Benghazi Breakdown
Get the facts about what’s at stake in the Libya fallout.
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Rice Under Pressure - Republican lawmakers are taking aim at U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice and the talking points she used to explain the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Get the facts about what went down and what’s at stake for Rice and the Obama administration. — Naeesa Aziz (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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Apology Not Accepted - Admitting that she misled the American people on Benghazi, Rice met with a cohort of her biggest critics including Sen. John McCain in an attempt to smooth things over, but the gesture failed to ease the mounting tension. (Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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What Happened on Sept. 11, 2012? - On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, anti-American violence erupted in Cairo and Benghazi. In Benghazi, four Americans were killed including U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens when armed protesters launched a full-scale attack on a U.S. consulate building. (Photo: REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori)
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So, Why Is Rice in Hot Water? - Following Rice’s message that the attacks were spontaneous, it was brought to light that the Obama administration had intelligence information that showed the attack was a premeditated act of terrorism by al-Qaeda linked militants. (Photo: REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori)
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New Doubts Cast - "And what troubles me so much is that the Benghazi attacks echoes the attacks on those embassies in 1998 when Susan Rice was head of the African region for our State Department.… She had to be aware of the general threat assessment and of the ambassadors’ request for more security,” said Sen. Susan Collins.(Photo: AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
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What Was the Government’s Initial Response to the Attacks? - Immediately following the attack, President Obama expressed sympathy for the loss of American life and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice stood in for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on several U.S. news programs. She described the attack as a spontaneous protest incited by an anti-Islamic movie called The Innocence of Muslims. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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What Was the Offensive Movie About? - The Innocence of Muslims was a low-budget film directed and written by American filmmaker Sam Bacile. It portrayed the Prophet Muhammad, Islam's most holy figure, as a fraud and a womanizer.(Photo: YouTube)
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How Did Rice Explain the Discrepancy? - Rice continues to defend her message, saying that she informed the public with the most accurate and unclassified intelligence she could share at the time. She claimed that the attack started as a protest and was “hijacked” by more militant forces.(Photo: AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon, File)
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What Role Does Former CIA Director David Petraeus Play? - Former CIA Director David Petraeus cast more doubt on Rice and the Obama administration when he testified before the House and Senate intelligence committees on Friday, Nov. 16. Although early classified reports appeared to support Rice's statement that the attack grew out of a protest, he believed “almost immediately” that the Sept. 11 assault was an organized terrorist attack. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Who Is Leading the Charge Against Rice? - Republican Sen. John McCain has been one of Rice’s most vocal detractors, commenting that he will seek to block her confirmation as Secretary of State if she is nominated during President Obama’s next term in office. (Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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