Ileana Ros Lehtinen: Libya Attack Exposes White House ‘Pre-9/11 Mindset’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, R-Miami, was one of five GOP committee chairs to fire off a letter demanding the Obama administration further explain its response to the Libyan consulate attack in Benghazi that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens dead.

The letter, which criticizes the administration for having a “pre-9/11 mindset,” questions the White House's initial comment that the attack was a protest that went wrong, instead of “what it truly was — a terrorist attack on the United States on the anniversary of 9/11."

"Decades after al-Qaida attacked our embassies in East Africa, which catalyzed a series of events that led to the attacks on 9/11, it appears they executed a highly coordinated and well-planned attack against us again," the letter stated. "Clearly, the threat from al-Qaida and affiliated groups has metastasized; yet we do not appear to be learning from the past."

The attack on the Libyan consulate in Benghazi left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

Other committee chairs that signed the letter: Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif.; Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas; Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky.