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BENGHAZI TESTIMONY

Clinton: 'What Difference Does it Make' if Benghazi Attack Stemmed From Protest?

The outgoing Secretary of State erupts at questions focusing on the administration's initial explanation about the origin of the attack

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by Lisa Fine

Staff Writer t

Image: AP

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton erupted during her much anticipated Senate testimony Wednesday morning, saying "What difference does it make?" when pressed about whether the Benghazi, Libya attack stemmed from a protest over an anti-Muslim video.

In the most heated exchange of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, criticized the White House for misleading the public by initially claiming the assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi developed out of protests. The administration later referred to it as a terrorist attack.

"With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans," interrupted Clinton. "Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again."

At a different point in the hearing, Clinton said, "We didn't have a clear picture ... and if you wish to fault the administration it's [because] we didn't have a clear picture and didn't do a good enough job of explaining we didn't have a clear picture."

Via Fox News and Buzzfeed

Posted 9:15am PST.
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Do you agree that its unimportant whether the Benghazi attack stemmed from a protest?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • bsking
    !
    No I don't agree. but this is exactly the Obama administration plan. with the help of the lap dog media what is much distance between the truth and reality and fantasy.. and then stall as long as you can and then a cold hearted bi%ch like Clinton comes out and says something that ignorant what difference does it make.

    Like Rand Paul told her if he was president she would have been fired.
  • bsking
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    @OhWiseOne I don't know about Rand Paul being the GOP pic I kind of doubt they'll go that way... hell the with the way they look and they're dysfunction they might put boehner up there.
    What I do know is that Hillary Clinton has always been a terrible liar.
  • Zazziness
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    @OhWiseOne "Rand is the next GOP presidential nominee." That would work out very well for the Democrats. You guys never learn, do you?
  • bsking
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    @Zazziness yeah she fakes taking responsibility then fakes outrage.. although the outrage was more sincere she couldn't believe anyone would ask her to tell the truth.

  • View all 17 replies >

  • PNWest
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    "It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again." - A perfectly reasonable attitude towards this tragedy. It is reprehensible that the republicans continue to use the deaths of 4 brave Americans for political purposes.

  • View all 79 replies >

  • SavageMazx
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    Exactly, you can't know what and who your fighting otherwise....also we need to know that those we have chosen to protect us are competent to do so....tell the truth....nothing more, nothing less.
  • Waynestew
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    It is NOT important. No matter what their reasons were it will never change what did. Therefore security needs to be made better so that no matter what somebody's reason is to breached an American embassy in the future they will not be able to.
  • SavageMazx
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    @Waynestew it is in that if it was a protest that got out of hand like the administration first told us then then that one sort of eventuality that needs to be addressed, at what point do you stop shooting over the heads of the protestors and just plain start shooting into the heads of the protestors? If it was in fact a planned terrorist attack a few things will then need to be addressed, like how we missed this, or did we hear the chatter and not take it seriously, which faction did it, is this an isolated incident or can we expect more from this group. There are all kind of ramifications of the difference. Hilary is doing a Damon good job of avoiding that issue, she is a Damon good lawyer if nothing else.
  • Waynestew
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    @SavageMazx I think it has already been stated that it was a deliberate terrorist attack. So again I find pointless to continue to ask that question of why baby over and over. Ms. people are really concerned about what we should do in the future and they should stop looking to pass blame. As in most government f*ck ups there is usually enough blame to go around everyone.

  • View all 12 replies >

  • MarkJM
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    It makes a BIG difference you callous twit. If you and your ilk came out and told the truth from day one, you wouldn't have been in this mess. No, I'll go further than that, if you listened to Ambassador Stevens and aided his security request from the get-go, those for Brave Americans would have been alive today. 0bama/Clinton lies and people die....
  • u
    Polusalo
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    I do love how it always goes to "Obama is the reason they died". Terrorists? Nope. Obama.

    Let me ask you something, Mark. Have you ever been in a relationship that was failing? You were about to lose your girlfriend. Your friends ask you what's going on and you tell them, only to find out the things you told them were completely wrong? Do your friends from then on tell you you're the reason the relationship failed because you messed up when they first asked? See how idiotic it sounds?

    Americans died. STOP POLITICIZING IT. We get it. You don't like Obama. He didn't tell the terrorists to kill those people. He didn't get rid of Jimmy Haffa. He wasn't behind 9/11. And whether you choose to believe it or not, he's, honest to God, not a monster hiding under your bed.
  • MarkJM
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    @armed_liberal what's even more tragic than that is how the Democrats are using Sandy Hook for their political agenda.
  • MarkJM
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    @Polusalo Tell your fellow liberals to stop politicizing things then, you and your ilk are just as guilty in that department than I supposedly am.
  • u
    Polusalo
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    @MarkJM

    I do tell my "fellow liberals" to stop politicizing Sandy Hook. Though there is a rather large difference there. They're politicizing something we actually have control over. We can take some guns away from some crazies in the US. We can't go to other countries and say "HEY! You can't have guns to kill our people with!"
  • jessejaymes
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    It's important only in the context of the aftermath and attempting to ensure steps are taken that it doesn't happen again. What the INSTANT gratification need of the public for IMMEDIATE explanations is, is unreasonable, immature and ignorant.
  • o
    cleverusername
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    So therefore those in charge of giving or not giving information to the public should not be so quick to cover their asses by lying and misrepresenting what happened if it doesn't really matter.
  • u
    culinary
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    I agree. We as a society have decided that we have to know every little tidbit of every little thing, IMMEDIATELY, which, in my opinion, forces officials in any situation to spit out what they can with very little proof. If everybody would WAIT A MINUTE, you might get the correct story the first time. It DOESN'T matter what the initial cause was.
  • jessejaymes
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    @culinary Agreed. What matters is finding out why we weren't prepared to defend our citizens who were operating under the authority of our govt.
  • jessejaymes
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    @cleverusername Whatever man. You'd be screaming cover up if they said "we don't know what happened yet. We'll tell you as soon as we know". This is exactly what I am sick and tired of in American Politics today. Both wings rush to judgement just as long as it's "the other side" who messes up. But you never hold your own accountable. 4 people died in Benghazi. 4,400 died in Iraq. Where were you screaming about Bush II warring for Halliburton profit?
  • o
    cleverusername
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    @jessejaymes " You'd be screaming cover up if they said "we don't know what happened yet" Um, no I wouldn't that is your false assumption.

