Defense: No 'credible' threat to Benghazi

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- There was "no specific or credible threat" to the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on the day of deadly attacks there, a U.S. Defense Department official said.

Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three members of his staff died in the attack.

A Defense Department official, speaking on background, provided a timeline of the U.S. military response to the deadly consulate attack.

"I would note ... that there was no specific or credible threat that we knew of on the day that the attacks ... occurred in Benghazi," the official said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross pulled its staff out of Benghazi and the State Department issued travel warnings for the region ahead of the attacks, however.

The defense official said U.S. military leaders "absolutely" had forces situated in a way to respond to such events in foreign countries.

"We are an excellent military -- the finest in the world," the official stated. "We're always prepared. But we're neither omniscient nor omnipresent."

David Petraeus, who resigned last week as CIA director because of an extra-marital affair, is scheduled to testify Thursday before U.S. lawmakers on the Benghazi attack.