“I had the honor to serve as the US envoy to the Libyan opposition during the revolution, was thrilled to watch the Libyan people demand their rights. Now I am excited to return to Libya to continue the great work we started.” – Christopher Stevens
WE RIGHTLY SALUTE and celebrate the gun-toting heroes across our armed forces. The characters in the movies who play cool spies, with dashing assignments. Today we salute Christopher Stevens, whom I would call a brother of James Bond. But he’s the one who lives an unglamorous life in the foreign service and changes the world in the shadows.
Christopher Stevens was a career diplomat fighting a different way to change the world in a job that seldom gets enough credit.
Today we say thank you.
If it weren’t for the foreign service officers who live in dangerous places in the world, the United States wouldn’t have the reach we do or the leverage we have, long before guns unload and bullets start flying, and sometimes it’s through work like what Stevens dedicated his life to that keeps the peace.
We’ve lost a patriot.
It is a sad day, a dedicated, patriotic American died doing his duty along with other Americans. Killed because of the actions of rightwing hate mongers deliberately setting out to foment trouble.
What a hero he was.