U.S.: Libyan attack may be terrorism

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials are investigating whether the assault on a U.S. Consulate in Libya that killed four Americans, including the ambassador, was a planned terrorist strike -- not spontaneous violence from a mob enraged by an anti-Islam video.

President Barack Obama declared in a White House appearance that the United States would "work with the Libyan government to bring to justice" those who killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, and three other Americans. Several Libyan security guards also were killed, and three Americans were wounded.

"Make no mistake. Justice will be done," a somber Obama pledged at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at his side.

The Pentagon sent 50 Marines, part of an elite rapid-response team, to the U.S. embassy in Tripoli to assess and reinforce security in the attack's aftermath.

In a show of force, the Pentagon also moved two destroyers to the Libyan coast.

Intelligence officers said the attack on the Benghazi consulate was "too coordinated or professional to be spontaneous," according to a U.S. counterterrorism official. The attack on the consulate was "a planned, coordinated, well-executed military style event," said House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.).

Rogers said U.S. intelligence had not yet determined who was responsible, but added, "Our list is narrowing."

"When you see . . . [such an attack], it wasn't some folks who had some guns in their garage and said let's shoot up the consulate," Rogers said.

The FBI was sending evidence teams to Libya, said a law enforcement official.

Analysts are working on several different scenarios based on intelligence that could lead to a motive for the assault that was launched on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Some concern the possibility of targeting high-ranking officials, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. But none of the intelligence has suggested terrorists would specifically target Stevens.

The attack in Libya, which came hours after a mob stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the U.S. flag, was first presumed to have been triggered by a movie, whose trailer has gone viral on YouTube, depicting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in disrespectful ways.

Obama ordered increased security at U.S. diplomatic missions overseas, particularly in Libya, and said he condemned "in the strongest possible terms the outrageous and shocking" attack.

Stevens, a career diplomat, was killed after he became separated from other American officials during the consulate attack.

It's unclear when he died. He was taken by Libyans to a hospital, and his remains were delivered hours later to U.S. officials at the Ben-ghazi airport.

The last U.S. ambassador to be killed in an attack was Adolph Dubs, slain in Afghanistan in 1979.

Of the three other Americans killed, the State Department identified one of them as Sean Smith, an Air Force veteran who had worked as an information management officer for 10 years in posts such as Brussels, Baghdad and Pretoria.

The identities of the others were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

Obama and Clinton made a rare joint visit to the State Department, where grieving colleagues of those killed gathered in a courtyard. The president also ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff at government and military buildings and vessels around the world until sunset Sunday. Flags had already been lowered in many places to commemorate the victims of the 9/11 attacks.