Been Avoiding Benghazi

If the zombie apocalypse ever actually starts, I am pretty sure it will be about Benghazi.  Here me out: Can’t you imagine the hordes of undead, clustered, advancing while dragging a limp foot behind fiendishly demanding a brain.  Think about it!  Many of the people who have decried Benghazi as the worst tragedy since 9/11 couldn’t find Benghazi on a grade-school globe before this past year.  These witch hunt cries of a desperate people, demanding a domestic villain for an international crime can only be the first sign of the viral infections that will ultimately cause the zombie apocalypse.  Their brains, deprived too long of reason, will demand the consumption and assimilation of fresh brains which are actually capable of independent reasonable thought.  It’s not quite I Am Legend, but I think it’s close.

“What difference, at this point, does it make?”

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took on the Republican critics who have been demanding answers to their tough questions about culpability and the September attacks in Libya.  There were a total of 5 hours worth of testimony, but the one statement above seems to have gone the most viral.  And, to be fair, it should.  What are we hoping to accomplish by beating on the work of the Secretary of the State’s office, at this point?  What good can come of this?

For those still doggedly clinging to the idea that there are still no answers about Benghazi, let me help you out.  Here’s a transcript of what Secretary Clinton had to say.  For better or worse, the fighting, yelling matches, and sound bites have taken over the coverage of the proceedings.  It’s not fair; there are some really good bits in here that should have gotten more airtime.

Take this, and the emphasis is mine:

Any clear-eyed examination of this matter must begin with this sobering fact: Since 1988, there have been 19 accountability review boards investigating attacks on American diplomats and their facilities. Benghazi joins a long list of tragedies, for our department and for other agencies: hostages taken in Tehran in 1979, our embassy and Marine barracks bombed in Beirut in 1983, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, our embassies in East Africa in 1998, consulate staff murdered in Jeddah in 2004, the Khost attack in 2009, and too many others.  Of course, the list of attacks foiled, crises averted, and lives saved is even longer. We should never forget that our security professionals get it right 99 percent of the time, against difficult odds all over the world. That's why, like my predecessors, I trust them with my life.

Let me translate that one for you.  This stuff has the potential to happen all of the time.  We are a stranger in a strange land more often than not.  Our people see it coming, and we are able to stop bad things from happening.  But sometimes, bad stuff still happens.

Ms. Clinton goes on to say that she has started a review board, has implemented all of their suggestions, and have turned those suggestions into very specific action steps that are better than 85% complete.  They are also looking at big picture stuff about the strategic approach to diplomacy in places like North Africa.  She's done all of this already.  Since September.  This woman is more productive than any two people I know and she missed a month of work because of a blood clot.  In her brain.  

And there's this:

That's why Chris Stevens went to Benghazi in the first place. Nobody knew the dangers better than Chris, first during the revolution and then during the transition. A weak Libyan government, marauding militias, even terrorist groups... a bomb exploded in the parking lot of his hotel, but he didn't waver. Because he understood that it was critical for America to be represented in that pivotal place at that pivotal time. Our men and women who serve overseas understand that we accept a level of risk to protect this country we love. They represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation. And they cannot work in bunkers and do their jobs.

Again, I will translate.  This is the job.  It's always heartbreaking to face loss of this nature.  No one wants to say it, but the work diplomacy sometimes means dodging violence, too.  We expect our soldiers to place themselves in harm's way for the defense of country.  Our diplomats do the same thing.  Our military has suffered casualties (and how!) in recent years and now so too have our ambassadors.  It is heartbreaking, but no less so than the thousands of soldiers who have also lost their lives.

Ms. Clinton is right.  The only thing that matters at this point is how to avoid further loss of life.  We can, as the old Mother Jones quote goes "Pray for the dead, and fight like hell for the living."  And that is all we can do.  Of course, it won't be enough to stop the zombie hordes from descending; they are always looking for something to prattle on about.  But I will stay with Ms. Clinton on this one.  Until the first undead dude shows up at my doorstep.  And then, if I am to understand this process at all, I think it becomes every man or woman for themselves. I don't know for sure.  I don't watch those movies: they scare me worse than politics.