AP: U.S. replaces lost Libyan ambassador

politico44 ^ | 10/11/12 | politico

[ColdOne]

The AP reports that the State Department has sent a temporary replacement to the U.S. mission in Libya, after Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed last month. Laurence Pope,a career foreign service officer, will take charge of the mission until the Senate confirms a new permanent ambassador.

no excerpt just this statement

[bronxville]

He was one of the ambassadors along with Pickering (who Hillary selected to head her investigation into the Benghazi-gate murder) who took Bush to court over Gantanamo Bay terrorists being incarcerated there with out a trail:
http://www.wilmerhale.com/files/upload/Boumediene_FormerUSDiplomats.pdf

He’s one of the in-crowd so will do just fine. They only take out the big guns when someone goes against them.

[Churchillspirit]

Wonder who Mr Pope pi**ed off to get that assignment?

[maggief]

Ping!

[bronxville]

Thanks maggief for putting me on your ping list. I’m very interested in this especially since it replicates Clintons Balkan war pattern.

[mass55th]

"Good luck, Mr. Pope. Under the current administration, you’ll need it."

This White Hut reminds me of Rev. Johnson from "Blazing Saddles":

"Son, you're on your own."

[mass55th]

"I would hate to be the new guy..."

Look on the bright side, maybe he'll get a Chevy Volt.

Libya Security Cut While Vienna Embassy Got Chevy Volts

[Jumper]

The US Dept of State always sends the "career" diplomats to the undesirable posts. The most important positions politically speaking are given to campaign donors; go figure that you support a president and you are appointed to Paris, London, or if you have business interests you can apply for The Netherlands;)

Notice that Gene Cretz did not jump back into the fire as he is an Middle East Hand and too smart to risk his life under the current State Department leadership. Good man who will no doubt play a significant role in the background supporting more of those political appointee ambassadors as the real person in charge of the diplomacy.

Too bad for the USA that the same cannot be said for the current president, a Muslim ring-knocker.

[sten]

‘lost’? did we misplace him? did he wander off??

obvious spin / media cover is ... obvious

[mass55th]

"But....the benefits are great!"

Yep! You get a welcome home reception from President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

[dfwgator]

Kind of like being asked to be the new drummer for Spinal Tap.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Note to AP: check the urn on the mantle.

[Randy Larsen]

I hope he or she is not the #3 in line!

[petitfour]

After reading this guy’s bio, I think he ought to be given LESS security than Stevens had. He is a lifelong pacifist and should be allowed to be the diplomat he has always wanted to be. He appears to be one who dislikes the US military despite his father being a Medal of Honor recipient. Let him give peace a chance without the backing of US military power.

[gleeaikin]

They may keep him at the embassy in Tripoli, which I hope is more secure, rather than traveling to Benghazi 500 miles away.

[blueunicorn6]

“Everybody here who’s not going to Libya, take one step forward. Not so fast Larry.”

[Francis McClobber]

The job now comes with 782 gear issue.

Dash 2’s up!

Keep yer head down ambassador!

[TASMANIANRED]

Don’t you know they were lined up around the block for that job.

[verum ago]

They may keep him at the embassy in Tripoli, which I hope is more secure, rather than traveling to Benghazi 500 miles away.

You know, after thinking about it a bit more, they might keep him at the embassy and make a big show of security around him. Then again, that might mean admitting that the security for Stevens wasn't sufficient; mind-bogglingly enough the administration is insisting that he had sufficient security when he was killed. My best guess now is that the new ambassador won't go to Libya at all in the near future. He'll stick around Washington for 'consultations' or some such nonsense (at least 18 holes a day).

What is going on in these people's heads? Clearly they're treating this as a political issue to be spun and manipulated, but I just can't see the angle they're playing on this on.

The administration tried to claim that the attack was a spontaneous escalation of a protest over a stupid youtube video. This is simply damage control to try and minimize the damage from the murder of an ambassador before the election. They've backtracked on this and admitted it was an attack, but only because they were forced to.

But now they're claiming that Stevens had sufficient security. What the hell is their motivation for doubling down on this asinine claim? It's transparently false- there are 4 dead US citizens and a burned out consulate with bloody handprints on the walls to prove it. So what are they trying for? Is this just terrible damage control?

WTF is going on here? We're missing something important. I can feel it. Not just an angle, but I bet they've repressed some pertinent facts too. Facts juicy enough that they're willing flounder in public to stop people from finding them.

[TexasTransplant]

**** ““Everybody here who’s not going to Libya, take one step forward. Not so fast Larry.” ****

That was a Belly Laugh

TT

[gleeaikin]

The last word I heard on the attackers is that there were about 135 heavily armed men. How can we maintain forces at all our potentially target embassies and consulates to fight back a force of that size? We would need a far greater budget for embassy security than we have now, and that had been cut back not too long ago.