Letter: Aware?

Russ Duggan, Naples


What do we know about Benghazi?

Mainly that a number of politicians would rather stage a Watergate-style inquiry on the subject than deal with thornier problems like financial cliffs.

Likewise we know that no bombing intervention was possible in Benghazi because of risk to those Americans and civilians still in the area; that no order was given to "stand down;" ground assistance was dispatched from 24 to 29 minutes after the alarm came in; that whether or not the incident began with a protest over an anti-Islamic video, it quickly escalated into a full-blown terrorist attack as was acknowledged by the president the next day.

That security budgets of the State Department and military are too limited to provide as much security as might be desirable for our embassies and consulates around the world; that large security presences are often offensive to host countries and impede the diplomatic work embassies/consulates are supposed to perform; that even maximum security cannot assure safety.

Remember the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Lebanon killing 63, including 17 Americans in 1983, on the Marine garrison in that country killing 241 American servicemen several months later, and on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing 223 including 12 Americans?

Our diplomats serve voluntarily and bravely under dangerous conditions, aware that no guarantee of safety can be provided. A political circus does disservice to those who have given their lives in the cause.