Libya - the Aftermath

Our Ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was murdered by Salafists in Libya, at some point during what amounted to a full scale military style raid. Ambassador Stevens apparently had no U.S. security assigned to him personally, and he was visiting a consulate in Behngazi with either a minimal or no U.S. security detail. Obama and Clinton need to explain how this could be allowed to happen, in particular on 9-11, in an area without a functioning government and known to be infested with Salafists. This is inexcusable.

Actually, the Ambassador's murder appears even more mysterious as more facts are learned. Fox has a timeline of the Salafist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. It is not clear when or how the Ambassador was murdered, only that he was.

Libya has an interim government at the moment, and I don't even know if they have anything approaching a functioning military or security system. The Libyan interim government has issued statements of apology and sorrow over these events and seem to be cooperating with U.S. authorities. Apparently, they have already made four arrests of suspects involved in the attack. The Atlantic is carrying a photo essay of pro-American rallies in Libya.

There are some calls in Congress today to strip aid from Libya. Rep. Peter King pushed back against that suggestion, stating that "that the government is fragile there -- and still forming after the downfall of Qaddafi -- and that Libyan security personnel did try to protect Americans during the Benghazi attack Tuesday night." I agree with Rep. King on this one. The actions of the Libyan government stand in stark contrast to the acts of the Egyptian government as regards the 9-11 attack on our embassy in Cairo and the two should not be similarly punished.

Tweet