Attack in Libya was Major Blow to CIA Efforts

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/world/africa/attack-in-libya-was-major-blow-to-cia-efforts.html?ref=world&_r=0

Once the smoke had cleared from the attacks in Libya, the C.I.A. presence in the country had suffered a major setback.  Along with all the U.S. officials that were evacuated from the country, were about twelve U.S. Central Intelligence Agents.  These evacuations came at a time when the C.I.A was making a lot of headway in the country.  The first major problem is that in order to investigate the attack the C.I.A presence in Libya would have made the investigation much easier.  Before they were extracted, the agents had been gathering information on Ansar al-Sharia, a militia group, Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliates, Islamic extremists known as Salafis, and loyalist still loyal to the ex-ruler Qaddafi. All of this progress hit a wall with the attack on the U.S. embassy.  The state department did inform that intelligence is still being gathered by informants on the ground in Libya.  The U.S. has sent over F.B.I. Agents in order to find out what group was responsible for the attacks, and as it looks right now, Al Qaeda is the prime suspect for who is responsible. "Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s 'State of the Union, program on Sunday that there was 'a high degree of probability that it is an Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-affiliated group that had a very specific target in mind, and that was to attack the consulate and cause as much harm, chaos and death as possible.'”

Blog Written By: Chris Lencioni