Family members and advocates for victims of the Benghazi attacks urged lawmakers on Wednesday to press for answers as the House select committee on Benghazi prepped for its first public hearing next week.
“We still do not have the answers the answers that we need — the truthful answers that we need — as to why these American heroes were left to die,” said Charles Woods, the father of security officer and former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was killed in the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic post in Libya’s second city.
Next week’s hearing will probe the State Department’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks two years ago in Libya and how well it’s done in implementing its own internal review panel’s recommendations for fixing security and procedural shortcomings. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed, including Mr. Woods’ son.
One of the scheduled witnesses is Gregory B. Starr, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security. He told a Senate panel last year that more resources would have helped strengthen embassy security but would not have necessarily prevented the attack.
Mark J. Sullivan, former director of the United States Secret Service, and Todd Keil, a former official in the Homeland Security Department, also are scheduled to appear. Mr. Sullivan is the chairman of the Independent Panel on Best Practices, an outgrowth of the review board’s recommendations, and Mr. Keil is a member of the panel.
Mr. Woods and others said they still have questions about the security situation ahead of the attack, and the White House’s initial reaction that the attack was actually a protest against an anti-Islamic video, rather than the terrorist assault officials eventually concluded it was.
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A new book chronicling the night by several security contractors says the top CIA officer there held them back that night, preventing them from possibly saving the Americans.
“It’s not old news, because we still don’t have the answers,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas Republican. “Why couldn’t you send somebody to protect the protectors?”
But Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat and the ranking member on the Benghazi panel, pointed to intelligence committees reports determining that the delay actually occurred because a supervisor tried to make sure he wasn’t sending his team into an ambush.
“Many allegations about what transpired before, during, and after the attacks in Benghazi have already been thoroughly examined, so it is critical that the Select Committee understand what came before it to ensure we are not reinvestigating the same issues all over again,” he said.
The panel was established in May, and took over the investigation from a number of committees that had been looking into different aspects.
Many Democrats said the panel was unnecessary, pointing to multiple investigations that have cleared the White House of intentional wrongdoing, though they found the State Department missed danger signs and should have done a better job of providing security.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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