White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

(CBS News) Amid varying reports over how and when the Obama administration determined that the recent attacks in Libya may have been acts of terrorism, and allegations that the White House might have knowingly mischaracterized the events in their aftermath, CBSNews.com presents a timeline of the administration's responses -- as well as some conflicting accounts from others.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, unambiguously called the incident a "terrorist" attack in an interview with CBS News Capitol Hill producer Jill Jackson on Sept. 12, 2012, a day after the attack.

"Absolutely it's a terrorist attack," Rogers told CBS News Capitol Hill producer Jill Jackson. "This was not done by the Libyan government. It was done by an external group we believe has at least extremist ties, maybe al Qaeda ties, and the style and the signature of the attack clearly would be something that we have seen before and would be in line with something al Qaeda would do," Rogers told Jackson. 

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

On Sept. 14, in remarks at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony honoring the Americans killed in Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again tied to the violence to the video.

"This has been a difficult week for the State Department and for our country. We've seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We've seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful Internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that because it is senseless, and it is totally unacceptable," Clinton said.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

Also on Sept. 14, White House spokesman Jay Carney denied that the administration had any prior intelligence that the attacks were "planned or imminent."

"We were not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent. That report is false," Carney said.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

On Sept. 16, Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that, based on "the best information we have," the attack "began spontaneously" as a response to the video.

"Based on the best information we have to date ... it began spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo, where, of course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our embassy sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into something much, much more violent.... We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was premeditated or preplanned."

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf, president of Libya's General National Congress, expressed the belief on Sept. 16 that the attacks were indeed "preplanned" and "predetermined."

"The way these perpetrators acted and moved, and their choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, this leaves us with no doubt that this was preplanned, predetermined," al-Magariaf said.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

In an exchange at a State Department briefing on Sept. 17, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland declined to put a "label" on the attacks until a "full investigation" had been completed. 

QUESTION: "Simply on the basis of what Ambassador Rice has publicly disclosed, does the United States Government regard what happened in Benghazi as an act of terror?"

NULAND: "Again, I'm not going to put labels on this until we have a complete investigation, okay?"

QUESTION: "You don't -- so you don't regard it as an act of terrorism?"

NULAND: "I don't think we know enough. I don't think we know enough. And we're going to continue to assess. She gave our preliminary assessment. We're going to have a full investigation now, and then we'll be in a better position to put labels on things, okay?" 

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, referred to a "terrorist attack on our embassy" in testimony before Congress on Sept. 19, after being asked a direct question.

"I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy....The best information we have now, the facts that we have now indicate that this was an opportunistic attack on our embassy. The attack began and evolved and escalated over several hours at our embassy -- our diplomatic post in Benghazi. It evolved and escalated over several hours. "It appears that individuals who were certainly well-armed seized on the opportunity presented as the events unfolded that evening and into the -- into the morning hours of September 12th. We do know that a number of militants in the area, as I mentioned, are well-armed and maintain those arms. What we don't have at this point is specific intelligence that there was a significant advanced planning or coordination for this attack.

"We are focused on who was responsible for this attack. At this point, what I would say is that a number of different elements appear to have been involved in the attack, including individuals connected to militant groups that are prevalent in eastern Libya, particularly in the Benghazi area, as well. We are looking at indications that individuals involved in the attack may have had connections to al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda's affiliates; in particular, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," Olsen said.  

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

On Sept. 19, CBS News' Liz Palmer tells "CBS Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley there never was anti-American protest, according to witnesses.

PALMER: "Most people we talked to, including neighbors around the consulate, say that there was absolutely no demonstration, that in fact the attack began when a group of armed men - as many as 100 - showed up at the same time at both the compound's main gates, and began firing, both with guns and also with heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and also mortars."

PELLEY: "Are we any further along in figuring out who those men were and who was behind the attack?"

PALMER: "Libyan officials are almost unanimous in saying they suspect members of one of the fundamentalist Islamist militias - one called Ansar al sharia - the trouble is they are extremely powerful and well armed and one security official told us today that even if the government did decide to go in and arrest some of the members, they're not sure that wouldn't start a battle that the government couldn't win."

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

On Sept. 20, Carney called the event a "terrorist attack" but maintained that there was no evidence it was "significantly preplanned."

"It is, I think, self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack. Our embassy was attacked violently, and the result was four deaths of American officials. So, again, that's self- evident. "He also made clear that at this point, based on the information he has -- and he is briefing the Hill on the most up-to-date intelligence -- we have no information at this point that suggests that this was a significantly preplanned attack, but this was the result of opportunism, taking advantage of and exploiting what was happening as a result of reaction to the video that was found to be offensive," Carney told reporters.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

President Obama, at a Univision Town Hall on Sept. 20, again cited the video, although he was referring more broadly to the protests "in different countries."

QUESTION: "We have reports that the White House said today that the attacks in Libya were a terrorist attack. Do you have information indicating that it was Iran, or al-Qaeda was behind organizing the protests?"

OBAMA: "Well, we're still doing an investigation, and there are going to be different circumstances in different countries. And so I don't want to speak to something until we have all the information. What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm U.S. interests."

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

On Sept. 21, at a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refers to the event in Benghazi as a "terrorist attack." 

"What happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, and we will not rest until we have tracked down and brought to justice the terrorists who murdered four Americans," Clinton said.

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

In a Sept. 25 interview with ABC's "The View," Mr. Obama confirmed that the attack "wasn't just a mob action" but declined to go into details due to the ongoing investigation.

QUESTION: "I heard Hillary Clinton say it was act of terrorism. Is it? What do you say?"

OBAMA: "We are still doing an investigation. There is no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault, that it wasn't just a mob action. Now, we don't have all the information yet so we are still gathering."

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

Speaking to reporters on Sept. 26, Carney affirmed that President Obama views the incident as a terrorist attack.

QUESTION: "Is there any reason why the President did not -- he was asked point-blank in The View interview, is this a terrorist attack, yes or no? Is there any reason why he didn't say yes?"

CARNEY: "He answered the question that he was asked, and there's no reason that he chose the words he did beyond trying to provide a full explanation of his views and his assessment that we need to await further information that the investigation will uncover. But it is certainly the case that it is our view as an administration, the President's view, that it was a terrorist attack."

White House response to Libya attacks: A timeline

In Washington on Oct. 3, Secretary of State 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.