Published: 9/12/2012

The attack in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans should “shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said here today.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and Sean Smith, a Foreign Service information officer and Air Force veteran, were killed in the attack. The State Department is withholding the identities of the other Americans, pending next-of-kin notification.

“All over the world every day, America’s diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our country and our values because they believe that the United States must be a force for peace and progress in the world,” Clinton said. “Alongside our men and women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation.”

Stevens risked his life to stop former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and then gave his life trying to help in building a better Libya, Clinton said.

“The world needs more Chris Stevenses,” she added.

Although this happened in a country the United States helped to liberate and in a city it helped to save from destruction, Clinton said Americans must remain “clear-eyed, even in our grief.”

“This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of Libya,” she added. Libyans stood and fought to protect Americans during the attack, and Libyans carried Stevens’ body to the hospital, Clinton noted.

The United States will not waver in its mission in Libya, the secretary pledged.

“The mission that drew Chris and Sean and their colleagues to Libya is both noble and necessary,” she said. “A free and stable Libya is still in America’s interest and security, and we will not turn our back on that.”

Clinton said the United States is working closely with Libyan authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protests that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” Clinton said, referring to a video that is purported to blaspheme Islam.

“Let me be clear, there is no justification for this,” she said. “Violence like this is no way to honor religion or faith. And as long as there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.”

Clinton noted that the attack took place as Americans observed the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

“It's an anniversary that means a great deal to all Americans,” she said. “Every year on that day, we are reminded that our work is not yet finished -- that the job of putting an end to violent extremism and building a safe and stable world continues.”
 

Back to top

Published: 9/12/2012

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the outrageous and shocking attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other American personnel, President Barack Obama said this morning.

Also killed were Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith and two others whose names are being withheld until State Department officials notify their families.

“We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats,” Obama said. “I've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake -- we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.”

At the Defense Department, Pentagon spokeswoman Navy Cmdr. Wendy Snyder said, “We are saddened by this tragic loss at the Embassy in Benghazi. We are working closely with the State Department and standing by to provide whatever support that may be needed.”

Standing in the White House Rose Garden with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the president said the United States, since its founding, has been a nation that respects all faiths.

“We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others,” he added. “But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence -- none. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.”

Already, Obama said, many Libyans have joined the United States in rejecting the acts. The attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya, he added.

“Libyan security personnel fought back against the attackers alongside Americans,” Obama said. “Libyans helped some of our diplomats find safety, and they carried Ambassador Stevens' body to the hospital, where we tragically learned that he had died.”

Obama said it’s especially tragic that Stevens died in Benghazi, because it is a city that the fallen diplomat had helped to save.

“At the height of the Libyan revolution, Chris led our diplomatic post in Benghazi,” the president said. “With characteristic skill, courage and resolve, he built partnerships with Libyan revolutionaries and helped them as they planned to build a new Libya.”

When Moammar Gadhafi’s regime came to an end, Stevens served as U.S. ambassador to the new Libya and worked tirelessly to support the young democracy, Obama said.

“I think both Secretary Clinton and I have relied deeply on his knowledge of the situation on the ground there,” he added. “He was a role model to all who worked with him and to the young diplomats who aspire to walk in his footsteps.”

Stevens and his colleagues died in a country that is still striving to emerge from the recent experience of war, the president said.

“Today the loss of these four Americans is fresh, but our memories of them linger on,” he said. “I have no doubt that their legacy will live on through the work that they did far from our shores and in the hearts of those who love them back home.”

Freedom is only sustained “because there are people who are willing to fight for it, stand up for it and, in some cases, lay down their lives for it,” Obama said.

“We mourn for more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America,” the president said. “We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake -- justice will be done.”

After making his statement, a White House official said, the president visited the State Department, meeting with employees there to express his solidarity with U.S. diplomats stationed around the world.

“At this difficult time,” the official said, “he will give thanks for the service and sacrifices that our civilians make, and pay tribute to those who were lost.”
 

