Tate Zeigler (202-224-5972) or Kevin Bishop (864-250-1417)

Washington ­– U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain today released the following statement on Libya:

 

“Today, more than two weeks after the attack on our Consulate in Benghazi, President Obama finally called this what it clearly was: an act of terrorism, not a spontaneous protest against a disgusting video. Secretary Clinton said also today the attack was linked to Al-Qaeda. This is exactly what senior Libyan leaders have been saying from almost the moment the attack occurred, despite earlier claims to the contrary by members of the Administration. Indeed, that the Benghazi tragedy was a terrorist attack has been clear to anyone who understands that ordinary protesters do not bring machine guns, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades to a demonstration.

 

“We recognize that Al-Qaeda involvement in a terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Libya is an inconvenient truth for a President who claims to be destroying Al-Qaeda. But it is not too much to ask why the President and his Administration have taken so long to state what has appeared obvious for a long time about what really happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. This is just one more example of this President's failure to lead in the Middle East and how that failure has threatened America's national security interests. Now is not the time to lead from behind.”

 

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