Emails: Militants Quickly Took Credit for Libya Attack

But Hillary Clinton notes it was just a Facebook post
By Liam Carnahan,  Newser Staff
Suggested by cfbailey
Posted Oct 24, 2012 7:55 AM CDT
Updated Oct 24, 2012 7:58 AM CDT
Emails: Prez Knew Militants Were Behind Libya Attacks
President Barack Obama walks from the Oval office to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, heading to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. to attend the transfer of remains ceremony marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans...   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

More information about the confusion in the days following the Sept. 11 attack on the US consulate in Libya: Emails obtained by Reuters show that scarcely more than two hours after the attack, the White House, Pentagon, and FBI were informed by the State Department's Operations Center that a Libyan militant group had claimed responsibility. One early email, obtained from anonymous sources, carried the headline, "Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack."

US intelligence officials have said that initial reports are difficult to analyze, and that they were "relying on the best analysis available at the time." Hillary Clinton responded to the report today, pointing out that the email was referring to a Facebook post from the militant group. "Posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence," Clinton said. "I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be." (More Libya protests stories.)

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