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Benghazi and Diplomacy's Hard Power
When Egyptian rioters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, raising the black banners (and bizarrely enough, some were hiding behind Guy Fawkes’s now ubiquitous visage), the news was bad enough. A handful of well-financed cranks, advancing a deluded and hateful but crushingly unsurprising agenda, helped ignite a crisis in a critical U.S. partner. The Embassy’s security personnel managed to avoid harm to its staff or the exercise of deadly force (today, it seems, Egyptian internal security has finally showed up at the compound walls). Yet despite the presence of Egyptian security services in the area, the rioters still stormed the walls, desecrated the flag, and flaunted those of the country’s foes – all on nominally sovereign U.S. territory.
In Benghazi, the stronghold of a revolution that, with aid from America and its allies, toppled the murderous Gaddafi regime, worse fears came to pass. Beset by militants – let no media outlet utter again the ridiculous phrase “armed protesters” – firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades, U.S. personnel returned fire. An outmatched Libyan security force proved basically ineffectual. One U.S. diplomat died, at least another was wounded, and the whole consulate burnt to the ground after the mob finished looting it.
UPDATE: As I woke up to edit this, news broke reporting that in addition to a potential three additional U.S. deaths, a high-level official – possibly a Consul or even U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, died as a result of the assault there. This new information, if it is verified, makes this all the more urgent, and the record of warning signs below all the more troubling.
This was not, of course, the first attack on diplomats in free Benghazi. Militants fired rocket propelled grenades at British embassy vehicles, and bombed an Egyptian diplomat’s car. America’s Benghazi legation also suffered an IED attack. I discussed the apparent compromises with, or neglect of, Libya’s extremist armed groups in a previous post, when they were mostly focused on razing Sufi shrines. Today, the inability or unwillingness of the Libyan security forces to rein in these actors cost American diplomats their lives. The last Ambassador to die in duty was Adolph Dubs, the U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan, killed after a botched, hasty raid on his militant kidnappers in 1979. That same year, three American embassies – Tripoli, Tehran, and Islamabad – all suffered sieges. As in Tehran, there was a record of targeting foreign diplomats and officials (including by groups such as the MEK) before the siege. Unfortunately, the hindsight is too late.
What is to be done? The most obvious solution would be for the governments of Libya and Egypt to perform their diplomatic obligations and curb attacks on other countries’ diplomats. Yet compelling even a friendly government to conduct such a task when it disrupts transitional regimes’ relationships with violent, and powerful political actors, is a task difficult even when the government in question is deeply dependent on American largesse.
For those few for whom hasty (and later repudiated) Embassy press releases and tweets might tip the balance from violent assaults on American lives and sovereign soil to less ferocious forms of truculence, there is public diplomacy, information operations, and the “war of ideas” (which Adam critiques magnificently). For everyone else, there’s the Marine Corps. In addition to the Marine Security Guards at U.S. facilities, today’s Marines maintain FAST units – Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams and RRTs – Rapid Response Teams – to protect American officials, citizens, and interests abroad.
Far from being historically unprecedented, the Marines and Navy have long been the big stick that enables American diplomats to speak softly, and for merchantmen to go about their business peaceably. In the hundreds of military interventions from America’s founding to today, many concerned specifically the enforcement of widely recognized sovereign privileges. These were initially, and especially, the rights of maritime shipping, upon which global trade and diplomatic communication depended. Depredations against American merchantmen, murder of sailors, and piracy all earned swift and limited punitive action. Revolutionary upheaval prompted landings in defense of American lives and property.
When the Marine Corps hymn sings of the “shores of Tripoli,” they really mean Derne, in Cyrenaica, where Marines, supporting a Consular official leading an army of mercenaries, with the backing of American offshore power, hoisted an American flag over foreign shores. The goal was not to liberate Libya but to discourage its governments from violating America’s maritime rights.
Similarly as important and almost universally recognized, in both practice and law, as legitimate sovereign privileges, are the rights of diplomats. All these rights have limits, of course. In 1984, when anti-Gaddafi protesters surrounded the Libyan embassy, Britain sent police officers for crowd control. The Libyan officials inside decided to open fire on the crowd, killing WPC Yvonne Fletcher. Libya then used its diplomatic bags to smuggle the submachine gun out of the country. Diplomatic missions and associated officials have obligations to avoid interference with domestic affairs and especially breaches of the peace, and host governments have responsibilities to assist them in that task. When that becomes impossible, diplomatic missions have a right to repel offenses with violence.
