Photo(s) of the Day: Oct. 17, 2012

With the attacks in Libya, and the administration’s response, serving as one of the more memorable exchanges of last night’s debate, I thought we would use an image from the attacks.  However, in looking around, I found a bunch of interesting images, and as such the Photo of the Day is going to be plural.  Follow me after the jump…

On Sept. 11, 2012, armed Islamist militants overran the consulate (it wasn’t an embassy) in Benghazi, Libya.  The attack claimed the lives of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J.  Christopher Stevens.  While Obama’s handling of the incident served as a major topic for the debate, the facts got a little jumbled.  There has been ambiguity from the administration on whether the attack was a spontaneous response to a crude video posted on youtube.com that depicted Muhammad engaged in various morally questionable acts, or if the attack was the work of a terrorist group.  But, President Obama did refer to the attack using the word “terror” during his press conference in the Rose Garden on Sept. 12.  Before the debate on Oct. 16, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a press conference to take the blame for the security environment at the consulate.

Here are a couple of images of what the consulate looked like after the attack had passed and journalists were able to make their way into the compound:

The consulate has not been returned to service, and still shows many of the marks of the attack.  Below, the front of the consulate less than a week ago.