Ex-CIA official: Republicans distorted analysis of Benghazi

A former CIA deputy director says Republicans repeatedly distorted the agency's analysis of the Benghazi attack in 2012 that killed the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.
He also says US intelligence agencies failed to recognise that al-Qaida would rapidly regain strength after the killing of Osama bin Laden.
In his new book, Michael Morell dismissed the notion that CIA officers and the US military "were ordered to stand down" and not come to the aid of their comrades in Benghazi, The New York Times reported.
Morell also says there is no evidence the Central Intelligence Agency had conspired with the White House to spin the Benghazi story to protect then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Republicans in Congress have spent years investigating how the Benghazi attack was handled and have renewed their criticisms as Clinton has begun another presidential campaign. Democrats accuse Republicans of using the deaths of Americans to score political points.
Morell also wrote that the White House embellished some of the talking points provided by the CIA about the Benghazi attack, which killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in September 2012, during the final stage of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Morrell also wrote that US intelligence agencies failed to recognise that the al-Qaida terrorist network would rapidly retain strength in the Mideast after bin Laden was killed in 2011.

The CIA told policymakers that the Arab Spring movement would "damage al-Qaida by undermining the group's narrative," Morell wrote.
Morell's book, "The Great War of Our Time," provides details of his thinking about the Benghazi attack and its aftermath.
Morell was a career analyst who rose through the ranks before ending up in the position of deputy director. He served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.