FILE - This Sept 13, 2012 file photo shows a Libyan man investigating the inside of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the deadly assault on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, Wednesday, laying blame on the State Department, the late Ambassador Chris Stevens and the intelligence community for failing to communicate and heed warnings of terrorist activity in the area and protect diplomatic facilities. The highly critical report also says the U.S. military was not positioned to aid the Americans in need, though the head of Africa Command had offered military security teams that Stevens _ who was killed in the attack _ had rejected weeks before the attack. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
January 15, 2014 - 7:54 AM
WASHINGTON - The Senate Intelligence Committee says the deadly assault on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, could have been prevented if U.S. officials had heeded warnings of terrorist activity, including threats to Western targets, and had improved security in response.
The report also says analysts inaccurately referred to protests as the reason for the violence, without enough intelligence to rely on.
Committee chairman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, says she hopes this will put to rest conspiracy theories about the militant attacks that night. Republican vice chairman Saxby Chambliss says the report shows despite a deteriorating security situation in Benghazi, the U.S. government did not do enough to prevent the attacks.
The committee report makes 18 recommendations to improve security at diplomatic and intelligence posts overseas.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014