Ex-CIA Chief: I Removed 'Islamic' from 'Islamic Extremists' in Benghazi Talking Points to Appease Muslims

Congressman: Just want to clarify, how does the term Al Qaeda…how would that disclose classified sources? Number 1 and then secondly, OK if we can get there, you also took out Islamic extremist… (Cross talk)

Morrell: I did not take out extremists, I took out the word Islamic in front of extremist and I took it out for two reasons. Most importantly I took out because we were dealing with protests and demonstrations across much of the Muslim world as a result of the video and the last thing I wanted to do was to was to do anything to further inflame those passions and so that’s why I took the word Islamic out. It was a risk judgment. The second reason I took it out was-What other kind of extremists are there in Libya? 

After former acting CIA Director Mike Morell testified to the House Intelligence Committee that he is the one who changed the Benghazi talking points, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) renewed her call for a select committee to investigate the attack. She suggested that Morell either lied to senators shortly after the attack, or lied during his testimony today.

Islamic terrorists assaulted the American facility at Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, killing for Americans just weeks before the presidential election. Despite copious evidence that was available during the attack and immediately afterward that it was a premeditated terrorist attack, the Obama administration from the president on down initially blamed the attack on a spontaneous protest sparked by an obscure YouTube movie. That take fit well with the Obama campaign narrative that al Qaeda was “on the run,” while al Qaeda killing four Americans in a coordinated assault on a US facility did not. Morell testified today that a group of intelligence officers from the Office of Congressional Affairs, and CIA public affairs, removed a reference to al Qaeda from the talking points given to Congress. Morell testified that he changed the talking points himself as well, and removed “Islamic” from a description of the “Islamic militants” who assaulted the facility, because “What other kind of extremists are there in Libya?” He also admitted to making the change so as not to “further aflame” passions in the Muslim world.

Under questioning from Republicans on the panel, Morell also admitted that he was aware that the CIA’s Libya station chief never believed that there was a protest prior to the attack, but Morell sided with Washington-based analysts who blamed a protest. Left unanswered, is who decided to blame the YouTube movie in the first place? And who briefed Ambassador Susan Rice, who went on five political shows on the Sunday following the attack and blamed the movie while downplaying the al Qaeda and terrorist connections.

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