Fact-checker slams Rice for Libya comments

{mosads}Militants armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and a nearby safe house and killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The attack came amid a protest over an obscure anti-Islam film posted to YouTube, which has sparked fury in the Muslim world.

“The administration obviously wants to play down the possibility of a planned attack because that would raise broader questions about whether U.S. intelligence and embassy security in Libya were adequate. But Rice’s comments strain credulity, especially after Libya’s president declared without a doubt that the attack was planned,” The Washington Post concludes. “We may adjust depending on the information that emerges in the coming weeks, but at the moment the publicly available evidence stands in stark contrast to Rice’s talking points.”

According to the Post‘s rating scale, two Pinocchios are reserved for statements that contain “[s]ignificant omissions and/or exaggerations. Some factual error may be involved but not necessarily. A politician can create a false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language that means little to ordinary people.”