Video: Issa’s Opening Statement “The Security Failures of Benghazi”

Via The Committee on Oversight and Reform:

Key quote from his opening statement: It was the 9/11 anniversary that caused an organization aligned with al Qaeda to attack and kill our personnel…

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee leaders have sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking why requests for more protection were denied to the U.S. mission in Libya by Washington officials prior to the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The denials came after repeated attacks and security threats to U.S. personnel.

http://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-presses-for-answers-diplomats-in…

“Based on information provided to the Committee by individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the ambassador’s life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to September 11, 2012. It was clearly never, as Administration officials once insisted, the result of a popular protest,” the committee’s chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, write. “In addition, multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington.”

The letter outlines 13 security threats over the six months prior to the attack.

“Put together, these events indicated a clear pattern of security threats that could only be reasonably interpreted to justify increased security for U.S. personnel and facilities in Benghazi,” the chairmen write.

The Committee indicated it intends to convene a hearing in Washington on Wednesday October 10, 2012, on the security failures that preceded the attack.

Oversight and Reform is livestreaming the hearing, here.

UPDATE:

CHAFFETZ: Moral Imperative To Thoroughly Investigate Security Failures in Benghazi:

“FOR ME, THE TALIBAN IS ON THE INSIDE OF THE BUILDING:”

Former State Department Site Security Team Commander Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood said “we were fighting a losing battle,” adding that his team “couldn’t even keep what [the security] we had. We were not even allowed to keep what we had.”

“I told the same regional director in a telephone call in Benghazi after he contacted me when I asked for 12 agents,” Nordstrom said. “His response to that was, you’re asking for the sun, moon and the stars and my response to him — his name’s Jim — I said, ‘Jim, you know what makes — most frustrating about this assignment? It’s not the hardships, it’s not the gunfire, it’s not the threats,’” Nordstrom said. “’It’s dealing and fighting against the people, programs and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me,’ and I added it by saying, ‘For me, the Taliban is on the inside of the building.’”

SEE ALSO:

Twitchy: Shameful: During Libya hearing, Rep. Cummings can’t remember Ambassador Stevens’ name

Gateway Pundit: CHILLING!… State Dept. Admits ONLY ONE Security Member Was Guarding Ambassador Stevens During 9-11 Attack (Video)

Gateway Pundit: House Oversight Chair Issa: Obama Administration “Absolutely” Misled US on Benghazi Attack (Video)