Posted on 09/12/2012 11:21:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, 52, and three other Americans were murdered Tuesday in Libya during attacks on the consulate in Benghazi. Reports say Stevens and his staff may gone to the consulate from the embassy in Tripoli evacuate staff or for a 9/11 commemoration ceremony. The consulate was besieged by attackers ostensibly incensed by a movie critical of Islam they say insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
Before being appointed ambassador in January 2012, Stevens had hailed the uprising of the Libyan people and served, risking his life, as a U.S. envoy to the opposition during that fight. In a State Department video introducing his appointment, Stevens expressed a desire to "work together to build a free, democratic prosperous Libya."
"I was thrilled to watch the Libyan people stand up and demand their rights," he says in the video. Pictures of Libyan protests during the uprising flash across the screen interspersed with photos of a grinning Stevens greeting Libyan citizens.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid tribute in her statement:
I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago. He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people. This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa, which began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi. He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America’s values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.
Raised in Northern California, Stevens spent two years in Morocco after graduating from University of California Berkeley, teaching English in the Peace Corps, It was then he said he “fell in love with this part of the world.” His 20-year foreign service career took him on several tours to Libya, as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and Israel. He spoke Arabic and French.
On April 5 2011 he arrived for his second tour in Libya. Stevens served as special representative to the Libyan Transitional National Council where he was sent to rebel headquarters in Benghazi, with the intention of forging stronger links with the Interim Transitional National Council, and intending to gain a better understanding of the various factions fighting the Gadhafi regime.
Stevens’ reports back to the US government are believed to have encouraged the American support of the rebel council, formally carried out in July 2011 by Obama administration.
Upon his arrival in April last year, Stevens became the highest-ranking US representative to travel to Libya since the uprising began.
Two of the Americans killed in Libya yesterday have yet to be identified because their families are still being notified, but Clinton paid tribute to Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith:
Sean Smith was a husband and a father of two, who joined the Department ten years ago. Like Chris, Sean was one of our best. Prior to arriving in Benghazi, he served in Baghdad, Pretoria, Montreal and most recently The Hague.
President Obama said Stevens’ “legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice.”
Stevens is the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in an attack since 1979.
Both are Traitor Losers who hate America!
Jimmy Carter's presidency was doomed by the Iranian hostage crisis after the US embassy in Tehran was stormed by Islamist extremists following the Iranian revolution.
A year after the 52 Americans were taken hostage, Carter lost the 1980 election. The hostages were released just as President Ronald Reagan, who defeated Carter, was sworn in.
Thanks to RushIsMyTeddyBear and Focaulut's Pendulum and for these graphic art realities!
Would that be similar to hoping for an honest, corruption free, patriotic, capitalist, freedom and God loving democrat party?
Maybe it’s time to face reality.
Optimists abound!
Anyone who believes that Islam can have democracy is only kidding themselves. Democracy, as we know it today, is a creature of Christian heritage. All the rights liberties freedoms etc etc infrastructure was typically born and codified in the Magna Carta. For us to assume they want that or understand that is pure hogwash. Anything Christian is antithetical to Islam.
Democracy means much much more than one man one vote!
Hillary said that Libyans tried to help. Who told her that? All the Americans were killed.
THis guy bought the hype hook line and sinker. Unfortunately he never watch Mars Attacks.
Anyone know if he was gay?
THis guy bought the hype hook line and sinker. Unfortunately he never watched Mars Attacks.
Anyone know if he was gay?
An excellent analogy!
Stevens’ reports back to the US government are believed to have encouraged the American support of the rebel council, formally carried out in July 2011 by Obama administration.
Good job Chris, those democratic rebels sure appreciated your help in using NATO air power to destroy Gaddafi's transport column so he had no protection. It was a brilliant knife in the back.
While his death is tragic, it is the result of his own delusions. His idea of a free and democratic society is a Western cultural concept. His error was that he thought these values would naturally be adopted in Libya and similar places. He was ignoring the regions history and cultural realities. Sadly the man is reminiscent of naive missionaries who put themselves in harms way and have a bad outcome. The State Dept. is in “shock” because American foreign policy is based on hopeful illusions, not reality.
..as relevent as asking if he had a dog.
Well,having a dog might be a problem in that area of the world,too.
Or, Alcohol or bacon...
Liberals are DELUSIONAL. Let’s go back to FIGHTING TERRORISTS instead of ACCOMMODATING THEM.
Yes! A country’s government FOLLOWS its religion. A country with a tyrannical, unmerciful dictator for a God, and a people with no internal self government, will have tyrants and dictators for their government form. An attempt to militarily impose a republican form of government on a country that is Islam is a waste of lives, money and time.
Our country is Christian because its form is Christian. The three unique aspects all written into our constitution:
Representation,
Separation of Powers,
and Dual Form (Senate to represent the States and House to directly represent the people)
were unique in history. They were inspired straight from scripture as it was studied by Locke, Montesquieu and our Colonial Founding Fathers. No other country has had all three of those unique characteristics, although other Western Christian nations have had 2 of the 3, or in a very few cases had three but in not as clear cut a form. People who argue that our country is not a Christian nation because either
1) our people are not all Christians, or
2), not all the founding fathers were Christians (most of them were), are missing the point.
We have a Biblical FORM of government, and this form only works if most of the people are Christian and practice self government, honor and obey God and have a conscience that causes them to practice internal self control.
I learned these principles in a wonderful online course that I’m taking with my daughter:
http://achstudygroups.com/
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