Obama attacked on Libya

Talk of Watergate-style scandal, stonewalling and cover-up echoed in the Republican ranks, from the head of the party to members of congress to Mitt Romney’s campaign staff.

The criticism comes five days before the first debate between Mr Obama and presidential rival Mitt Romney, with Republicans determined to cast the president as dishonest and ineffectual on both foreign and domestic policy.

“Amid Middle East turmoil and six weeks before the election, President Obama refuses to have an honest conversation with the American people,” Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican Party, said in an article for the website Real Clear Politics.

“The country deserves honesty, not obfuscation, from our president.”

Republicans say the administration has been slow to call the assault a terrorist attack and has criticised its initial insistence that the attack was a spontaneous response to the crude anti-Islam video that touched off demonstrations across the Middle East.

Since then it has become clear that the Benghazi assault was distinct from the mobs that burned American flags and protested against what they considered the blasphemy in the film, but did not attack US staff. Republicans have also suggested that the administration had intelligence suggesting the deadly attack might happen and ignored it.

“I think it’s pretty clear that they haven’t wanted to level with the American people. We expect candour from the president and transparency,” Mr Romney told Fox News this week.

The White House and Democrats accused the Republicans of politicising national security, with officials specifically mentioning Mr Romney’s quick swipe at Mr Obama as an extremist sympathiser as the crisis was still unfolding in North Africa around September 11.

“The Republican approach is to shoot first and ask questions later,” Rep Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said.

“The administration wants to do an investigation and be as accurate as possible. That’s the difference between partisan politics and trying to govern.”

Democrats also used the criticism to recall the former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney’s gaffes during his summer overseas trip and his omission in his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention of any mention of US military forces fighting in Afghanistan.

“Every time Mitt Romney has attempted to dip his toe into foreign policy quarters, it’s been an unmitigated disaster,” Obama campaign press secretary Jen Psaki said.

National security has provided few political openings for Mr Romney and the Republican Party as Mr Obama has shed the Democrats’ past reputation for weakness by ordering the successful raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and undercut al Qaida.

An Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this month found Mr Obama with an edge over Mr Romney on who Americans think can do a better job of protecting the country, 51% to 40%.

The economy and jobs are the dominant issues in the election, with few voters likely to cast their ballots based on events in Libya or conflicts overseas.

Defence secretary Leon Panetta yesterday called the Libya assault a terrorist attack.

“What terrorists were involved I think still remains to be determined by the investigation,” he told reporters at the Pentagon. “But it clearly was a group of terrorists who conducted that attack.”

Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and White House press secretary Jay Carney called the violence a terrorist attack last week. But Mr Obama has declined several chances to do so. He said last week that extremists used the anti-Islam video as an excuse to assault US interests.