Below is a statement released by the State Department from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya.
Yesterday, our U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya was attacked. Heavily armed militants assaulted the compound and set fire to our buildings. American and Libyan security personnel battled the attackers together. Four Americans were killed. They included Sean Smith, a Foreign Service information management officer, and our Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. We are still making next of kin notifications for the other two individuals.
This is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. We condemn in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence, and we send our prayers to the families, friends, and colleagues of those we’ve lost.
All over the world, every day, America’s diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our country and our values, because they believe that the United States must be a force for peace and progress in the world, that these aspirations are worth striving and sacrificing for. Alongside our men and women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation.
In the lobby of this building, the State Department, the names of those who have fallen in the line of duty are inscribed in marble. Our hearts break over each one. And now, because of this tragedy, we have new heroes to honor and more friends to mourn.
Chris Stevens fell in love with the Middle East as a young Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Morocco. He joined the Foreign Service, learned languages, won friends for America in distant places, and made other people’s hopes his own.
In the early days of the Libyan revolution, I asked Chris to be our envoy to the rebel opposition. He arrived on a cargo ship in the port of Benghazi and began building our relationships with Libya’s revolutionaries. He risked his life to stop a tyrant, than gave his life trying to help build a better Libya. The world needs more Chris Stevenses. I spoke with his sister, Ann, this morning, and told her that he will be remembered as a hero by many nations.
Sean Smith was an Air Force veteran. He spent 10 years as an information management officer in the State Department, he was posted at The Hague, and was in Libya on a brief temporary assignment. He was a husband to his wife Heather, with whom I spoke this morning. He was a father to two young children, Samantha and Nathan. They will grow up being proud of the service their father gave to our country, service that took him from Pretoria to Baghdad, and finally to Benghazi.
The mission that drew Chris and Sean and their colleagues to Libya is both noble and necessary, and we and the people of Libya honor their memory by carrying it forward. This is not easy. Today, many Americans are asking – indeed, I asked myself – how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be.
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. Everywhere Chris and his team went in Libya, in a country scarred by war and tyranny, they were hailed as friends and partners. And when the attack came yesterday, Libyans stood and fought to defend our post. Some were wounded. Libyans carried Chris’ body to the hospital, and they helped rescue and lead other Americans to safety. And last night, when I spoke with the President of Libya, he strongly condemned the violence and pledged every effort to protect our people and pursue those responsible.
The friendship between our countries, borne out of shared struggle, will not be another casualty of this attack. A free and stable Libya is still in America’s interest and security, and we will not turn our back on that, nor will we rest until those responsible for these attacks are found and brought to justice. We are working closely with the Libyan authorities to move swiftly and surely. We are also working with partners around the world to safeguard other American embassies, consulates, and citizens.
There will be more time later to reflect, but today, we have work to do. There is no higher priority than protecting our men and women wherever they serve. We are working to determine the precise motivations and methods of those who carried out this assault. Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. America’s commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear – there is no justification for this, none. Violence like this is no way to honor religion or faith. And as long as there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.
It is especially difficult that this happened on September 11th. It’s an anniversary that means a great deal to all Americans. Every year on that day, we are reminded that our work is not yet finished, that the job of putting an end to violent extremism and building a safe and stable world continues. But September 11th means even more than that. It is a day on which we remember thousands of American heroes, the bonds that connect all Americans, wherever we are on this Earth, and the values that see us through every storm. And now it is a day on which we will remember Sean, Chris, and their colleagues.
May God bless them, and may God bless the thousands of Americans working in every corner of the world who make this country the greatest force for peace, prosperity, and progress, and a force that has always stood for human dignity – the greatest force the world has ever known. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Thank you.
Libyans carried Chris’ body to the hospital,
She was misinformed. His body was abused.
Other than that…good speech. Almost…. presidential.
Maybe she needed to think that. Everyone was at the mercy of being told the right information. Elena is permanently scarred from watching that abuse.
She forgot to mention how she landed in Benghazi during the firefight.
Cargo,
Wow, who would have known, sitting in your living room, you had access to classified details. Do tell,inquiring minds want to know, how you know more than the our Secretary of State?
“According to Mr. Ben Saud, the landowner, Libyan security guards jumped into the compound and pulled Mr. Stevens from the burning and smoke-filled building at around 1 a.m. local time. Libyans then drove him to Benghazi Central Hospital, where the staff tried unsuccessfully to revive him.
