House had cut spending for Embassy security

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/1 ... f=politics

Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: 'You Have To Prioritize Things'

The Huffington Post | By Sarah Bufkin Posted: 10/10/2012 1:32 pm EDT Updated: 10/11/2012 1:55 pm EDT
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Barack Obama , Darrell Issa, Hillary Clinton, GOP, Benghazi, Budget Cuts, Libya, Video, Benghazi Attack, House Oversight And Government Reform Committee, State Department, Jason Chaffetz, Politics News
Jason Chaffetz Embassy Cuts
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) voted to cut back on funds for embassy security. (AP Photo/J. Scott)

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) acknowledged on Wednesday that House Republicans had consciously voted to reduce the funds allocated to the State Department for embassy security since winning the majority in 2010.

On Wednesday morning, CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien asked the Utah Republican if he had "voted to cut the funding for embassy security."

"Absolutely," Chaffetz said. "Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country. We have…15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad. And we’re talking about can we get two dozen or so people into Libya to help protect our forces. When you’re in tough economic times, you have to make difficult choices. You have to prioritize things.”

For the past two years, House Republicans have continued to deprioritize the security forces protecting State Department personnel around the world. In fiscal year 2011, lawmakers shaved $128 million off of the administration's request for embassy security funding. House Republicans drained off even more funds in fiscal year 2012 -- cutting back on the department's request by $331 million.

Consulate personnel stationed in Benghazi had allegedly expressed concerns over their safety in the months leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks that killed four Americans, including Amb. Chris Stevens. Chaffetz and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, claim those concerns were ignored.

"It seems to be a coordinated effort between the White House and the State Department, from Secretary [Hillary] Clinton to President Obama's White House," Chaffetz told Fox and Friends on Tuesday.

Chaffetz and Issa co-signed a letter to the State Department, demanding answers on to the Benghazi security detail. State Department officials and other witnesses will testify before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations on Wednesday.

Ahead of the hearing, some Democrats claim that partisanship and campaigning are corrupting the Libyan investigation, The New York Times reports. The charges come as some GOP members attempt to frame the incident as a failure of the Obama's foreign policy and to call criticize the administration for engaging in a "cover-up" of what really occurred.

Hmph.

[Memnon]

Well, it actually does make sense if you look it from the right angle. Libya just finished fighting a war, so that embassy's security should have been cut less (or increased, even) according to the Republicans. Nevermind that there are so many dangerous embassies around the world that cutting that much money is sure to cause problems down the line somewhere.

Also, I just realized the awful pun I made, haha

[JME2]

Nice pun.

I hope this fact gets pointed out as a rebuttal to any more debate claims about Obama administration negligence in Libya.

[Sea Skimmer]

The budget was still higher then any year from FY2008 back and twice that FY2001. Yeah, you know priorities do matter, this is one of those things executive branch agencies are supposed to manage in an intelligent fashion, and they simply did not in this instance. Libya was easily the third most dangerous spot for US diplomatic personal after Iraq and Afghanistan, the consulate in the country was the most exposed point for them in turn. They had one American guard, and three local Libyan militamen with weapons. In a city in which milita's have fucking tanks... and in which security was questioned over and over in the past year. Furthermore the executive branch does have access to certain significant if not billions of dollars class discretionary funds for emergencies. It was a failure, trying to blame the Republicans is retarded. So is trying to pin this squarely on the lap of Obama, but the fact is people screwed up and the administration has done a pathetic job of trying to cover it up, which is why they've now back pedaled on almost every single thing they ever said about it.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I wouldn't blame the House Republicans for cutting funding for embassy defense if they didn't turn around and try to pin it on the Obama administration.

[Losonti Tokash]

We have…15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad.

Guess they just materialized overnight on January 21, 2009. So fucking stupid.

[Simon_Jester]

I wouldn't blame the House Republicans for cutting funding for embassy defense if they didn't turn around and try to pin it on the Obama administration.

I'm not sure Skimmer would blame the Obama administration for messing up allocation of funding for embassy defense, if they didn't turn around and try to pin it on the House Republicans.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I wouldn't blame the House Republicans for cutting funding for embassy defense if they didn't turn around and try to pin it on the Obama administration.

I'm not sure Skimmer would blame the Obama administration for messing up allocation of funding for embassy defense, if they didn't turn around and try to pin it on the House Republicans.

The House Republicans who control the House and by their own admission voted to cut embassy defense spending?

[Sea Skimmer]

Yeah, they admitted what they did, unlike the Obama administration which had the job of deciding how to spend that money, and has lied about the attack and all the warnings it had one should be expected from local sources and every single person sent to assess the security of the consulate. How fucking dense are you? Obama deserves to be fucking criticized because his administration has been so dishonest from minute one.

[Simon_Jester]

The House Republicans who control the House and by their own admission voted to cut embassy defense spending?

It's not that I like the House Republicans, it's that there's more than enough blame to go around.

The House deserves blame for underfunding it, OK fine.

The White House deserves blame for not spending more of the funding they had on an embassy located in a war zone.

When either side chooses to behave as if only its enemies screwed up here, that's unbecoming. Some issues really are 'neutral,' in that both sides made a mess of a job both sides were supposed to do correctly.

[DPDarkPrimus]

The House Republicans who control the House and by their own admission voted to cut embassy defense spending?

It's not that I like the House Republicans, it's that there's more than enough blame to go around.

The House deserves blame for underfunding it, OK fine.

The White House deserves blame for not spending more of the funding they had on an embassy located in a war zone.

When either side chooses to behave as if only its enemies screwed up here, that's unbecoming. Some issues really are 'neutral,' in that both sides made a mess of a job both sides were supposed to do correctly.

And I can't argue with that.