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US wants clarity about attack in Algeria
The US government is working with the Algerians to get a more complete picture of how a four-day terrorist attack and hostage situation at a desert gas complex in Algeria unfolded, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday, dpa reported.

"We are in touch with the Algerians to try to gain a fuller understanding of what took place," Nuland said. The US wants to know how the terrorists were able to seize control of the facility and wants to understand the decisions that the Algerians made.

Nuland also said the FBI has opened an investigation into the attack in cooperation with Algerian officials and other relevant partners.
So the FBI will get to the BP site within days of the attack and didn't get to our consulate in Benghazi for weeks...
Britain and other nations have criticized Algeria's response, saying it was harsh and hasty, but the United States has not as of yet. Nuland said the situation was very fluid and the people on the ground had to make very difficult decisions. She said the investigation was being coordinated with Algerian officials and other relevant partners.

The US recognizes that Algeria was dealing with "a ruthless terrorist operation," Nuland said. "It was obviously a complex attack, very difficult."

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal on Monday blamed Islamist militants operating out of northern Mali for carrying out the attack. He defended the rescue attempt, saying when the security of the country is at stake "there is no possible discussion."
Sadly that's correct. Doesn't help that Algeria lacks a police/army unit to deal with hostage taking the way we do, so their only real choice is to plaster the terrorists and hope for the best.
Nuland declined to provide details about the assistance the US offered to the Algerian government except to say that "we had open channels of communication among our terrorism experts all the way through."
Posted by: Steve White 2013-01-23
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=360712