Chris Stevens - Freedom Fighter (1960-2012) Rest In Peace

Amidst the stench now coming from the US Right, it is important not to forget that this world still has heroes. Chris Stevens, the US Ambassador to Libya, was one of those heroes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/12/chris-stevens-diplomat-profile

The words of Pericles ring true:

For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart.

Chris Stevens. Rest In Peace.

 

What did he do that was so heroic-apart from his job?

 

Precisely. I can think of far more people deserving of retrospective salutations than this guy, as sad as his death was.

 

I've come to expect these hysterical emotional outpourings every time an American dies. They're all heroes-especially if they're killed while wearing a uniform, apparently. Nevertheless I sympathise with his family.

 

he held the ladder as the AQ rebels pulled down Gaddaffi flag and erected the AQ one on the roof of Benghazi courthouse then took them all to the cafe for shisha ahwa and basboosa

 

Yeah, I have to agree here. The 'stench coming from the right' is only surpassed by the coddling from the left that resulted in Mr. Stevens' murder.

May he rest in peace and his family eventually get over the fact we didn't have US Marines guarding his embassy like every other embassy in the world.

 

There is a subtext underpinning the aformentioned hysterical emotional outpouring of this particular poster, namely, that "heroic" representatives of the imperial overseer can never be considered as anything other than benevolant. The fact that a succession of heroic Libyan civilians who have been killed in places like Sirte as a direct result of NATO bombs is, of course, unmentionable.

 

Here's a far more detached and sober analysis from former UK ambassador, Craig Murray:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/09/libyan-blowback/

LIBYAN BLOWBACK

It is a terrible thing if any US diplomats have been killed in Libya, as now appears likely. My condolences to the families of all affected. They add to the thousands of deaths in Libya, and one can only hope that finally some of the proponents of “liberal intervention” will realise that bombing people into democracy is not a viable policy.

But part of the responsibility for these deaths lies with the US and Israeli far right activists who made a film insulting Islam, with precisely the intention of provoking a spiral of violence. There are many interest groups longing to promote a perpetual climate of war and fear; some of them, like these filmmakers, are easier to identify than others.

Be it attacks on US diplomats in Libya or drone strikes on villagers in Yemen, it is all part of the same hateful cycle of violence – from which fortunes have been made in the arms, mercenary and security industries, and which climate of hatred has given cover and unflinching western support for resource grabs by Israeli illegal settlers.

So many people have poisoned what should be a beautiful world. The deaths of US diplomats in Libya get noticed. The everyday deaths of so many others in this manufactured conflict do not.

 

What's the point of being a hero in a world more designed for oppression? Or, to borrow a line from The Dark Knight...

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

All the idealism in the world doesn't change the fact that most revolutions end in worse rulers than their predecessors. This is truer of the Islamic World than just about anywhere else.

 

Nonsense. The 'film' has been out for over 4 months now... it's just being used as an excuse for killing innocents.

 

But he didnt do anything heroic. What are you talking about?

 

Odd, considering that the right is condemning his death and killers while many on the left seem to think he probably got what he deserved.

 

No, not at all. Just not suprised by it. Anyone who knows what the "purpose of American power" is would expect these atrocities more often.

 

Rubbish...rubbish and rubbish.

No one is responsible for the actions of others. No one.

And saying the murders are bad BUT...., is patronising and stupid.

These were murderers and that is the end of the story.

 

While it is true that plenty of people profit from war and have vested interests in maintaining conflicts, ultimately, the blame for these attacks comes from the Muslims themselves.

If Americans attacked embassies of countries over criticism of Christianity on a regular basis, we'd rightfully be seen as lunatics and would probably be hard-pressed to find allies.

No rational people kill or commit violence over criticism of their religion.

The problem is that a lot of people in places like Libya aren't rational by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Odd, considering that the right is condemning his death and killers while many on the left seem to think he probably got what is to be expected.

 

Really? Who said that-apart from the voices in your head?

 

From Heroclitus's post previous to yours snakestretcher:
"He was the natural choice as the American liaison with the Libyan rebels once Washington made the decision to embrace the uprising last year having served in Tripoli in the Gaddafi years. Stevens arrived in the de facto rebel capital, Benghazi, in the midst of the uprising and made his way to a hotel where the leaders of the uprising were meeting a delegation of African peacemakers who were trying to press a ceasefire."

Was he an enabler for the "muslim" cutthroats? When you play with wild beasts, they sometimes turn on you.

 

Neither are the USers "rational by any stretch of the imagination" who routinely lend their resources and hands to torment, maim and kill for criticism of the religion of the USers.
Libya being a recent example: [video=youtube;jzMMfITKXhI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMMfITKXhI[/video]

 

From what I read about him, he was a good man and did his job well. Those who killed him were in no way representative of the Libyans who apparently held him in high regard.

 

Death is every soul's destiny.
None can escape the moment of our appointment with the Grim Reaper.

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

(Omar K. ))


,,,

 

Which Libyans held him in high regard? The ones who lost family and friends to US bombs and terrorists? The ones who lost their homes and livelyhoods to US bombs and terrorists?

Maybe you are talking about the dead. I'm sure they won't object to holding ambassadors of hypocrisy in high regard.

Maybe he was a good guy, and he was bumped off by using the terrorists to take the blame.

 

These Libyans: http://www.dispatch.com/content/sto.../Local-Libyans-mourn-death-of-ambassador.html

 

Thank you Ivan . Good post . I've never been a Gadafi fan, but m then all I've ever heard was what other's (his enemies ) said abt him.

Now , he's dead , the Libyans appear to be in a much worse state, and its future none too pomising .


...

 

Our part in Libya probably had to do with oil.

That's rational. Self-serving and somewhat reckless, but still rational.