    "But you never hold your own accountable: Again who are you referring too by my own?

    "Where were you screaming about Bush II warring for Halliburton profit? Yes I was screaming at all the democrats and republicans and powell and EVERYONE involved in that bull-crud. After all it wasn't just one person. Though many people seem to want to put all blame on just one person because that is easier to digest then looking at the truth and the whole of it...(their brain can't handle complex thought). Not me I am not that stupid.

  • View all 9 replies >

  • u
    RobertJHarsh
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    Why is she mad? HER State Dept put out that there was a mob and the building was stormed by them. Now it "doesn't matter"? Clinton needs to be in an interrogation room with the cops, not in some kangaroo committee where they yell back and forth, but she'll walk out with a medal or something.
  • Jeff_Woehrle
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    @RobertJHarsh She chose to not participate in the lie. Yet, she's here now defending it.

    Man, that 'vast right-wing conspiracy' is getting tougher to sell every day. LOL
  • u
    CaryNickel
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    Could the question be posed in a more convoluted fashion? Do we agree that it's unimportant? How about "Do we care if the current administration lied to us"? Hillary Clinton wants to be President and she doesn't think it's important if she was involved in willfully misleading the citizens of the United States? Or how about "How hard do you think the media is going to work to help keep Benghazi swept under the rug?" That would be a good question, too..
  • Thegrif
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    President Obama said he ended terrorism, he said it is because he understands them because he has lived over there with them. He said, it would be a huge benefit to have a President, like himself, who understands their ways.
    Now it doesn't seem so in this case
    Hmm so either he don't know them as well as he thinks, or maybe he was aware, maybe they were all aware in Wash. DC.
    Maybe it was just bad timing to go and start a war over some terrorist attacking our Embassy.
    We didn't see it happen, but Obama and others watched it happen in real time video feed. They sat and watched as 2 waves of terrorist with RPG's attacked American soil and our Ambassidor and others, and they did zero about it, then they lied for 17 days to the UN, America, and to the families of those killed.
    Sounds like more than an OOPS moment to me, sounds like just another day here in Candy Land USA.
  • JustTheFacts
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    What difference does it make? Well, when you had intelligence telling you months in advance that an attack was going to happen and was only a matter on time ... yeah ... that makes a big difference. Just another example of this administrations incompetence! Their only answer to every problem they face is to throw more taxpayer dollars at it ... I know I feel safer with this kind of political intelligence protecting us ... rotflmao!
  • AlexMIA
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    Not just this administration, but can you imagine her as president going off like that to the people,''what difference does it make!''
  • AlexMIA
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    Wouldn't prevention not only include the what but the why? What if it was a planned attack, or a new M.O. if you will? What if there are orders from the terror leadership to plan and carry out attacks on US embassies while masked in protest? I don't think they were honest or did a good job! I don't think Hillary will either!
  • u
    tomincali
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    it is funny though they was pushing blame on a video while knowing it had nothing to do with it. not only wanting to take guns also was attacking free speech.
  • DARSB
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    The Secretary's comment was in response to Sen Johnson's accusation that the administration "deliberately" mislead people in the days following the attack. I'd have been pissed, too.
  • Bobolinsky
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    The difference it makes is that if it was a spontaneous protest that was spawned by a youtube video then the investigation should focus on who in this Administration decided to attack instead of defend the 1st Amendment and why.

    As it is... the investigation is focused on who decided that it was a good idea to lie about a coordinated pre-planned terrorist attack and use that youtube video as a vehicle to attack the 1st Amendment for weeks and why.

    ps... that videomaker is still in federal prison.
  • russ
    !
    As taxpayers, we have to wonder how well dollars are being spent by our Federal government and how appropriately our leaders and legislators are addressing important issues. This wasn't the most catastrophic incident they've dealt with. However, it seems it could have been avoided entirely. Intelligence indicated security and safety were inadequate. Was it a matter of costs? One of Michelle"s vacations would have covered a lot of that expense. Was it a lack of concern? That certainly seems to be a possibility. After all, Hillary's cavalier attitude today makes apparent she still feels it's much ado about nothing.
    When the incident was first made public, the administration seemed pretty upset that a disrespectful video was posted and were quick to focus blame. Since then, they've acted evasively and with impatience that requests for answers continued. Is it unreasonable to ask why when responses are inconsistent?
    I conclude Hillary and others involved will ultimately avoid providing info requested and their credibility will remain sorely inadequate..
  • u
    Buckfan4life2
    !
    This adminastration is a disgrace. Just another lie they told for 2 weeks until Obama was safely elected. Day after he was elected,they came out with the truth. They chose to blame it on some poor guys movie than Obamas poor policies. If I was the man who made that movie I would sue this piss poor adminastration for everything they got because he is now a marked man. It amazes me that Obama can do and say what ever he wants and these fools will believe. Folks this country is in big trouble when we have a man running this country that people worships like some kind of God.
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