Effective diplomacy demands the safety of diplomats. When diplomats feel they cannot leave the embassy, their professional duties suffer for it. In 1866, when bandits attacked the American consul in Newchwang, the USS Wachusett landed bluejackets to apprehend them. In the late 19th century, America landed forces in Samoa, Argentina, and Chile, in part to protect consular officials and properties – and these were acts where there were far more legitimate grievances about America’s role, such as its overt backing of rival partisans in the Chilean case. America landed also, in the early 20th century, to protect consular officials in Honduras, and even further aflung, in Syria and Abyssinia. America landed troops frequently in China throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, and defended legations in Korea frequently. In more modern times, George H.W. Bush deployed military forces to defend and evacuate U.S. diplomatic facilities in Africa, the Balkans, and Latin America.
The U.S. may not need be as audacious in its expeditions now, particularly since in the case of Egypt and Libya, the U.S. diplomatic presence is, however influential, nowhere near as powerful in each country’s internal political situation as America’s legations were in say, Latin America or the Pacific during the early 20th century. Yet the U.S. must remain willing to deploy the Marines as precautionary measures, and it must be willing to defend its diplomatic personnel with lethal force. While questions of punitive expeditions are more complicated, the use of military force in the defense of nigh-universally recognized sovereign rights is a principle in keeping with American interests, history, and its proper comportment under international law and state practice.
The alternative to effectively securing American diplomats through traditional means is not pretty. The rise of private security contractors owe much of their current prominence in part to this fact. After the 1983 Beirut Embassy bombing, private contractors took increasingly large roles in providing facility security, with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security hiring contractors in 1994 to protect State Department personnel in Haiti. Expanding the role of the State Department sounds well and good, but a more robust diplomatic presence requires security, and when military forces are unavailable, private contractors fill that gap, to frequently problematic results.
So, if and when the U.S. Department of State returns in full force to Libya, it may again be bringing a few hundred mercenaries with it – not to overthrow the government, but to keep its lack of will or martial capability from threatening its ability to maintain a presence in the country. The complement, or worse, the alternative, will likely be diplomatic missions – and their clandestine counterparts who rely on diplomatic covers – even less willing to leave the facility, less willing to engage with the local population, and less effective at actually doing the job of professional diplomacy (or intelligence collection and covert operations, as the case may be).
It is far too early to reasonably outline any kind of punitive measures for what has occurred now. In theory, the bulk of the work of securing cities for diplomats will fall to host governments. Yet it is manifestly unclear how or how soon governments such as Libya’s, (particularly given the almost total denial of reality some Libyan spokesmen have evinced by blaming these acts on Gaddafi bittereinders) can adequately secure these facilities, or if they really have the will to prioritize them.
In the past, offenses such as these – even against, say, sailors of naval vessels – prompted a punitive expeditions against non-state groups such as bandits or partisans, followed by the imposition of an indemnity on the government for the U.S.’s troubles. In Libya, nothing so dramatic is likely to occur. Yet the capability to rapidly respond to evacuate or assist State Department officials under threat will remain essential, even if the full expeditionary power of a Joint Task Force or MAGTF is unlikely to be unleashed.
The readiness to defend American diplomatic rights is a cornerstone of American foreign policy. The strength of the State Department is bolstered, not detracted, by deterring power of the limited military detachments which accompany it and stand over the horizon to defend it. The more that deterrent and security is weakened, the less able the State Department can operate safely and effectively without a growing reliance on private security or other measures. Regardless of what policy options should or do play out in Libya, the US Department of State – together with its colleagues in the USMC – ought ensure that anyone contemplating to forcibly enter our legations or partake in an open season on our diplomats do so only with a great and well-founded fear for their lives.
