The CIA talking points U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice parroted on national television following the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi claim the demonstration was “spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US diplomatic post in Benghazi.”
CBS News was able to obtain a copy of the talking points on Thursday. Rice has been under fire from GOP lawmakers after she went on “Face the Nation” on Sept. 16, nearly a week after the attack, and said the attack in Benghazi was spontaneous and caused by an anti-Muslim YouTube video.
Read the CIA’s talking points provided to Rice:
The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US diplomatic post in Benghazi and subsequently its annex. There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.Obama on Wednesday passionately defended Rice from Republicans, saying she had nothing to do with Benghazi. That led syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer and other analysts to ask, if she had nothing to do with Benghazi, why did the White House send her out to talk about it?
This assessment may change as additional information is collected and analyzed and as currently available information continues to be evaluated.
The investigation is on-going, and the US Government is working with Libyan authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of US citizens.”
What seems strange is that the CIA would come to such a conclusion when there were people on the ground at the CIA annex in Benghazi. It is now clear there were no protests outside the U.S. compound in Libya before the attack and the White House had access to live information as the attack unfolded. Also keep in mind, Rice’s comments came nearly a week after the attack, not immediately after.
