A year after saying it didn’t matter what sparked the vicious attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling the incident the “biggest regret” of her stint as secretary of state.
“My biggest, you know, regret is what happened in Benghazi,” Clinton told an auto dealers conference in New Orleans on Monday.
Clinton didn’t acknowledge any particular blunder in the days or weeks leading up to the 2012 siege that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.
Critics blame unmet security requests by the tragic US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack.
Clinton discussed Benghazi after being asked at the auto meeting whether there were any “do-overs” she’d undertake at the State Department if given the chance.
“Oh, sure,” she replied.
“I mean, you know, you make these choices based on imperfect information. And you make them to, as we say, the best of your ability. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be unforeseen consequences, unpredictable twists and turns.”
She continued, “It was a terrible tragedy, losing four Americans, two diplomats, and now [that] it’s public, so I can say, two CIA operatives. Losing an ambassador like Chris Stevens, who was one of our very best and had served in Libya and across the Middle East and spoke Arabic.”
The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee released a report this month faulting both the department, which Clinton headed at the time, and the US intelligence community for failing to anticipate the attacks.
“The attacks were preventable, based on extensive intelligence reporting on the terrorist activity in Libya — to include prior threats and attacks against Western targets — and given the known security shortfalls at the US Mission,” the committee concluded.
Last year, Clinton expressed regret about the Americans who died. “Certainly the loss of American lives in Benghazi was something that I deeply regret and am working hard to make sure we do everything we can to prevent,” she said.
She was far more combative in January 2013 at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
“The fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?” Clinton sounded off in an exchange with Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson.
In lighter remarks before the National Automobile Association, Clinton joked about her driving.
“The last time I actually drove a car myself was 1996,” she said. “I remember it very well. Unfortunately, so does the Secret Service, which is why I haven’t driven since then.”
Clinton didn’t shed any light on whether she’ll seek the presidency, even as a Democratic super PAC has stocked up on former aides to President Obama to support her candidacy. “I have to say I don’t know,” Clinton said, when asked about 2016.
“Not a very satisfactory answer.”