At about 2:30 a.m. local time, Libyan security forces regained control of the situation, according to the preliminary U.S. account. “
@Elena
Its not classified. There are freaking pictures of his body being abused and dragged through the streets. She apparently did not see them and someone probably told her about his body being brought somewhere.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/09/islamists-drag-dead-body-of-us-ambassador-in-the-streets/ WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES
Those pictures contradict gov’t reports that he was taken to a hospital. They reported that they actually didn’t know what had happened to him for 12 hours.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:L4YJZl2uwZgJ:www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/12/gunfire-then-missing-ambassador-officials-describe-chaotic-scene-at-benghazi/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
This is what I was talking about. Why so snarky? It wasn’t insulting or even in opposition…just that there was other information out there.
Elena was being sarcastic. She does not think this information was classified.
Now….chronology doesnt seem to be your friend on this, Cargo. They couldnt find Stevens for 12 hours. When they found him, Libyan security forces tried to take him to the hospital.
I am snarky because you want to argue with everything I say. I feel like I am trapped in bizarro world continuing to explain when I stopped beating my wife. You seem to have some sort of drive to make Obama and his folks out to be the bad guys. Then you deny you dislike him.
It was easier for me to just watch a movie.
I think actually the blog is in some sort of shock because I am so outraged over what Candidate Romney did. I think his behavior is simply inexcusable and his bunbling of foreign policy makes him unfit for the presidency.
This attack seems to be an organized revenge attack by Ghaddaffi loyalists, in my opinion.
It is all over the region. Who knows. It obviously is organized. I expect thepowers that be had this in mind for 9/11 and they used that dumbo film to bring in the masses to do the dirty work. The masses appear to be well trained from what Elena and I have read.
@Moon-howler
I stated that they could not find Stevens for 12 hours.
The pictures show what they show….He appears to be dead.
I’m NOT arguing with you just to argue. You made some statements that I disagreed with. In this case all I pointed out was that the pictures online disagreed with the official statements and left it at that.
I SAID that I don’t HATE Obama. I do dislike his policies and his dishonesty. BIG difference. I want him gone because I think that he is dangerous for this country.
I think that you are overreacting to Romney’s words. He did not say anything different than what a whole lot of other people have said.
Your statement of ” his bungling of foreign policy makes him unfit for the presidency.” He based upon his criticism of Obama vs Obama’s ….. results, shall we say…. show that your concern about him seems to be over the top and partisan. HE CAN’T bungle foreign policy yet. As you said, HE is not in charge. You weren’t going to vote for him anyway. You are a one issue voter like many people and Romney is too pro-life for you.
Over th etop? Partisan? Who gets to decide that? If you recall, I am the one who supported him much of the past year. Was I partisan then also?
Remember the Dixie Chicks and how bizarro nutso many people went over their criticism of George Bush when they were overseas? We were at war and they dared to say say they were ashamed of being Texan?
“we don’t want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States [George W. Bush] is from Texas”.
Well, we are still at war and we were in the middle of a volatile crisis with 2 embassies being overrun. We are still in crisis. There are embassy attacks all over the middle East and Africa.
Candidate Romney referred to President Obama as “disgraceful.” Where is the outrage?
As for bungling foreign policy–London, Poland, Israel…that dude was a one man wrecking crew. He was an emmissary, regardless of the fact he wasn’t an elected official.
I now think Romney is dangerous for the country. I have drawn my line in the sand. I think his behavior since 9-11 was a deal breaker. If getting rid of this clown makes me partisan, bring it on.
The Dixie Chicks had every right to say what they did. I support that right. I don’t have to like what they said.
You keep talking about Romney and “disgraceful.” How about all the other people who say the same thing…some in Obama’s party?
As for supporting Romney…so you supported him in the primaries…I seem to remember a lot of support for Huntsman, even more so. Who else would you support? Romney’s the most moderate of the bunch that ran. And you said that you were still voting for Obama. You like the soft mouthed type of President. I like one that takes a stand on principle.
I don’t care a rat’s rear end WHY anyone protests. Once they attack an American, their legitimacy is gone. Period. If they come over the wall, shoot them, if we have no other “less lethal” means to deter them. No more. Embassies are sovereign territories. Protestors SHOULD expect deadly force to be used if an consulate or Embassy is attacked. That’s why we put Marines in place. ALL Embassies, not just Americans.
If I got 2000 of my closest friends and stormed the Egyptian Embassy in New York, they would use deadly force. And if we resisted, so would the NYPD.