David Petraeus: Benghazi info a spy tactic

By Gary J. Remal
Saturday, November 17, 2012 - Updated 39 minutes ago

Disgraced former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus told Congress behind closed doors yesterday that secret intelligence quickly indicated that the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. consulate in Libya that killed four Americans was a terrorist attack — but the spy agency was asked to downplay the suspected role of al-Qaeda factions to give U.S. forces a chance to hunt for the bad guys.

Analysts initially were unclear whether the militants had infiltrated a demonstration protesting an anti-Islamic video, Petraeus said.

But his testimony did little to quell critics demanding to know why the Obama administration’s version of the attack — that it sprang spontaneously as an anti-video protest — did not match intelligence agencies’ assessments at the time.

Lawmakers who questioned Petraeus said he testified that the CIA’s draft talking points about the Benghazi assault referred to it as a terrorist attack. Petraeus said that reference was removed from the final version, although he wasn’t sure who deleted it.

Republicans quickly pounced on that revelation, demanding to know who altered the talking points. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also said Petraeus’ testimony showed “clearly the security measures were inadequate despite an overwhelming and growing amount of information that showed the area in Benghazi was dangerous.”

But Democrats insisted Petraeus’ testimony made it clear the change was not done for political reasons before the president’s re-election. “The general was adamant there was no politicization of the process,” said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

University of Massachusetts Lowell Chancellor Martin Meehan, a former senior member of the House Armed Services Committee who knows Petraeus, said the mistakes the former Army general made in his personal life should not detract from his credibility on Capitol Hill.

Meehan compared the Obama administration’s need to keep secrets about the Benghazi attacks to President Jimmy Carter’s decision to keep quiet about the clandestine rescue of six hostages from Iran, told in the recent movie “Argo,” a secret success that Meehan said could have salvaged Carter’s re-election.

“If David Petraeus said some material needed to remain classified and secret, I think we should believe him,” Meehan said.

Petraeus was whisked clandestinely into a secure room beneath the Capitol as the circus-like atmosphere of his sex scandal continued to roil Washington, D.C.

Saturday, November 17, 2012