It was not al Qaeda. I have stated that before...

... and here it is again by the Ambassador himself. The best intelligence regarding East Libya came from Ambassador Stevens a month before his death. The Republicans are politicizing his death for their own purposes.

...A cable signed by Stevens (click here) about a month before he was killed focused on the deterioration of security in eastern Libya. It noted there had been an increase in violence in Benghazi but said it was not an organized campaign, and locals were determined to get through it.

"There have been abductions and assassinations, but there have also been false alarms and outright fabrications," the August 8 cable said. "What we are going through - and what people here are resolved to get through - is a confluence rather than a conspiracy."

"Attackers are unlikely to be deterred until authorities are at least capable," the cable added.

Republicans have suggested the Obama administration omitted talking about al Qaeda in the days after Benghazi because this might undermine the administration's claims to have weakened the organization with the killing of former leader Osama bin Laden.

While there was continued danger in Libya, Eastern Libya was also seeking a longer term stability. Some of what was transpiring in Eastern Libya was politics. Below is from the same article. Regional Security Officers for the State Department were probably getting a mixed picture of the actual dangers of the region.

..."Many Libyans have said the U.S. presence in Benghazi has a salutary, calming effect on easterners who are fearful that the new focus on Tripoli could once again lead to their neglect and exclusion from reconstruction and wealth distribution and strongly favor a permanent U.S. presence in the form of a full consulate," said Feltman, the former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs....

Then there is the reality that Pro-Gaddafi forces may have been attempting to reconsolidate near Misrata where Gaddafi's son was killed. It was a very mixed picture and intelligence was poor and very much 'in the moment.' There are new names, loosely organized militias and continued fear. It was dangerous. With the input from Ambassador Stevens it seems very clear this was post-revolution and those responsible for area violence were basically unknown, but, local.