Lastly, and perhaps most striking, is something Joshua Foust reminded me of on Twitter today – since World War II, more Ambassadors have died in the line of duty than general officers. During many years of American history since, it has arguably even been more dangerous to be a member of the Foreign Service than the Armed Forces. The complexity and difficulty of protecting diplomatic personnel, as outlined above, leaves them in a deeply vulnerable situation. Responsible for the constant maintenance and crafting of the vast and inscrutable beast that is U.S. foreign policy, they assume serious amounts of personal risk, knowing that by the nature of their trade they must leave themselves exposed, and that the very nature of their profession will inherently constrain what their country can do to save them in an hour of need. In theory they are protected by inviolable sovereign rights and centuries of diplomatic tradition. In reality, the options for the Marines attached to the legations will always be circumscribed by the foreign policy considerations those they protect serve to advance. With the enormous amount of risk State Department civilians face, it is imperative the military components supporting the State Department ensure they retain the capability to protect those rights if called upon, and deter breaches of those rights so they need not be called upon in the first place – and it is also imperative that policymakers give them an effective mandate to support those missions. They fight so that we might not lose men such as Ambassador Chris Stevens and Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and it appears in Benghazi, some lay down their lives to do so.
Mr. Trombly, It would be
Mr. Trombly,
It would be appropriate for you to look into and then highlight, for AM's readership, the roles of the Embassy Regional Security Officer (RSO), Diplomatic Security Special Agents, and the recent addition of Security Protective Specialists (http://www.state.gov/m/ds/career/c28469.htm) and their related capabilities in DOS DSS.
You only mention Marines and private security contractors. This leaves out the central role that the DOS DSS plays in protecting diplomats everyday all over the world (and managing the application of Embassy Marines and contractors in support of diplomatic security work).
V/R,
John
The only mainstream article
The only mainstream article that I've been able to find with details of the movie that caused all this trouble:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044401750457764568105749826...
"The film's 52-year-old writer, director and producer, Sam Bacile, said that he wanted to showcase his view of Islam as a hateful religion. "Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie." Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California. "
"The film has been promoted by Dr. Jones, who said Tuesday that he planned to show a 13-minute trailer that night at his church in Gainesville, Fla. "It is an American production, not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam," he said in a statement. "The movie further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad."
"The movie has been promoted in the U.S. by conservative Coptic Christians, including Morris Sadek, who runs a small group called the National American Coptic Assembly. "The violence that it caused in Egypt is further evidence of how violent the religion and people are and it is evidence that everything in the film is factual," Mr. Sadek said in a telephone interview from his Washington home."
Embassies are being overrun
Embassies are being overrun and ambassadors killed and the President is campaigning in Las Vegas. No, of course we shouldn't go indiscriminately bomb them in response, but how about some basic statecraft designed to protect your instruments of state (ie Ambassadors)? Suspend aid, withdraw advisors, demand the heads of the leading rabble-rousers. Require the host nation to take this with the dead seriousness it deserves, and demonstrate that there will be swift and serious repercussions to the government of a country that doesn't protect its guests.
Yes, the governments of Egypt and Libya are weak, but there's no excuse for their inability or unwillingness to protect our embassies. That's a non-negotiable requirement if they want to suck on this tit.
Egypt and Libya are both not
Egypt and Libya are both not just weak Goverments, they are puppet gov's and are non- functioning.
Also would be nice to get some clarification. Why is Bengazi the new Capitol and is it an Embassy or a Consulate? It can't be both, but in the newspapers and TV they said both. Also was Stevens a Ambassador, with recognized and presented credentials or a Special Envoy? He can't be both but the news papers have listed him as both. Why all the confusion?
What should have happened was a MEU or a FAST Company with two SEAL Teams should have been deployed on the ground to save these personnel and the facility / vehicles, but we are in an Election Year, so rather than saving people's lives, property, money and providing hasty perimeters, people chose to evacuate the post and let some people die. I'm pretty sure a MED Float or MUE isn't far steaming off the coastline of Libya. Epic failure on multiple sides. Failures with Intel, security and diplomatic.
As for PSPer's who can only be 5 years employees with limited benefits, contractors are easier to deal with and they are more easily fired when they screw up- many who do. Merc's who are professionals and worth the high salaries they receive. The rest of the uneducated mutts, they need a short leash and no employee rights. Hence why the PSP program will likely be short lived.
The investigations that will spin out from this cluster F, will likely end the careers of many high level diplomats or they will get pigeonholed or encouraged to resign.
Best thing to do would be to WP or Thermite anything left of value and not return for 10 years.
Obama is in the Rose Garden with Carter on this one. Having flashbacks and visions of Yellow Ribbons. It's going to happen again.
