J. Christopher Stevens.
In our rush to discuss the political ramifications or the national security issues of the Benghazi attacks, it’s easy to forget the people on the ground. In particular the death in the line of duty by US civil servants. Ambassador Stevens was the first US Ambassador killed in the line of duty since Adoph Dubs died in Afghanistan in 1979 and the first death of serving ambassador since Arnold Raphel in 1988.
He was a career foreign service officer. He started in North Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco then became a State Department Near-East hand. He spoke Arabic and French, was deeply interested in the region he studied and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya for two years before being assigned as the special envoy to the NTC in 2011. He died serving his country doing something he believed in.
All of this, is essentially publicly available information. It’s also easy to overlook.
I never had the pleasure of knowing Ambassador Stevens, but his story is reminiscent of my many friends with careers in international affairs. Whether at the US State Department, the UN or their country’s foreign ministry, they serve in careers that are far too often overshadowed by the military and derided as weakness. They work in multi-varied environments often with volatile circumstances where they have less control than their parent institutions would like.
Let’s not forget that these individuals are often just as much in the line of fire, and are ultimately striving for the cause of peace. And may our debates move beyond the petty and work toward furthering Ambassador Stevens’ work in Libya.
Well said.
RIPReport
GJ, may he rest in peace.Report
Very nicely done.
One of the things that made me love Molly Ivins is that after Cheney shot that guy, and all he talk was about whose fault it was, and whether any investigation would be done, and what it said about the Bush administration, she wrote a column about the guy. His name was Harry Whittington. He’d done a lot of good things in his life, and he deserved to be known for that.Report
Also murdered in this tragic episode was Sean Smith, aka Vile Rat, a longtime player on Eve Online.
Alex Gianturco’s moving elegy over here.Report
Thank you for writing this. It’s sad that reminders of this kind are necessary, but it’s naive to pretend that they aren’t.
Alav ha-shalom.Report
A worthy post. Condolences to his family and the families of the other foreign service officers killed in the attack. Thanks for the reminder that in the midst of the politics and Big Issues, real people’s lives have been touched.Report
Well done. Your last paragraph is something far too few people realize.Report
Many are in the line of fire; he, as well as those who served and died are heros. Terrible that anyone would exploit their deaths for political gain, much less caste doubt upon such people’s honor who stand in such danger for all of us.Report
Thank you for this Mr. Akimoto. Because the rest of the League commentary on this event has been downright disgustingReport
Sadly agreeing. RIP JCS.Report
Oh? How so?Report
I’m sure my comments will come across as a bit heartless, so a caveat. It’s unfortunate that he got killed and I’m sorry his family bears the brunt of his death. I know what it’s like to lose a loved one. But..
He was a hero? Did he save anyone else from getting killed? Did he personally defend women and children from being slaughtered by the mob? Not seeing “heroism” in any of the reports I read. I don’t consider someone working in the Third world in an Embassy/Consulate doing their job as a “hero”.
“Let’s not forget that these individuals are often just as much in the line of fire, and are ultimately striving for the cause of peace. And may our debates move beyond the petty and work toward furthering Ambassador Stevens’ work in Libya.”
Yep, it was his job to be there, and “stuff” happens. It’s not like he was in Switzerland. This is a dangerous country, but them’s the breaks, and it’s a risk he knew about. I do take issue that he was working for the cause of peace. Really? I guess you could say that if you exclude all the “non-peace” actions the US and NATO took in overthrowing Kadaffi. So, yes, he was working for peace AFTER we destabilized the area and allowed fundamentalists to gain a greater foothold. I think that the term “blow back” is applicable here.Report
Everyone has his own definition of hero. In Greek, it just meant a prominent warrior. The ancient Greeks didn’t make heroes of the living, but of the dead. Warrior saints, if you will.
Back in the day, when I was training troops, I’d used to shout at these terrified kids “I don’t want any effing HEEEROES. Heroes are bad for business. They get people killed, usually themselves. Most medals for valour are awarded posthumously and most of the awards to the living are accompanied by a Purple Heart and a long hospitalisation. Your mission is to stay the hell alive and keep on pulling the trigger in the general direction of the enemy and obeying your orders. Get killed or wounded and it will take four men to haul your stupid ass out of that situation. You are not fighting for personal glory but for each other.”
Woody Allen once said eighty percent of success is just turning up. Let’s suppose Christopher Stevens wasn’t a hero, by your definition. That’s okay, I know he wasn’t, either. He just happened to turn up in the course of a long and honourable career as a diplomat. I don’t have the sitrep, neither do you, and I wouldn’t trust anything coming out of that situation presently because the Usual Suspects are going to make an Effing Hero out of this good man, just like the government always does, as they did with the Iwo Jima flag raisers and Audie Murphy and Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman.
The reality is enough for us to deem him worthy of all the honour we can give him. All my heroes are dead and none of them were demigods.Report
What the hell!? Not a hero? He went to a country to aid it out of devotion to the people here and being extremely knowledgably, knew full well that the Libya government had control issues in that region AND that a dangerous militia group was operating there. A group of terrorist armed to the teeth and one that posed a threat to our interest in that country. Also, he fully understood the importance of our maintaining a presence in that unstable region. He did a critical job there representing our interest AND did very dangerous job to aid the young, forming Libyan government – he was fully aware of the danger more so then many even in the State Department – but valued the ideas of democracy and our values above the risk to his life.
If that isn’t a hero, then few are.
He is a hero – only ignorance of the facts excuses anyone from acknowledging that.Report
No, he did the job for which he was paid for.
A hero is someone who goes above and beyond. Someone who saves the lives of innocents from death, who prevents the death of dozens by lying on a grenade, etc. Show me documented evidence that he did something like this…Report