No Protest in Benghazi Before Attack

This is amazing. From Foreign Policy, via the Corner:

Prior to the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi late in the evening on Sept. 11, there was no protest outside the compound, a senior State Department official confirmed today, contradicting initial administration statements suggesting that the attack was an opportunistic reaction to unrest caused by an anti-Islam video.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, two senior State Department officials gave a detailed accounting of the events that lead to the death of Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The officials said that prior to the massive attack on the Benghazi compound by dozens of militants carrying heavy weaponry, there was no unrest outside the walls of the compound and no protest that anyone inside the compound was aware of.

You have got to be kidding me. We were told that the terrorists used the protests as an excuse to launch the attack on the consulate. But if there wasn’t any protest in Benghazi to speak of in the first place, how can that be? I can’t wait for Ambassador Rice’s and President Obama’s reply.