Do we really think it's a
Do we really think it's a coincidence that these attacks on two different Africian embassies happened on 9/11. I believe we are sadly deluding ourselves if we think this happened because of an obscure film. I think it's a celebration of the most imfamous deed of a terrorist who's previous misdeeds include destruction of other US embassies on the African continent.
Bob Trombly on September 12,
Bob Trombly on September 12, 2012 - 3:04pm
Bob, it doesn't matter what day of the year, it happened.
America is ten years into 9/11 and its artifacts with a HLS that now reaches out on foreign soil. Both Egypt and Libya have new governments, both are in a known state of flux. Both Arab Spring states have resourced fighters into AQ. There are munitions in the region that are readily available. There has been an open discussion since the ME governments change about the motives of radical Islamic elements within the countries in question.
How fucking stupid can Americans be? Where was the security at the Embassies? I do not care if it is Marines, DOS, or DSS. Someone did not do their jobs that they get paid so well to do. Great sacrifice for America? These people get paid well, they are educated, they have the resources of the complete USG at their finger tips. Whose fault was this? American taxpayers pay these people well to run our embassies.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/09/12/president-obama-discusses-atta...
"We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats," he said. "I've also directed my Administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people."
Mr. President little late. While you're at it why don't you get the people that murdered Gaddafi and bring them to International Court.
It is a failure of policy and this administration. This should be criticized and debated publicly by any American that desires.
http://politifreak.com/wp-con
http://politifreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/6e769__us-AMBASSADor-L...
Would be nice to see a few B52s go over and clean the place up.
We should not have an embassy in such a hostile place unless it is guarded by Batallion amount Of US army or US marines.
This will likely start a
This will likely start a chain of sieges across the dark continent and middle east, as these swarm tactics, like those used by Somalians can not be defended against, unless you have military grade defense systems and airpower like and AC-130 Puff the Magic Dragon.
These two stories will have others added soon. Batten down the hatches boys and keep your powder dry.
John, Thanks for reminding
John,
Thanks for reminding me. Got a bit carried away rewriting this, but you're absolutely correct to note that security coordination remains a duty of the DSS.
The reason I focused on the USMC in this case was for incidents on a larger scale, as well as punitive and retaliatory options that exceed the DSS's mandate.
Also realized I left out the role of the FBI in investigating these sorts of incidents after the fact. As more hard information comes out on the U.S. response, I'll likely do another post to follow up and look at some of the broader issues.
Dear visitor, I respectfully
Dear visitor,
I respectfully disagree. Diplomacy is a construct of civilized societies. I think it is incumbent on host countries to secure embassies from militants and insurgents. That's part of the burden of civilization. It is incumbent on a host country to communicate the risks to foreign delegations and to help provide safe conduct for diplomats in the event the risks become untenable. The administration needs to weigh in its own calculation the risks as to whether the host country can provide that security as prerequisite to having a delegation in the host country, a calculation that the administration failed on here.
Diplomacy has failed utterly if we have to think about "Green Zone" embassies that must truly be able to provide for their own defense.
Bob Trombly on September 12,
Bob Trombly on September 12, 2012 - 5:48pm
Maybe in a fantasy a newly minted government has the capability to provide that security. Anyone else would look at the past and look to the future. Libya is not a good model for your plan. Egypt just got rid of their last Pharaoh.
No one is suggesting a Green Zone, Benghazi was alert level none in a tribal zone. That is completely asleep at the wheel and asking for it.
Wonder what Ray LaHood would say about his son being held in Egypt in light of your concept of civilization. These people are still grinding axes for Uncle Sam and each other. It is a world were people martyr themselves out of ideology. Western logic doesn't work when being dead has more value than living.
How do you secure anything in a country that just had its armories ransacked and looted by the very people that the US has been fighting for the past ten years?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvn8cNjCns0
SSSHHH. Don't mention it
SSSHHH. Don't mention it happened on 9/11. That's just a coincidence, and it's the Christians and Jews fault anyway.
Mentioning 9/11 lacks nuance. Can't have analysis without nuance. And an utterly irrelevant History lesson on what we used to be. We used to be racist too, so everything we ever were as well is also evil.
We will get our 9/11 Victory Dance on our corpses every year until we really remember who we were, and perhaps still are.
