DEFENSE

Panetta: No Clues of Benghazi Attack

While Dempsey says some “intel gaps.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified before the Senate on Thursday that there was not enough time to get American ground forces to the scene of the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. “On that tragic day, as always, the Defense Department was prepared for a wide range of contingences, but unfortunately, there were no specific indications of an immediate attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi,” Panetta said. He also insisted the Pentagon would try to bolster diplomatic security overseas in response to the attack. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, conceded in his testimony that “there are some places where the U.S. has some intel gaps, and I think northern Africa is one of them.”