State Dept Security Chief Resigns After Benghazi Report
Three State Department officials resigned under pressure Wednesday, less than a day after a harsh report blamed management failures for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, where militants killed the U.S. Ambassador and three other Americans on September 11, the Associated Press reports.
The AP article reports that Eric Boswell, assistant secretary of state of diplomatic security, Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, and an unnamed official within the Bureau of Near East Affairs, have stepped down.
The report says poor leadership in both bureaus left the post underprotected.
Read More: Panel Blames Security Lapses in Benghazi Attack
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., says that the State Department failed to be prepared: “They failed to anticipate what was coming because of how bad the security risk already was there. … They failed to connect the dots. They didn’t have adequate security leading up to the attack and once the attack occurred, the security was woefully inadequate,” he says in the AP report.
Lamb testified in October before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and defended the security measures, the article reports.
“I made the best decisions I could with the information I had,” Lamb said. “We had the correct number of assets in Benghazi at the time of 9/11.”
According to AP, she also told Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., that she rejected requests for more security in Benghazi, instead training “local Libyans and army men” to provide security, a policy in force at U.S. diplomatic facilities worldwide.
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