Except in Egypt, cuz they're back Friday.
Especially complex attack
Especially complex attack coincidences.
UPDATE: Violent Protests at the American Embassy in Tokyo on Dec 7th blamed on Hollywood Stereotypes of Japanese as nice nerds with too many cameras. It has nothing, repeat nothing to do with the date of Dec 7th.
And it's the Jews fault anyway because they run Hollywood.
dtrombly on September 12,
dtrombly on September 12, 2012 - 4:58pm
You obviously have no idea how an Embassy and or security for an embassy works.
DS is figuratively a flashlight in a dark room, to help aid people, who for the most part, should be helping themselves.
Security for the Embassy is ultimately the responsibility of the Ambassador and DCM, who should have held an meeting days before this anniversary, an EAC, to discuss any percieved threats with all head office members of the Embassy. From that, an increase in security measures would have or should have occurred.
The threat being serious enough, US military troops could have been deployed days or weeks in advance of the anninvesary date, to help fortify the perimeter of the Embassy compound. This would have occurred through the DATT and Front Office, not the security officers.
Operating in a country with unvetted military, police and little to no function government requires serious consideration by the Chief of Mission to utilize our military to protect his mission and personnel.
a brief note, but i don't
a brief note, but i don't think Dubs was the last ambassador to die on duty. i believe Raphel was actually the last.
Trombly, if you look back in
Trombly, if you look back in history of locations that have been successfully stabilized in Africa, after a change in power and/or Civil War, look no farther than Liberia. Liberia is a very small success story, but they too still have a lot of problems still in securing their own country, which is supplemented today by approximately nine thousand UN Peace Keepers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Mission_in_Liberia
Since the death of Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi / Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak and removal of these countries former government, no foreign peace keeping forces have ever been set up in Libya or Egypt to help find war criminals, secure the country, vett and train new government police and military personnel.
No U.S. Military Protection Forces are on the ground in Libya or Egypt and no UN Forces are there as well...., so who do you think is going to magically provide security for the U.S. Embassies in these locations?
The largest failure was placing U.S. personnel and constructing a facility in these countries, with no large scale security force present and/or a functioning government. DOS doesn't have the manpower or resources to provide nine thousand security personnel. It's just not possible.
OP: Who are you trying to
OP: Who are you trying to convince with all this bluster?
"Things have almost reached rock bottom. A universal spiritual death has already touched us all, and physical death will soon flare up and consume us both and our children--but as before we still smile in a cowardly way and mumble without tounges tied."
--Solzhenitsyn
Visitor on September 13, 2012
Visitor on September 13, 2012 - 12:10am
Not sure why you believe I think DS ran security for the whole thing. I said in my response that I had neglected to mention the role of Diplomatic Security, which has security as "a duty." That duty obviously doesn't solely belong to DS, but John rightly pointed out my 2000 word post had neglected to much discuss them, so I pointed out they did have some role.
I think you'll find my post makes it pretty clear that I think the military should be playing a major role in embassy security as determined by the threat level.
janklow on September 13, 2012 - 12:48am
I'm referring to the last Ambassador to die of homicide. As far as I know USG position is that the crash the Amb to PK died in was an accident, not a deliberate killing.
Visitor on September 13, 2012 - 6:29am
If you want to see me wax philosophical and block quote reactionary European intellectuals, I do more of that kinda thing on my other blog.
When we behave in ways that
When we behave in ways that are manifestly irresponsible and destructive, as rational adults know that there are often negative consequences.
If you want to avoid facing up to the reality of your actions then you need something else to think about, so that you don't make the obvious link between cause and effect--like how big and impressive your Marine task forces are, and how brave and selfless your foreign service officials are.
Hey, my Corn Flakes had some
Hey, my Corn Flakes had some change this morning!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-usa-libya-clinton-statement...
"But we must be clear-eyed even in our grief. This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of Libya," she added in a brief appearance.
Clear-eyed my ass, whoopee that is a whopper Burger King could not have served up a bigger pile.
Isn't this "small and savage group" the same that did 9/11 and consumed about 6,000 of American youth and Trillions in treasure! Crap the US Fed just started QE3, this administration just opened a new front on terrorists in Libya, and my Corn Flakes tasted better three years ago.
Failure of Foreign Policy!!!
