Three top US officials resign after Benghazi review

By AFP | AFP – 1 hour 13 minutes ago

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  AFP/AFP/File - A man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. Three top officials in the State …more 

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  Libyan civilians help the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, after militants …

Three top officials in the State Department resigned Wednesday in the wake of a scathing report which slammed "systemic failures" and "management deficiencies" in the Benghazi attack, US media said.

Assistant Secretary Eric Boswell, head of the bureau of diplomatic security, and Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary for international programs, have stepped down, CNN and CBS television said, citing unnamed department officials.

The third person who had submitted their resignation was not identified.

State Department officials would not immediately confirm the reports to AFP. They came just hours after a five-strong panel issued a long-awaited inquiry into the militant attack on the US mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the September 11 attack, which has been blamed on Al-Qaeda militants.

"Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place," the report said.

The panel, appointed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, identified those offices as the bureau of diplomatic security and of near Eastern affairs.

Deputy Secretary Bill Burns acknowledged Wednesday that the report took "a clear-eyed look at serious, systemic problems, which are unacceptable."

"Problems for which as Secretary Clinton has said we take responsibility, and problems which we have already begun to fix."

He admitted to reporters that "we have learned some very hard and painful lessons in Benghazi."

"We are already acting on them, we have to do better. We have to do more to constantly improve, and reduce the risks that people face, and make sure they have the resources they need. We owe them."