President Barack Obama dismisses Republican criticism of handling of Libya attack a side show

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is dismissing Republican criticism of his administration’s handling of the attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Libya, calling the criticism a political sideshow.

Obama was asked at a news conference on Monday about recent disclosures that talking points on the attack produced by the intelligence community were later watered down to delete references to suspected ties between last September’s assault and Islamic militants.

Obama, who spoke during a news conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron, said it was not clear in the aftermath of the attack who was responsible and what their motives were.

He again defended his administration’s actions.

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in the assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.