this! WHERE ARE YOU? Get off of your Obama worship sites and do you job! Demand answers NOW!

[HarryBosco]

Are you some kind of racist? How dare you speak truth to power.

[mark648]

The only thing to investigate at this point in time are communications from Ambassador Stevens regarding his and consulate security and an explanation as to why the consulate building in Benghazi did not meet the State Department's minimum security requirements in regards to perimeter wall height, distance of building from the wall and inadequate security bars and grates on windows and doors. The FBI in Libya is a tactic to delay details until ater the election.

[cannuc]

Investigate this....
On Tuesday, Sean Smith, a Foreign Service Information Management Officer assigned to the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, typed a message to the director of his online gaming guild: "Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures." The consulate was under siege, and within hours, a mob would attack, killing Smith along with three others, including the U.S. ambassador.

[robert1129]

A spokesman for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is holding a hearing on the controversy next week, said its source is Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom, who was stationed in Libya from September 2011 to June 2012.
-------------------------------------------------
Mr. Nordstrom has an awful lot to answer for; not only to the committee but to the folks at the DOS security office. Let's see if the price he will be paying is worth it.

[b-o-b]

I wonder if our feckless POTUS and SOS will "pay the price" since they did absolutely NOTHING to protect our diplomats, even after 13 threats were made.