JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): There are new developments today in the Benghazi consulate attack, as congressional committee leaders turn up the heat on the State Department over the incident, and there are reports that the U.S. is closer to targeting suspected perpetrators.
Margaret Warner has more.
MARGARET WARNER (Newshour): The attacks that killed American Ambassador Chris Stevens and three colleagues in Benghazi was first described by U.S. officials as an eruption of anger at an anti-Islam film. The Obama administration has since reversed that appraisal and now calls it a well-coordinated terrorist attack.
But questions have mounted over the shifting assessments. And, today, two Republican congressmen, Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa of California and Jason Chaffetz of Utah, leveled new allegations.
In a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, they charged Washington rejected multiple requests for security improvements at Benghazi mission.
They base their assertions on unidentified sources described as multiple U.S. federal government officials. The State Department spokeswoman said the secretary would respond in writing this very day.
VICTORIA NULAND, State Department: Her response is going to be relatively succinct today, as I said, expressing her complete commitment and this building's commitment to work with the Congress to get fully to the bottom of this.
But I don't anticipate she will be able to answer the specific questions today.
MARGARET WARNER: The two congressmen say their committee will hold a hearing next Wednesday on the Libya attack.
Meanwhile, the FBI has sent a team to Libya to determine just what happened. And Secretary Clinton named a review board to assess security arrangements at that U.S. Consulate and others. And while the investigations proceed, The New York Times reported today that the Pentagon and CIA are drawing up contingency plans to kill or capture those believed responsible for the killings.
"FBI Investigation Continues on Benghazi Attacks, Searching for Alleged Suspects" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 10/2/2012
Excerpt
SUMMARY: After officially announcing that terrorists were responsible for attacks on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the U.S. intelligence community is pursuing alleged suspects. Margaret Warner talks to The Wall Street Journal's Siobhan Gorman and Greg Miller of The Washington Post for more on the state of security in Libya.
ALSO:
"U.S. Is Tracking Killers in Attack on Libya Mission" by ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, New York Times 10/2/2012
Excerpt
The United States is laying the groundwork for operations to kill or capture militants implicated in the deadly attack on a diplomatic mission in Libya, senior military and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday, as the weak Libyan government appears unable to arrest or even question fighters involved in the assault.
The top-secret Joint Special Operations Command is compiling so-called target packages of detailed information about the suspects, the officials said. Working with the Pentagon and the C.I.A., the command is preparing the dossiers as the first step in anticipation of possible orders from President Obama to take action against those determined to have played a role in the attack on a diplomatic mission in the eastern city of Benghazi that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three colleagues three weeks ago.
Potential military options could include drone strikes, Special Operations raids like the one that killed Osama bin Laden and joint missions with Libyan authorities. But administration officials say no decisions have been made on any potential targets.
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