The Foreign Service Journal, October 2013

18 OCTOBER 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Don’t get me wrong: Just as was the case when I was posted to El Salvador, Serbia and Iraq, I was always pragmatic about the risks I was taking and asking others to take. And while I never had the privilege of meeting Ambassador Chris Stevens, what I know of his career convinces me he took a simi- lar approach. There is no doubt in my mind that when Amb. Stevens was killed last September, he was doing what he loved to do—and thought the mission was worth the risks to himself and his staff. Yet as I write this, another partisan committee is holding hearings to find evidence of willful negligence and a political cover-up. While I can’t say for sure, I very much doubt a persuasive case will ever be made for any of those charges. Did Amb. Stevens make fatal mistakes in Benghazi? Undoubtedly. If he hadn’t died at the scene, he might well have been censured for poor judgment that cost lives. (Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were criticized for that in the classified portion of the Accountability Review Board report.) Should former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton be censured for reportedly pressuring Amb. Stevens to estab- lish a permanent presence in Benghazi, despite deteriorating If he were still with us, Chris Stevens would be making the case that diplomats must go to dangerous posts—and, once there, cannot lock themselves inside bunkers. Route Irish, “the most dangerous road in the world,” according to the author, as seen from the passenger’s seat. Baghdad, 2004.