ME is getting worse not better. Gotta love Egypt's response, "keep the money flowing and we will see what we can do for you Sammy"
BTW.....At least we found something that stops Hillary from stroking checks and entry VISA's to the huddled masses. See the future? Maybe if we write larger numbers on the checks they will like the USG better!
Here is a quote from an NYT
Here is a quote from an NYT article that AM just posted to his twitter feed:
"What makes Egypt’s uncertain course so vexing for the White House is that Mr. Obama, more than any other foreign leader, has sided again and again with the Arab street in Cairo, even when it meant going expressly against the wishes of traditional allies, including the Egyptian military, the Persian Gulf states and Israel."
It's all so baffling, vexing and mysterious, isn't it?
Reactionary Euro Visitor on
Reactionary Euro Visitor on September 13, 2012 - 6:29am on September 13, 2012 - 7:58am
Given that any reasonable account of events in any region is inherently multicausal, and that the identity of the perpetrators in these attacks as of yet remains unknown - and again, I really must reiterate, I do enjoy quoting reactionary European intellectuals, but I don't do it on this blog - it would be extremely early to speculate about which actions, exactly, are resulting in these negative consequences.
Despite my personal opposition to intervention in Libya, suppose I have some incentive to say "I told everyone so," but this would be ridiculous and premature. but given that AQ alone (without even getting into other extremist groups) have had relationships with Libyan militants since the 1980s, it's hard to say why what just happened did. A bit early to be so confident in asserting what causes and effects what in Benghazi these days. If we want to get into *that* question, we'll need to wait for the empirics.
Might be the right time for
Might be the right time for McRaven to ask Mommy for a free pass again.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120527/DEFREG02/305270001/U-S-State...
When asked about recent reports that SOCOM was muscling in on the work that U.S. embassies and geographical combatant commanders have traditionally performed, McRaven jumped to his command’s defense.
.
SOCOM has “an absolutely magnificent relationship with the State Department,” he said, and “we don’t do anything that isn’t absolutely fully coordinated and approved by the U.S. ambassador and the geographic combatant commander.”
With that relationship between SOCOM and Stevens you would think that security would not be an issue.
Whose failure is it if security is not asked for? Now America has a full-up crisis that will cost Billions.
What a waste for lack of management.
Oh, "the empirics"! Well, I'm
Oh, "the empirics"! Well, I'm certainly eager to see those. Personally, I feel uneasy even boiling an egg unless I've read a couple of case studies and spent the afternoon running regressions in Stata first. Oh ye Gods of the Conditional Expectation Function, unveil to us the Mysteries of the Universe, plz.
If I were to ask you how you get here, forgetting about social science for a moment, there would be two answers: one, which is complete and goes back to the origin of the universe, and another, which is "I took the tube". If we want to know why Americans are being murdered in Benghazi, we could, I suppose, go all the way back to the French Revolution or even earlier. On the other hand, the more immediate, more pressing, some might say obvious yet "mysteriously" unspoken, cause is that we overthrew the stable, functioning government of Libya and replaced it with sundry incompetent bandits because we love democracy and hate tyranny (srs). With some minor modifications, this also explains the ongoing Egyptian fiasco, with no regressions needed. Is this magic, or simply better technology? You decide!
The potential reason why
The potential reason why Benghazi has been considered the "embassy" in the press is because there is still no true US embassy building in Tripoli. Many countries are still working out of hotels or make-shift villas, as the empty embassy buildings became a favorite target for Gaddafi supporters as the regime came to an end.
What we appear to be seeing is the rise of foreign-funded Salafist groups, rather than any attempt at expanding the increasingly defunct al-Qaeda franchise. Essentially, a core group of militants have found a home in the local community, and are surrounding themselves with "inspired" innocents. For local security forces unsure of who is who and what they should be doing in a fluid political environment, it is difficult for them to know who are the real instigators. However, as to the militants attacking Sufi shrines in Libya and the US "embassy" in Benghazi, it would not be a bad bet to say they are connected, and maybe even from the same organization.
MarkoPasha on September 13,
MarkoPasha on September 13, 2012 - 1:15pm
Embassy and Consulate can be interchanged, but they are truly different functions and status. From the horn tooting of the Obama Administration, Stevens is getting high status. Don't think the Libya Consulate was just handing out VISAs, doing trade, helping expatriates, or directing American tourists. Stevens was direct line with the Obama administration, it is about function. One of the people killed at the Consulate was an Intelligence grunt.
