In response to harsh criticism that it failed to act during the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, the Pentagon conceded Tuesday that the U.S. military reaction could have been faster, but that nothing it could have done would have saved the lives of the four Americans killed at the U.S. consulate that day.

“Even though, as the select committee’s chairman has previously acknowledged, it was impossible for the U.S. military to have changed the outcome at Benghazi under the circumstances, the department has made substantial changes to improve our responsiveness based on lessons learned from this incident,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.