Benghazi Report
The Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on the Benghazi attack and as Charlie Pierce notes they criticized almost everyone.
Almost, except they didn’t mention the role of Congress in cutting the funding for embassy security that severely restricted what the State Department could do. Nor did they pay much attention to the fact that the facility at Benghazi was a consulate that wasn’t really up and running. The ambassador just happened to have a meeting in Benghazi, or the facility would have probably been empty when it was burned.
With the restrictions on funding, it would have made no sense to spend a great deal of money to protect an empty facility. The permanent American staff in Benghazi were in the CIA Annex which is not part of the consulate. The funds for security in Libya were spent on the occupied embassy in Tripoli, as was logical.
If the US wants to have diplomatic facilities in dangerous places, Congress is going to have to fund their security. No money means no security.