Yes there are a lot of factions in Libya, that is has been openly discussion and well known. Mover and shaker like Stevens should have known that and had the sole responsibility to respond providing protection for his people, he failed. AQ is not dead on arrival and your discussion about Salafist groups does not fully explain the actions at other Diplomatic sites in other countries. This is not a core group in a local community. Yet there is an over all connection to the demonstrations.
Obama got his 9/11 on his watch and his Foreign Policy has been foretold.
To the author of the main
To the author of the main post:
You mention Joshua Foust and quote that more Ambassador's have died since WWII than American General/Flag officer's, I have no ability to question that so I will assume that is correct.
But... to then state: "During many years of American history since, it has arguably even been more dangerous to be a member of the Foreign Service than the Armed Forces" I take great exception to that statement. I would never question the dedication, integrity, or service of other members of our inter-agency partners across the spectrum of government. Whether it's FBI Agents, US AID, State Dept or the myriad of other folks serving, but I have stood over the graves of far too many of my brothers and sisters that have been killed in peacetime mishaps or training exercises that I think exceed deaths of other agencies.
But to then compare to combat deaths of military personnel since WWII to the Foriegn Service, I think you are severely mistaken. Once again, I do not diminish the service and sacrifice of the entirety of US government personnel, but I'm pretty sure the deaths and wounds sufferred by our military vastly exceeds all of the inter-agency.
Woods and Doherty never
Woods and Doherty never worked DSS nor were they diplomatic security service officers. Neither had college educations, a prerequisite to join the foreign service. They were merc's / contractors. CNN is reporting a lot of bogus / false information and recklessly putting out information without verifying it. They need to check themselves before they get sued again. My condolences to the Woods and Doherty Families. Your sons were very brave to take such a dangerous assiggnment, but these things happen when inexperience people get in positions of power and lack education in areas like physical security and working with regional military forces, who should have had uniformed troops on the ground protecting these facilities.
This story has it all
This story has it all immigration, movie art, religion, political campaigns, and foreign policy. Just need to add a woman, Hillary Clinton to thicken the plot.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gwEQ3WzDMvnIDbKF5ZQGAy...
Obama says the U.S. would not consider Egypt an ally, "but we don't consider them an enemy."
Mr. President, have you heard about the Camp David accords? Not sure what Egypt is, but the US sells them one heck of a lot of War Toys, hope they could at least muster some Embassy protection.
http://www.weeklyblitz.net/2570/funders-of-controversial-movie-traced-by-us
Egyptian-American, Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih, the president of the Duarte-based charity Media for Christ, and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon from Cerritos, emerged as forces behind "Innocence of Muslims." Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih got converted into Christianity from Islam few years back. Another mastermind behind the project is a Lebanese-American female, who runs a multi-million dollar NGO in United States.
The USG let them immigrate. US of A State Department works overtime printing VISAs to enable it, Egyptian Coptic Christian gets you a pass at the State Department. Now we have Nakoula’s relatives in Egypt calling the Embassy to discuss their persecution status. This is not a Dream Act, it is a fantasy!
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/14/us-usa-clinton-film-idUSBRE88D...
"The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and message," Clinton said at the start of talks with senior Moroccan officials in Washington.
.
"To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose: to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage."
Ms. Clinton you ever heard of Robert Mapplethorpe and the National Endowment for Arts? http://www.publiceye.org/theocrat/Mapplethorpe_Chrono.html Movie Makers and Artists have been using edgy subjects to push progressive agendas for years, you should know that because you have enabled championing the cause. The National Endowment for Art has been giving money to Artists degrading religion and dogma for their cause for years and the protest gives great attention to the Artist’s agenda. It is not good behavior, but you and your party supported it and fund it. Don’t wish for it because one day you might not like the message.
http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/248915-...
“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Gov. Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt.
Mr. President, good to see that you took some time out of your busy schedule. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/world/middleeast/egypt-hearing-from-ob... On Wednesday, Mr. Obama, who is campaigning, called staff members at the White House from Air Force One to arrange a telephone call to Mr. Morsi, a senior administration official said. The president was not happy; Egypt, unlike Libya, is crucial to American security interests, given its peace treaty with Israel. At 11 p.m., from his hotel suite in Stapleton, Colo., Mr. Obama got on the phone with Mr. Morsi, who began by offering condolences on the American deaths in Libya.
