(CNN) -- The brutal murders of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three American diplomatic staffers in Benghazi underscore the profound fragility of U.S. relations in the region. It is hard to recall a time when crises such as this and in the Middle East afflicted so many American interests simultaneously, nor one in which U.S. policies were so deeply at risk. The tragic events in eastern Libya themselves represent the culmination of events that began and unfolded well outside the mainstream of Libyan life or the U.S. relationship with that country. An obscure filmmaker in Los Angeles produced a slapdash video that was seized upon by an extremist group of Americans who have in the past distinguished themselves for the toxic cocktail of hate and stupidity that drives their actions.
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David Rothkopf: The murders at U.S. Embassy in Libya show fragility of U.S.-Mideast relations
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He says events show Arab Spring is unresolved and is vulnerable to small groups
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Rothkopf: Crisis comes as Israeli-U.S. tensions, Syria and Iran problems rise
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Rothkopf: Ambassador Chris Stevens and colleagues quietly tried to improve the world
@placeholder sources told CNN on Wednesday that the Benghazi attack was planned in advance, and the attackers used the film protest outside the consulate as a diversion.