Jay Carney, White House, now calls Libya attack on US Embassy a ‘terrorist’ attack

2011 photo White House press office

The White House is now calling the Libya terror attack that resulted in the death of four Americans, including the American ambassador to that country, a “terrorist attack.”

From the pool report aboard Air Force One:

“It is, I think, self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack,” said White House spokesman, Jay Carney. “Our embassy was attacked violently and the result was four deaths of American officials. So, again, that’s self evident.”

Indeed, this contradicts what Carney originally told the press on September 14, 2012. (see video below)

“The unrest we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims find offensive. And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of or to U.S. policy,” said Carney.

And this comes a few days after the American ambassador to the United Nations made the case that the attack was a group of protesters that got out of hand. As the AP reported:

Ambassador Susan Rice said evidence gathered so far shows no indication of a premeditated or coordinated strike. She said the attack in Benghazi, powered by mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, appeared to be a copycat of demonstrations that had erupted hours earlier outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, spurred by a YouTube film attributed to a California man mocking the Prophet Muhammad.