[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Danzig

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a..._smirked_.html

The story has just begun. We don’t yet know its contours—whether it will unfold as a one-shot tragedy or as the opening salvo of a monumental crisis. But less than a full day after the violent assault on the U.S. embassy in Egypt and the killing of our ambassador and three of his staff in Libya, a few lessons can be noted.

First, diplomacy still matters, perhaps above all else. Hillary Clinton reported this morning, in her most eloquent news conference as secretary of state, that Libyan citizens and security forces had tried to fight off the small mob of militants who set fire to the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and that, afterward, they’d sheltered many survivors and carried the ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, to a nearby hospital. They did this, in good part, because they knew Stevens. A year ago, as the U.S. emissary, he had helped the rebels—who now form Libya’s fledgling democratic government—in their fight to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi. Ever since, he’d been greeted as a friend in his travels around the country.

Similarly, Clinton said, Egyptian security forces helped American guards stave off those who stormed the U.S. embassy in Cairo before much damage was done. Though she didn’t mention it, the new president, Mohamed Morsi, must know that his country’s fortunes, and thus his own political prospects, depend on foreign aid and investment. A few days earlier, Morsi had met with American businessmen and tried to assure them that the climate for investment was sound. Nobody will believe this message if he can’t guarantee the security of foreign embassies on Egyptian soil—or prosecute those who violate their sovereign status.

I dont think I believe a word Hillary said.

There are pictures of Stevens being dragged on the ground.