You know, if this wasn’t so tragic, we could sell tickets and get some of our wasted tax money back.
BTW…..
http://washingtonexaminer.com/hillary-clinton-how-could-this-happen-in-a...
Hillary Clinton: How could this happen in a country we helped liberate?
She took the words right out of George W. Bush’s mouth just about the time the sectarian violence took off in Iraq.
Past does repeat itself and these people did in four years that Bush did in eight. Do you want more?
OK….
Qualitative Easing: FOREVER.
How about that Chicago teacher’s strike, you get less than 1% on your savings at the bank and US rate of inflation is way down. These educators are bitching about a 3% pay increase and they cannot be fired per their Union contract. How many Americans do not have jobs?
In this administration's army
In this administration's army if you do not do your job in Afghanistan, you get fired then promoted.
In Hilliary's State Department if you do not secure your command, you become a hero.
Those are pretty good examples of getting awards for showing up. McChrystal's was a fine person and solder but getting promoted after being fired is someone talking out of both sides of their mouth at once. Stevens owned the responsibility of the safety of his people, he failed that mission.
BTW.
Good to see that in the US Navy, commanders that run their command into danger still lose their careers. At least that responsibility hasn't changed yet, pay for performance.
One part of America that we can still respect.
A Khartoum court has
A Khartoum court has sentenced two Egyptians to six months in prison for marketing a book that is deemed offensive to Aisha, one of Prophet Mohammed’s wives.
Abdel Fattah Abdel Raouf and Mahrous Mohammed Abdel Aziz were sentenced under article 125 of Sudan’s penal code-- they were guilty of bringing over the book entitled "Aisha, mother of believers, devoured her sons" from bookseller and publisher Madbouli in Egypt and selling it in Sudan.
The book contains blasphemous passages and particularly despicable offenses to the prophet and to the mother of believers, as Aisha is often called, Mardhi said at the time.
Madbouli had already received permission from the Sudanese censorship authoritie s to distribute the book, written by London-based Syrian writer Nabil Fayyad, before arriving in Khartoum for the festival.
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25212
"Aisha: Mother of Believers, Devoured her Children" by Nabil Fayyad. The film in question "Innocence of Muslims", produced and shot in CA took heavily from Nabil Fayyad's book which was a hit among Levantine Christians when it first came out. The book was outlawed immediately in Syria and Lebanon, and although a proud Syrian, Nabil had to escape to Europe.
Remember unlike other religions the Prophet Mohammed was well documented, had more than one biographies written about him, mainly by Syriac speaking Nestorian scribes whom the new Muslims employed. Nabil Fayyad's book (and "Innocence of Muslims") focuses on controversial aspects of Mohammed's life.
Other, more serious, Muslim watchers want textual criticism applied on the Qur'an. Academia won't do it for fear of murder, so it has to be aided by DoD, CIA and DoS, here's an interesting conversation about this subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJWg2DBwH6k
Let's face it, hopes of Democracy and change, were just that, there's a reason why an Iron fist is necessary in that region. This is ever Arab leader's dream:
http://i.imgur.com/FVAs8.jpg
RT @blakehounshell: A lot of
RT @blakehounshell: A lot of people don't seem to understand that host countries are responsible for external security at embassies.
RT - you don't seem to understand if the host country isn't capable, then DOS is responsible to emplacement US uniformed military troops FAST CO or request the assistance of the UN to provide that security.
The greatest mistake that is
The greatest mistake that is being made here is to believe a simple video or "a small group", by themselves alone, can cause anti-American uprisings in 30 different countries geographically separated by multiple time zones and thousands of miles.
If this administration believes its own bullshit, then the problem is evident.
Guys the spin ain’t spin’in. The administration's mouth pieces on the Sunday talks shows just made it worse.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/interviews/2012/09/12-arab-world-obama...
There was obviously a lot of hope when he came in, huge expectations that Arabs and other Muslims had of him. The disappointment reflected in the poll is partly due to the fact that he didn’t live up to expectations. But it’s also because the expectations were exaggerated to begin with – and not just in the Arab world.
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