Back to top

Published: 9/12/2012

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta condemned yesterday’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in the “strongest possible terms,” a senior government official said today.

“The secretary also extends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the entire State Department family,” the official said.

Panetta joined President Barack Obama and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton in condemning the attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith and two others whose names are being withheld until State Department officials notify their families. Three other Americans were wounded in the attack.

“The Department of Defense is ready to respond with additional military measures as directed by the president,” the official added.

Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of the U.S. Africa Command based in Stuttgart, Germany, briefed Panetta last night on the situation in Benghazi, the official said. The secretary has since received regular updates.

“DOD is working closely with the White House and the State Department to provide all necessary resources to support the security of U.S. personnel in Libya,” the official said.

“This support includes a Marine Corps fleet antiterrorism security team based out of Europe,” he said, adding that the team’s mission is to secure the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli and protect U.S. citizens.

DOD is also providing support to evacuate American personnel and casualties out of Libya, the official added.

“Those individuals and the remains of our fallen colleagues will arrive, if they haven’t already done so, at Ramstein [Air Base] and Landstuhl [Regional Medical Center] in Germany,” the official said.

This morning, the official said, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, placed a call to Pastor Terry Jones about a film by a U.S. producer that is insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.

Jones, pastor of the fundamentalist Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., is known for his 2010 plan to burn Qur'ans, the scripture of the Islamic religion, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. According to news reports, he also supports the recent film.

The film also was reported to have caused protests by angry crowds yesterday at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

“I can confirm that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Martin Dempsey, spoke by phone this morning with Pastor Jones,” the official said.

“This was a brief call in which Gen. Dempsey expressed his concerns over the nature of the film, the tensions it could inflame and the violence it could cause, and he asked Mr. Jones to consider withdrawing his support for the film,” he said.

Jones did listen to the chairman’s concerns but was noncommittal, the official said.
 

Back to top

Published: 9/12/2012

A senior government official today revealed details of yesterday’s deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four State Department officials and wounded three others.

Today, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta all condemned the attack and the senseless deaths of Americans, and extended their deepest sympathies to the families and colleagues of those who were killed and wounded in Benghazi.

During a teleconference given on background to reporters, the official described the scene of an attack whose elements are unclear or unknown but that killed U.S. Amb. J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith and two others whose names are being withheld until State Department officials notify their families. Three other Americans were wounded in the attack.

All Benghazi consulate personnel have been evacuated to the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli in a series of flights that included the three wounded personnel and the remains of the fallen State Department officials, the official said.

The Benghazi consulate staff will be transported to Germany, she said.

“The staff that is well is going to stay in Europe on standby while we assess the security situation,” she said. “The wounded will be treated [at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center] in Germany, and the remains will come home.”

In the meantime, the official said, “we have taken our embassy in Tripoli down to emergency staffing levels and … we have requested increased support from the Libyans while we assess the security situation.”

Last night, she said, State Department officials ordered all diplomatic posts around the world to review their security posture and to take all necessary steps to enhance that posture.

During the briefing, warning that details may change as the attack is investigated, the official offered a timeline of events surrounding the attack.

The consulate in Benghazi is an interim facility acquired before the fall of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It consists of a main building, several ancillary buildings, and an annex a little further away, she said.

“At about 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, which was about 10 p.m. in Libya, the compound … in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists. By about 4:15 p.m. attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire,” she said, “and the Libyan guard force and mission security personnel responded.”

At the time, three people were inside the building -- Ambassador Stevens, a regional security officer, and Smith -- and while trying to evacuate they became separated by heavy, dark smoke.

“The regional security officer made it outside and then he and other security personnel returned into the burning building in an attempt to rescue Chris and Sean,” the official said.

They found Smith, who had died, and pulled him from the building. They were unable to locate Stevens before fire, smoke and small-arms fire drove them from the building, the official said.

