US News

Hill takes the fall for Libya debacle

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton played the good soldier yesterday, trying to take the heat off her boss by saying she’s to blame for last month’s deadly attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya .

“I take responsibility” for what happened on Sept. 11, Clinton told CNN.

“I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world [at] 275 posts.

“The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.”

The attacks on the Benghazi mission, and the Obama administration’s response, have become a contentious election issue.

Clinton’s comments came a day before the second debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

Romney has seized on the attack and said the murders of Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans at the consulate reveals weakness in Obama’s foreign policy.

Romney has accused the administration of not providing adequate security for American diplomats and misrepresenting the nature of the attack.

Foreign policy has been considered a strength for Obama, who has been praised for the killing of Osama bin Laden and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress has increased pressure on the State Department to release information about the attack. Obama and Clinton have both vowed a full investigation.

Clinton also sought to play down criticism that the administration initially linked the Libyan violence to a cheesy, US-made anti-Islam film.