Protecting Our Diplomats

Okay.  This is serious.  People are dead.  Patriots all.  Doing their jobs for all of us in a far away land.  We've all seen and heard the stories.  But if you've been living on Mars, on Sep 11 (yep) a bunch of terrorists attacked our consulate in Benghazi, Libya and killed Ambassador Stevens and three others.  The big controversy was how it was characterized by our government.  At first they said it was a mob reaction to a disgusting video that insulted Islam.  But of course we now know that's BS.  It was, plain and simple, a coordinated, deadly terrorist attack.  And unfortunately for the folks in charge, they probably knew it was BS.  But they had to spin.  Or felt they had to spin.  Is it just me or does that seem to be the modus operandi of these guys?  It all seems to be spin...

Now the blame game starts.  Congressional hearings.  Denials from State and the White House.  He said, she said, they said...  Let the politicians battle it out.  It will be in the news cycle for a few weeks and someone, maybe everyone, will proclaim outrage and the need to fix it.  But will they?

Here's the point.  For centuries countries have created a diplomatic climate so that in even the worst of times dialog can continue, insight can be gained even when the bombs are falling, and civilized people can have a glimmer of hope that through dialog we can solve problems.  The diplomatic corps does the nation's business abroad in sometimes very trying conditions.  I'm a military guy who is most familiar with the use of the military as the extension of politics by other means.  But I've known and talked to enough State Dept folks and studied enough history and politics to know the diplomatic instrument is vital.  And if we don't protect those folks as they do the nation's bidding, that is shameful.  I know, I know, it's supposed to be the responsibility of the host country to provide security.  But come on.  If the reports are to be believed, we had security experts on the ground requesting support and it was denied by the bureaucrats in at State.  That, my friends, is shameful.  And if you think this is an isolated incident, then take a little trip to some of the garden spots around the world where America isn't held in the highest esteem.  Combine that with a hostile or fractured government, and you have a recipe for disaster.  It could happen again...

And BTW, i've not seen the video but here's just a little reminder...we live in a free society.  I spent 25 years in the service of our country to protect that freedom.  The video is probably gross.  But in a similar vein the same could probably be said for the hit Broadway play, "The Book of Mormon".  We can revile the product, but not the right to produce it.