Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey on Thursday defended the Pentagon’s response to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, as Republicans criticized them for not having military personnel in place.
Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee said there was “not enough time” to get military assistance to Benghazi because there were no specific indications of an imminent attack on the U.S. facility there.
“Without adequate warning, there was not enough time, given the speed of the attack, for armed military assets to respond,” Panetta told the panel.
“This was, pure and simple, a problem of distance and time,” Panetta said, adding that it would have taken nine to 12 hours to respond to the attack, which was over about seven hours after it began.
Read more on The Hill's DEFCON Hill blog.
