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Romney says Obama fails to grasp seriousness of Libya attacks

12 October 2012 03:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Mitt Romney offered his harshest attack to date on the Obama administrationâ€™s handling of last monthâ€™s terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans, accusing the president of failing to â€œgrasp the seriousnessâ€ of the incident, APA reports quoting ABC News.
Romney drew on comments made earlier today by Obamaâ€™s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter on CNN, in which she accused Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan of making the situation in Libya a â€œpolitical circusâ€ and blaming him and Ryan for its becoming â€œthe political topic it isâ€ to make his point.
â€œHis campaign said this today about the Benghazi terrorist attack,â€ Romney began at a rally in Asheville, N.C., this evening. â€œThey said and I quote, â€˜The entire reason this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.â€™â€
â€œNo, President Obama, itâ€™s an issue because this is the first time in 33 years that a United States ambassador has been assassinated,â€ said Romney.
â€œMr. President, this is an issue because we were attacked successfully by terrorists on the anniversary of 9/11,â€ said Romney. â€œPresident Obama, this is an issue because Americans wonder why it was it took so long for you to admit that this was a terrorist attack.â€
The White House determined the attacks on the U.S. Consulate were a terrorist attack nine days after the incident.
â€œThis is very â€“ this is a very serious issue,â€ Romney continued. â€œThese are very serious questions, and the American people deserve serious answers and I hope they come soon.â€
During the CNN appearance, Cutter went on to talk about the incident as a whole, as well as the administrationâ€™s response to what they knew at the time.
â€œYou know, the administration has been open and honest from day one about the Benghazi attack, and as more information has become available, theyâ€™ve made that information available to the American people and to members of Congress,â€ Cutter said. â€œBut, you know, when a crisis occurs, when an attack occurs, that information is gathered and, you know, over time it becomes more clear what happened, and I think thatâ€™s the case here.â€
In a written statement following Romneyâ€™s remarks here this evening, Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith accused Romney of trying to score â€œcheap political points.â€
â€œFrom the time of the attack in Libya, Mitt Romney has stopped at nothing to politicize these events â€“ and he wasted no time in proving that point in North Carolina today,â€ wrote Smith, referring to the criticism that fell upon Romney when he accused the Obama administration of â€œsympathizingâ€ with the attackers before all the details of the incident were known.
â€œPresident Obama has been focused on getting the facts, finding the terrorists responsible, and bringing them to justice, Mitt Romney has attempted to use the tragedy to his political advantage,â€ Smith wrote. â€œEvery time Mitt Romney has tried to prove heâ€™s ready to be commander-in-chief, he has failed miserably â€“ embarrassing himself and alienating our closest ally during his foreign trip, calling Russia our top foe without presenting any plan to deal with al-Qaeda, and rushing to launch a political attack against the President on the Libya tragedy before he knew all the facts. The American people deserve better from someone auditioning to be commander-in-chief.â€