“At about 4:45 p.m. Washington time, U.S. security personnel assigned to the mission annex tried to regain the main building but that group also took heavy fire and had to return to the mission annex,” the official said.

“At about 5:20 p.m.,” she added, “Libyan security personnel made another attempt and that time were able to regain and secure the main building.”

The rest of the staff were evacuated to the nearby annex, which itself came under fire at around 6 p.m. Washington time and continued under fire for about two hours, she said.

During that ongoing attack, the official said, two more U.S. personnel were killed and two more were wounded.

At about 8:30 p.m. Washington time, or 2 a.m. in Libya, Libyan security forces helped regain control of the situation, she said.

“At some point in all of this, and frankly we do not know when, we believe that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi,” she said, adding, “We do not have any information about his condition at that time. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport.”

The official said Stevens made regular and frequent trips to Benghazi to check on developments in the east.

“He had been the secretary’s and the president’s representative to the Transitional National Council before the fall of Gadhafi and had spent a lot of time in Benghazi and built deep contacts there,” she explained. “So this was one of his regular visits.”

She said security in Benghazi included a local guard force outside the compound, “which is similar to the way we are postured all over the world. We had a physical perimeter barrier and … a robust American security presence inside the compound, including a strong component of regional security officers.”

About the protests, the official said, “We frankly don’t have a full picture of what may have been going on outside the compound walls before the firing began [and] … we are not in a position to speak any further to the perpetrators of this attack.”

The complex attack will require a full investigation, she added.

“We are committed to working with the Libyans both on the investigation and to ensure that we bring the perpetrators to justice,” the official said. “The FBI is already committed to assisting in that but it’s just too early to speak to who [the attackers] were and if they might have been otherwise affiliated beyond Libya.”

As Clinton said very clearly today, the official added, “We are as committed today as we have ever been to a free and stable Libya that is still in America’s interest, and we are going to continue to work very strongly to help them have the future that they want and they deserve.”

She added, “I would simply note how quickly and how strongly senior members of the Libyan government came forward to condemn this attack, to offer support to us.

She noted that the consulate’s Libyan security forces stood with U.S. security forces in defending the consulate buildings.

“One of the local militias that was friendly to the embassy came to assist as well,” the official added, “and I think that really speaks to the relationship that we have built with Libya.”

Also here this afternoon, Libyan ambassador to the United States Ali Suleiman Aujali held a press conference to condemn the attack on the Benghazi consulate and the deaths of embassy personnel.

“It is a sad day in my life. I knew Chris personally. He's my tennis partner. He comes to my house. We have breakfast together. I’ve known him for more than six years. He may be the first American diplomat to [have arrived] in Tripoli … after the revolution. He’s very welcomed by the people. He visited the Libyans. He [ate] with them. He [sat] with them,” Aujali said.

Aujali also offered his country’s “deep condolences” to the American people, to the families, and the president.

“We are very sorry for what happened,” Aujali said. “We will do everything possible … to [ensure] that we have better relations, better protection [for] the American diplomats and [for] the international community … working in our country.”
 

Back to top

Published: 9/12/2012

Service members facing behavioral health challenges should feel comfortable asking for help, Defense Department leaders said here this week.

Speaking during Suicide Prevention Month, senior leaders attending the 134th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference urged a continued emphasis on a culture in which it is OK to seek help.

During a Sept. 10 question-and-answer session, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno characterized suicide among service members as one aspect of a range of health-of-the-force issues.

"The most important thing is about creating an environment, a culture, where people feel comfortable, [and] can come forward and get the help that they need," Odierno said.

The Army has increased its requirements for behavioral health specialists, he said. "We're working very hard to fill those. … Our nation has a shortage of behavioral health specialists,” he added. “We have to continue to expand the capability to deal with behavioral health issues."

Odierno cited screening people before, during and after deployments as one of a plethora of programs aimed at helping service members. "We take this issue extremely seriously," he said.

