Memo: US knew Benghazi danger was high

The State Department knew two months before the fatal attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya the danger threat was high, a department memo indicated. "The risk of U.S. Mission personnel, private U.S. citizens and businesspersons encountering an isolating event as a result of militia or political violence is HIGH," a State Department security assessment dated July 22 said. An isolating incident is jargon for a security threat. Yet the State Department withdrew U.S. security staff from Libya in the weeks before suspected Islamist extremists killed Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans Sept. 11, Eric A Nordstrom, the department's former regional security officer, wrote in an Oct. 1 email released by a congressional committee ahead of a Wednesday hearing on the Benghazi attack. "The government of Libya does not yet have the ability to effectively respond to and manage the rising criminal and militia violence, which could result in an isolating event," Nordstrom's email said, adding the Libyan government "was overwhelmed and could not guarantee our protection." The email and State Department security assessment were two of 230 alleged security threats between June 2011 and July 2012 released by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ahead of the hearing. Nordstrom, still a State Department security officer, was scheduled to testify. Lt. Col. Andrew Wood of the Utah National Guard, who commanded the U.S. Army Special Forces security team at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, was also to appear. Wood told CBS News Monday he and Stevens feared for the diplomatic corps' safety several months before the Benghazi attack. But he said they were rebuffed by the Defense and State departments when he and Stevens requested tighter security. "The requests were being modified to say, 'Don't even request for DoD support,'" Woods told the network, referring to the Department of Defense. "There was a clear disconnect between what security officials on the ground felt they needed and what officials in Washington would approve," Issa said Tuesday. "Reports that senior State Department officials told security personnel in Libya to not even make certain security requests are especially troubling," Issa said.