Four State Department officials resigned in the wake of an independent review of security issues that identified "systematic failures and management deficiencies at senior levels" within the department at the time of the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, The Associated Press reported. Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Eric Boswell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs Charlene Lamb and Raymond Maxwell, the deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees the Maghreb nations of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, resigned after the release of the Accountability Review Board Report on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland named only Boswell, but said two other officials in the bureau of diplomatic security and one in the bureau of Near East Affairs had also resigned. While the Benghazi report faulted the State Department for the Sept. 11 attack that left four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, dead, it did not identify any individual who violated his or her responsibilities or duties and found no cause for disciplinary action. The complete report makes 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, all of which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accepted.
