The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee says the 2012 deadly assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, was preventable.
A report released by the committee Wednesday blames the State Department and the intelligence community for failing to increase security enough to address terrorist threats in the area. It says the State Department made few significant improvements despite a "clearly deteriorating" security situation and requests for additional security resources.
The bipartisan report says the intelligence community bolstered its security at the agency's separate Benghazi facility, but the State Department did not make similar moves at the diplomatic compound.
The terrorist attack killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. There was no immediate comment from the State Department.
The bipartisan report showed the U.S. military was not positioned to aid those under attack in Benghazi. But it points out the head of Africa Command had offered military security teams that Ambassador Steven had rejected weeks before the terrorist assault.
It also said U.S. analysts confused policymakers and the public by initially blaming the violence on protesters without enough intelligence to support that claim.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
