The  State Department board set up to probe into what went wrong and led to  the fatal attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya on  September 11, 2012, which resulted in the death of four Americans  including the US Ambassador, has now reported its findings to Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton and the Congress. From news reports about the  unclassified information in the report, it does not look good for State  or Clinton.

At  the end of her tenure as SoS, the failures in security and intelligence  that led to the murderous night may very well taint Clinton's legacy  which has, with the exception of Benghazi, been very honorable and  respectable. Whether Clinton will appear before Congress prior to her  leaving State is still in question. But members of Congress are calling  for her to appear and answer questions beyond just the findings of the  iinvestigative commission.

What do we know now that we did not know?

From  the news accounts very little has been learned that did not come out  within hours of the attack. The report reveals there were serious breaks  in both security and intelligence. This was evident.

At least three State officials have now resigned.

The requests for additional security were denied. This information has already been reported.

A  CNN/ORC poll finds that while the majority of Americans are  dissatisfied with the Administration of President Barack Obama over how  it has handled the Benghazi affair, they do not believe the  Administration tried to mislead the public. Still a full 40% of  Americans do believe the Administration deliberately attempted to  mislead the public.

The full results of that poll can be read here:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/19/cnn-poll-majority-dissatisfied-but-dont-think-administration-misled-on-benghazi-attack/

CNN is also reporting on "the ambassador's last minutes."

The Associated Press has this on the three resignations from State:

Three  State Department officials resigned under pressure Wednesday, less than  a day after a damning report blamed management failures for a lack of  security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, where  militants killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans on Sept.  11.

An administration official said Eric Boswell, the assistant  secretary of state for diplomatic security, Charlene Lamb, the deputy  assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, and an unnamed  official with the Bureau of Near East Affairs, had stepped down. The  official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to  discuss personnel matters publicly.

The report said poor leadership in both bureaus left the post underprotected.

"Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior  levels within two bureaus" resulted in a security level that was  "inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack  that took place," according to the report released late Tuesday by the  independent Accountability Review Board.

Reuters talks about the report this way:

Security  at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya was grossly inadequate to deal  with a September 11 attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three  others because of failures within the State Department, an official  inquiry found on Tuesday.

In a scathing assessment, the review  cited "leadership and management" deficiencies at two department  offices, poor coordination among officials and "real confusion" in  Washington and in the field over who had the responsibility, and the  power, to make decisions that involved policy and security concerns.

The report's harsh assessment seemed likely to tarnish the four-year  tenure of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said in a letter  accompanying the review that she would adopt all of its recommendations.

The board specifically faulted the department's Bureau of Near Eastern  Affairs, the regional office which is responsible for the Middle East  and North Africa, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, its law  enforcement and security arm.

The five-member board said U.S.  intelligence provided no "specific tactical warning" of the attack and  that there was "little understanding of militias in Benghazi and the  threat they posed to U.S. interests" in the eastern Libyan city, where  the central government has little influence.

The full article can be read here: http://reuters.com/article/2012/12/19/us-usa-benghazi-report-idUSBRE8BI04P20121219

From the Cornfield, there are still too many unanswered questions. Hopefully more will be coming out in the next few weeks.