Four officials lose posts over Benghazi

WASHINGTON - Reuters

The U.S. State Department said Dec. 19 its security chief had resigned from his post and three other officials had been relieved of their duties following a scathing official inquiry into the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.

Eric Boswell has resigned effective immediately as assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a terse statement. A second official said Boswell had not left the department entirely and remained a career official.

‘Pending further action’

Nuland said that Boswell, and the three other officials, had all been put on administrative leave “pending further action.” An official panel that investigated the incident concluded that the Benghazi mission was completely unprepared to deal with the attack, which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

The report cited “leadership and management” deficiencies, poor coordination among officials and “real confusion” in Washington and in the field over who had the authority to make decisions on policy and security concerns. “The ARB identified the performance of four officials, three in the Bureau of the Diplomatic Security and one in the Bureau of Affairs,” Nuland said, referring to the panel known as an Accountability Review Board.

Earlier, a U.S. official said Boswell, one of his deputies, Charlene Lamb, and a third unnamed official had been asked to resign.