The key, Odierno said, is vigilance to identify the signs that a service member may need help and to provide that help he or she needs.

During remarks yesterday, Army Gen. Frank J. Grass, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said people are the priority of the National Guard and the Defense Department.

"Exposure to combat, multiple deployments and personal stress have all contributed to a disturbing rise in issues like post-traumatic stress, unemployment, hopelessness and suicide," Grass said.

"These problems are not self-correcting," he continued. "They will not just go away. They require the collective action of leaders across the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs and the private sector."

Grass, who assumed the chief's responsibilities Sept. 7, pledged his support to National Guard warrior and family programs.
 

Back to top

Published: 9/12/2012

Efforts to improve management of civilian contractors performing critical mission support functions are creating a cultural shift in the way the military prepares for battle, senior Defense Department officials told the House Armed Services Committee today.

Alan F. Estevez, assistant secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness, and Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Craig C. Crenshaw, the Joint Staff’s vice director of logistics, testified along with other experts at a hearing held to examine the Defense Department’s planning and management of contractors on the battlefield.

Lessons learned in the combat theater over the last decade can optimize management and oversight of operational contract support in future operations, they said.

Estevez said that as the DOD has increasingly embraced operational contract support, he has seen a cultural shift in the way the military prepares for contingency operations.

“The lessons we have learned from recent operations are being incorporated and applied … across all echelons of the department, including the military services and the combatant commands,” he added.

Operational contract support capabilities and planning have become significant in the stand-up of joint contingencies and combatant commands, and the development and updates of policy and doctrine with an eye on increased visibility and accountability, Estevez told the House panel. Improvements in training and education in both the acquisition and nonacquisition workforce responsible for contingency contract management also are part of the program’s evolution, he added.

As an example, Estevez cited a critical lesson learned following the nuclear reactor failure that resulted from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“[U.S.] Pacific Command established the Air Force as the lead service for contracting,” Estevez said. “This meant that all forces deploying to Japan had a clear understanding of the contracting authority and would not be competing against each other for scarce resources.”

To sustain these advances, Estevez added, DOD needs to maintain its focus, secure and solidify gains, and continue its momentum in implementing the operational contract support capability.

“To lose such capability now would be truly wasteful,” he said.
Crenshaw agreed, explaining that the Defense Department began a “deliberate effort” in 2007 to significantly improve strategic operational contract support guidance.

“I am confident that ongoing efforts will ensure that we meet the warfighter’s current and future needs while judiciously managing DOD resources and balancing risk,” Crenshaw said.

The heart of the plan, the general said, involves closer links of contracts and contractors to operational effects to more rapidly and decisively achieve the joint force commander’s intent.

“In the past decade, we have recognized that contractors leverage important support to our troops while advancing operation objectives,” he said.
 

Back to top

Published: 9/11/2012

With flags flying at half-staff and under a cloudless blue sky hauntingly similar to the day America was attacked 11 years ago, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon and praised America’s service members.

“Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, service members and civilians” had perished in the attack on the Defense Department’s headquarters, said Panetta, who addressed military members and civilians that had gathered in the Pentagon’s center courtyard.

During his remarks, Panetta praised the millions of American service members “who stepped forward to answer that call to serve in uniform” when the attacks thrust the nation into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“They are the latest in a proud lineage of Americans who raised their right hand in a time of need and volunteered to serve this country,” Panetta said of America’s service members. “They have carried the burden of protecting America for 11 years, relentlessly pursuing those who would do us harm,” including the late mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, who has been “brought to justice.”

It was 9:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the west side of the Pentagon, causing a partial building collapse and killing 184 people including everyone on board the Boeing 757 which had taken off earlier from Washington’s Dulles airport for Los Angeles.

Despite extensive structural damage, the rebuilding of the Pentagon, dubbed the Phoenix Project, was completed within a year, to be followed by an outdoor memorial to those who perished here.

“We saw the Pentagon community rededicate itself to its vital mission of protecting this country. This is the enduring legacy of 9/11,” Panetta said.

