Dem slams Benghazi briefing as a ‘waste of time’

The House Armed Services Committee has remained somewhat out
of the fray up to this point, as the focus has centered on the State Department
and the administration’s talking points created after the attack, rather than
the Pentagon.

The House panel was being briefed Tuesday by Garry Reid, principal deputy assistant secretary for special operations, and Maj. Gen. Darryl Roberson, vice director of operations for the Joint Staff.

{mosads}The panel was part of a five-committee House report on the
attacks that was also criticized by Democrats.

Republicans have questioned why the military wasn’t better
positioned to respond to the attacks in Benghazi last September, and have
raised concerns over a “stand down” order given to a small group of special
forces who were stationed in Tripoli.

Pentagon officials have said that there was no possible way
for any forces to arrive in Benghazi in time to intervene, a point Smith
reiterated Tuesday.

“That is a sad reality that the military would have faced
under any President; it’s the tyranny of time and distance,” Smith said. “Instead
of acknowledging this fact, Republicans have tried to turn this into a scandal
worthy of impeachment even when the facts clearly do not support their
accusations.”

House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) wrote
to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week saying that “questions still remain
regarding orders issued to a site security team that was in-country,” in reference
to the team in Tripoli.

He asked for the commander officer of the team to be made
available to the committee and reiterated his request to receive the Pentagon’s
classified timeline of the attack, which was denied earlier this month.

McKeon and the committee’s Oversight subpanel Chairwoman
Martha Roby (R-Ala.) will speak to reporters after Tuesday’s briefing.

— This story was updated at 2:54 p.m.