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Obama: ‘When four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal’

October 18, 2012 | 5:04 pm | Modified: October 18, 2012 at 6:00 pm
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President Obama, during the taping of The Daily Show, discussed the Benghazi terrorist attack that claimed the lives of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

“Here’s what I’ll say. When four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal. We’re going to fix it,” Obama said per pool. “The government is a big operation and [at] any given time something screws up,” he also said, saying that he believes “you find out what’s broken and you fix it.”

The president was responding to this question from Stewart. “Is part of the investigation helping the communication between these divisions? Not just what happened in Benghazi, but what happened within,” the comedian asked according to the pooler. “Because I would say, even you would admit, it was not the optimal response, at least to the American people, as far as all of us being on the same page” (emphasis added).

Obama promised that his administration publicized information about the Benghazi attack as quickly as it came in, which contradicts previous reports.

“Within 24 hours of the 9-11 anniversary attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, U.S. intelligence agencies had strong indications al Qaeda–affiliated operatives were behind the attack, and had even pinpointed the location of one of those attackers,” according to The Daily Beast’s Eli Lake.

The National Counter Terrorism Center only told Congress that it was a terrorist attack eight days after the assault took place.

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