In the years since, 9/11 observances have begun to assume a lower profile. But at the nation’s defense headquarters, there are daily reminders that the country is still fighting a war rooted in the events of that day 11 years ago, and as Panetta noted, of the sacrifices made by those who have done the fighting.

“They have fought and bled in places like Ramadi and Sadr City. And they continue fighting to keep us safe in remote outposts across Afghanistan,” Panetta said.

While the last American combat troops left Iraq in December, more than 70,000 U.S. service members are deployed in Afghanistan. Panetta reminded Americans that their security depends on the work being carried out by these individuals and the Defense Department at large.

“Today, we stop to recall the insecurity and vulnerability that all of us felt as the sun set on that terrible day 11 years ago,” Panetta said. “It is a painful memory, but it is a necessary one, as it reminds all of us why we must never get complacent, why we must never doubt the importance of the work that we do here, and why we can never fail, every day, to give it our all.”
 

Back to top

Published: 9/11/2012

President Barack Obama, commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces, led a remembrance ceremony today at the Pentagon Memorial, 11 years to the day since terrorists crashed passenger jets into the western side of the U.S. defense headquarters, the top stories of the World Trade Center’s towers in New York, and the soil of a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing a total of 2,996 people.

First Lady Michelle Obama, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and the chairman’s wife, Deanie Dempsey, accompanied the president as he placed a wreath at the memorial.

All bowed their heads, then Dempsey saluted and the rest placed their right hands over their hearts as a Navy bugler sent the sad, slow notes of “Taps” floating through the clear, cool September air.

Then, at 9:37, the exact time in 2001 that American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon’s western façade, the ceremony’s announcer asked for a moment of silence in memory of the 184 people -- ages 3 to 71 -- who died here that day.

Panetta told the crowd, which included friends and families of the 9/11 victims as well as past and current Pentagon employees, that that day forever changed 21st-century America.

The 9/11 attacks, he said, targeted “the symbols of American strength -- our economy and our commerce, our military might and our democracy -- and took the lives of citizens from more than 90 countries. It was the worst terrorist attack on America in our history.”

Those who died -- here, in lower Manhattan or in a Pennsylvania field -- whether they were passengers on one of the four planes, workers in the struck buildings or rescue workers, are “heroes forever,” the secretary said.

Panetta told the audience about his visit yesterday to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. “I was reminded of those horrible moments after the hijacking when the passengers and crew were able to make frantic calls to speak to their loved ones for the last time,” he said. “They knew what was at stake, and yet they decided to fight back. Together, they took swift and decisive action to stop yet another attack targeted at the nation's capital.”

The action those passengers took that day, the secretary said, is one end of a chain that links them, their survivors, the nation’s citizens, and the service members who since that day have stepped up to protect freedom and deny terrorism a safe haven.

“Out of the shock and sadness of 9/11 came a new sense of unity and resolve that this would not happen again. … In trying to attack our strengths, the terrorists unleashed our greatest strength: the spirit and the will of Americans to fight for their country,” Panetta said.

Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who orchestrated the terror, flames and death 9/11, died last year at the hands of American special operations forces. Al-Qaida is still a threat, the secretary said, “but we've dealt them a heavy blow, and we will continue to fight them -- in Yemen, in Somalia, in North Africa, wherever they go -- to make sure they have no place to hide.”

Sept. 11 is now, in America, a day of solemn remembrance, he said.

“Let us renew a solemn pledge to those who died on 9/11 and their families,” the secretary said. “It is a pledge we also make to all of those who put their lives on the line and who paid a heavy price for the last 11 years of war. Our pledge is to keep fighting for a safer and stronger future.”

Our pledge, he continued, is to ensure that America always remains a government of, by and for the people.

“That pledge, that legacy, makes clear that no one -- no one -- who died on that terrible day 11 years ago died in vain,” Panetta said. “They died for a stronger America.”
 

Back to top