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Slideshow Images of September Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Turkish president says "worst case" unfolding in Syria | 08 Oct 2012 Isolated North Korea says its rockets can hit U.S. mainland 08 Oct 2012 Esquire names Mila Kunis "sexiest woman alive" 08 Oct 2012 Romney casts Obama's foreign policy as weak, dangerous | 08 Oct 2012 Penn State coach Sandusky denies he molested children 2:47am EDT Discussed 253 Romney’s strong debate showing puts Europe on edge 157 Obama and Romney battle over economy at debate 155 Weak U.S. labor market looms ahead of elections Sponsored Links Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption "Sexiest woman alive" Mila Kunis Actress Mila Kunis has been dubbed "the sexiest woman alive" by Esquire magazine in its November issue out this week. Slideshow Health care in the US Health care, Obamacare and its future are key issues in the 2012 presidential election. A look at the state of health care in America. Slideshow U.S. diplomatic security unit under scrutiny after Libya attack Tweet Share this Email Print Related News U.S. investigators visit Libya compound where ambassador was killed Thu, Oct 4 2012 Clinton pledges full accounting of deadly Benghazi attack Wed, Oct 3 2012 Father of bodyguard injured in Libya questions State Dept. response Wed, Oct 3 2012 U.S. had early indications Libya attack tied to organized militants Wed, Oct 3 2012 Libya yet to work out U.S. cooperation in Benghazi probe Tue, Oct 2 2012 Analysis & Opinion Who knew jobs data could be so exciting? The 0.3 percent hysteria Related Topics U.S. » World » Osama bin Laden » Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns speaks in front of a picture of slain U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens during a ceremony commemorating Stevens in Tripoli September 20, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Anis Mili By Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 9, 2012 2:42am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi on September 11 has sharpened congressional scrutiny of a State Department office that protects diplomats in the world's most dangerous corners, as lawmakers ask whether it fatally misjudged the dangers of post-revolution Libya. The little-known Bureau of Diplomatic Security saw its budget expand about tenfold in the decade after the deadly 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Contributing to that growth were the U.S.-launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, with more diplomats moving into hostile territory. Known as "DS" within the State Department, the bureau took pride in its work last year after the Arab Spring, including its rush to establish a safe diplomatic outpost in Benghazi following political upheaval in Tripoli, according to a report touting its successes. But its handling of security in Benghazi, which will come under scrutiny on Wednesday at a House of Representatives committee hearing, is not the first time the bureau has come under review for costly mistakes. In 2007, the bureau's director resigned after a State Department panel faulted its oversight of Blackwater and other private security contractors in Iraq after at least 14 Iraqi civilians were shot dead in Baghdad's Nisour Square. In the Benghazi probe, the House committee expects to hear from at least two bureau officials - Eric Nordstrom, a regional security officer in Libya from September 2011 until mid-2012, and Charlene Lamb, deputy assistant secretary of state for international programs. Another witness will be Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, who headed a security support team at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli. The hearing will examine whether the bureau responded properly to escalating concerns in the months leading up to the attack on the Benghazi mission, which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The committee is expected to ask why the State Department appeared to want to "normalize" security in Libya by using more local staff and fewer Americans guards, a U.S. government official told Reuters. Lawmakers have suggested that the personnel, infrastructure and logistics at the mission were inadequate, and that the bureau underestimated the threat, the U.S. official said. He did not want to publicly discuss issues under investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The security provided was like "ordering in children's Tylenol for someone who has cancer," the official said. NORMAL DAY, LITTLE SECURITY On a typical day, the Benghazi compound was protected by one or two American diplomatic security agents along with about four armed Libyans from the former rebel militia, the February 17 Brigade, the U.S. official told Reuters. The Libyans were "intimately" involved in security and were under orders to call for backup in an emergency, the official said. Other local guards were supplied by a State Department contractor, Blue Mountain Group. Typically unarmed, they handled routine tasks like patting down visitors to the rented villa that served as a temporary U.S. mission. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has unearthed emails and other documents showing that Americans in Libya sought additional security after a series of violent incidents in Benghazi since early this year. These requests were denied by the State Department, the official told Reuters. He said that among the Americans working in Libya there was a saying: "The security is fine here until it isn't." There was no immediate comment from the State Department on the official's statements. DIPLOMATIC SECURITY EXPANSION The diplomatic security bureau has grown into a large U.S. federal law enforcement presence and has added counterterrorism, cyber security, and other roles. It has about 2,000 special agents, 340 security engineers and technicians and 101 couriers, Eric Boswell, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, said in June 2011. Personnel levels have doubled since the mid-1990s. "The department now operates diplomatic locations in locations where in the past, when faced with similar threats, we likely would have closed the post and evacuated all personnel," Boswell told Congress last year. Government reports show the bureau's budget ballooned to about $2.5 billion in 2009 from $200 million in 1998 when the U.S. embassies in Africa were attacked. In 2011, the bureau's 25th year, it was rocked by the tumult of revolution across the Middle East. In Libya, bureau staff scrambled to find a "secure location" in Benghazi as U.S. diplomats were withdrawn from the embassy in Tripoli in February of last year. After establishing a temporary location in Benghazi, a team then found a "more secure location, a large villa compound that significantly enhanced the security of all U.S. personnel in Benghazi," the bureau's 2011 report said. In a now poignant detail, the report described how the bureau guarded Stevens while he served as special representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council. Stevens was known as a diplomat who liked to move freely among the people, sometimes alarming security officers. The report described how Benghazi evolved into "an extensive mission focused on critical political reporting and humanitarian assistance." BURNOUT RATE AND TENSIONS Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at the Stratfor consulting firm and a former diplomatic security agent, said bureau agents are often strained by their 45-day overseas postings and brief home leaves. They have a "tremendous burnout rate," he said. David Carpenter, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security from August 1998 to June 2002, said clashes may erupt between diplomats establishing ties to locals, and security personnel. "There's always the rush to get there and get set up and start doing things, and security isn't always in a position to respond to that in a timely fashion," Carpenter said. In its changing role, the bureau's security force sometimes ends up "doing quasi-military things" like protecting Americans left in Iraq after the war, said Grant Green, former undersecretary of state for management. "Good security in some of these environments can be very very inconvenient. But there is a necessity for it," Carpenter said. (Additional reporting by Warren Strobel and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Christopher Wilson) U.S. World Osama bin Laden Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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