Rep. Chaffetz says, “When you’re in Libya, after a revolution… you [have to] prioritize things. And what clearly didn’t happen is Libya
was not a priority. I believe what I heard is that it’s because they wanted the appearance of normalization. That’s what they wanted. And that fit
with Obama narrative moving forward.”
cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com...
This explanation makes more sense than the budget excuse.
It seems like the current administration has tried to change the reputation of the US from a strong force to a cooperative, non-threatening entity.
So, this explanation from Re. Chaffetz does fit. Cooperation with other countries can be a good thing, but not at the expense of the safety of our
citizens.
They were probably attempting to not appear as occupying force, and rather as just another embassy doing mundane business.