AFHGAN AUTHORITIES SAY TWO GUARDS AND AT LEAST FIVE ATTACKERS WERE KILLED AFTER A TALIBAN SUICIDE BOMBER AND FIVE GUNMEN ATTACKED A GUEST HOUSE OF AN INTL AID GROUP IN CAPITAL KABUL *

ATTACKS SET OFF A SHOOTOUT THAT LASTED FOR HOURS *

THE TALIBAN QUICKLY CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY *

IT WAS THE SECOND MAJOR STRIKE IN KABUL IN JUST MORE THAN A WK *

INTL MONETARY FUND CHIEF CHRISTINE LAGARDE NAMED AS A KEY WITNESS IN AN INVESTIGATION INTO A CONTROVERSIAL PAYOFF TO A FRENCH BUSINESSMAN *

THE PAYOFF ALLEGEDLY HAPPENED WHILE SHE WAS FRANCE'S FINANCE MIN *

LAGARDE SAYS THE PARIS COURT HANDED HER THE STATUS OF "ASSISTING WITNESS" IN ITS PROBE OF A $520 MIL PAYOFF TO BUSINESS TYCOON BERNARD TAPIE *

LAGARDE COULD LATER BE CHARGED IN THE CASE *

PRES OBAMA WARNS NAVAL ACADEMY GRADUATES OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE ARMED FORCES *

IN A COMMENCEMENT SPEECH FRI IN ANNAPOLIS, MD, MR OBAMA SAID SEXUAL ASSAULT IS A CRIME THAT HAS "NO PLACE IN THE GREATEST MILITARY ON EARTH" *

SPEECH COMES IN THE MIDST OF WIDESPREAD REPORTS OF SUCH MISCONDUCT THROUGHOUT THE MILITARY *

A RECENT PENTAGON REPORT ESTIMATES UP TO 26,000 MILITARY MEMBERS MAY HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED LAST YR AND THAT THOUSANDS MORE ARE UNWILLING TO COME FORWARD *

JURY FOREMAN IN JODI ARIAS' TRIAL SAYS THE PANEL COULDN'T DECIDE WHETHER ARIAS KILLING HER EX-BOYFRIEND WARRANTED A DEATH SENTENCE *

WILLIAM ZERVAKOS SAID THE JURORS THOUGHT IT WAS UNFAIR FOR 12 AVERAGE AMERICANS TO DECIDE ARIAS' FATE *

THE SAME JURY CONVICTED ARIAS OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER ON MAY 8, IN THE 2008 KILLING OF HER EX-BOYFRIEND TRAVIS ALEXANDER *

THE JUDGE DECLARED A MISTRIAL THURSDAY AFTER THE JURY DEADLOCKED *

A NEW JURY WILL BE CHOSEN FOR A NEW PENALTY PHASE SET FOR JULY *

FED JUDGE RULES OFFICE OF SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO IN MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ, ENGAGES IN RACIAL PROFILING *

U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE MURRAY SNOW ALSO RULED FRI THAT PEOPLE STOPPED BY ARPAIO'S DEPUTIES ARE DETAINED FOR UNREASONABLY LONG PERIODS *

RULING BACKS UP ALLEGATIONS BY CRITICS SUCH AS THE ACLU THAT ARPAIO RELIES ON RACE IN ENFORCING IMMIGRATION *

ARPAIO HAS DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS *

WA GOV JAY INSLEE (D) SAYS FED OFFICIALS ARE SEARCHING FOR A TEMPORARY REPLACEMENT FOR THE I-5 BRIDGE THAT COLLAPSED INTO THE SKAGIT RIVER THURS NIGHT *

INSLEE SAYS REBUILDING THE 160-FOOT SECTION COULD TAKE MONTHS IF A REPLACEMENT CAN'T BE FOUND *

STATE OFFICIALS SAY AN OVERSIZED TRUCK CAUSED THE COLLAPSE AFTER HITTING AN OVERHEAD SPAN *

TWO VEHICLES PLUMMETED INTO THE WATER LEAVING THREE PEOPLE INJURED *

FDA RECEIVES REPORTS OF SEVEN CASES INVOLVING POTENTIALLY CONTAMINATED STEROID MEDICATIONS MADE BY A PHARMACY IN NEWBERN, TN *

INJECTIONS CONTAIN THE SAME DRUG AT THE CENTER OF LAST YR'S DEADLY FUNGAL MENINGITIS OUTBREAK THAT KILLED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE *

THE PHARMACY HAS RECALLED THE PRODUCTS PENDING AN INVESTIGATION *

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Secretary of Defense Panetta sends Senators McCain, Graham, Ayotte, Portman, Chambliss and Johnson a letter about Bengahzi – the Senators respond

 

STATEMENT BY SENATORS McCAIN, GRAHAM, AYOTTE, PORTMAN, CHAMBLISS AND JOHNSON REGARDING LETTER FROM SECRETARY PANETTA ON BENGHAZI

 

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) today released the following statement in response to a letter they received this afternoon from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta regarding the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012:

 

“Over the past month, we and our colleagues have sent 13 separate letters to senior Administration officials, including President Obama, seeking an explanation for why no U.S. armed forces were available to go to the aid of the four American citizens who died during the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Today, we finally received from the Secretary of Defense the first response to our many letters. Unfortunately, Secretary Panetta’s letter only confirms what we already knew – that there were no forces at a sufficient alert posture in Europe, Africa or the Middle East to provide timely assistance to our fellow citizens in need in Libya. The letter fails to address the most important question – why not?

 

“This question is all the more puzzling considering that the attack in Benghazi occurred on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history – a day when we know that our enemies around the world are plotting and planning to hit us again. Furthermore, the attack was only the latest in a series of assaults against Western interests in Benghazi, including an attempted assassination of the British Ambassador and two previous attacks on our consulate in Benghazi this year. It was for this reason that U.S. security professionals on the ground in Libya had made repeated requests for additional personnel and security assistance.

 

“In short, we knew that our enemies wanted to hit us in Benghazi. They had already tried on at least two occasions. The most glaring example can be found in the August cables from the Embassy in Tripoli to the State Department. Our own people on the ground were concerned about the threat. And yet, on the one day out of the year – September 11 – when the threat level is perhaps the highest, the military was not in a position to come quickly to the aid of Americans under attack in Benghazi.

 

“We reiterate our requests to the President, the Director of National Intelligence, the Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, and the Attorney General, to level with the American people and tell us what happened and why these four brave Americans were not better protected.”

 

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