TomGrady

12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI: DAY 9 - 4 of 4 AMBASSADOR CHRIS STEVENS Chris Stevens knew Benghazi long before September 11, 2012. He wasn’t some ambassador who showed up with no understanding of Libya or the risks. Chris had spent more than two decades in the Foreign Service, much of it in the Middle East and North Africa. Before that, he had served in the Peace Corps in Morocco. He spoke Arabic and French and had served in places including Jerusalem, Damascus, Cairo, Riyadh and Tunis. When Libya’s revolution began in 2011, Chris was sent to Benghazi as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Libyan opposition. He arrived by boat in April while Qaddafi was still in power and the war was still going on. At that point, the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli had already suspended operations. His team initially operated out of the Tibesti Hotel. Then, on June 1, 2011, a car bomb exploded outside the hotel. Shortly afterward, another credible threat against the Special Envoy mission helped force the team to move. On June 21, Chris and his security detail relocated to what would later become the U.S. Special Mission compound in Benghazi. Think about that. More than a year before the September 11 attack, Chris Stevens had already been in Benghazi when a bomb exploded outside the place his American mission was operating from. He knew Benghazi could be dangerous. And he kept coming back. In 2012, Chris became the United States Ambassador to Libya, formally presenting his credentials on June 7. From everything written about him, Chris genuinely believed in what he was doing there. He believed in meeting Libyans, building relationships and helping Libya move forward after Qaddafi. That is important to remember. Because Benghazi has become so political that sometimes the actual people disappear from the story. Chris Stevens was more than “the Ambassador killed in Benghazi.” He was a Peace Corps volunteer. A career diplomat. A man who knew the region, spoke the language and had already put himself in harm’s way in Libya before he ever became Ambassador. And on September 9, 2012, he still had two days left. J. Christopher Stevens. United States Ambassador to Libya. Diplomat. Public servant. Son, Brother, Friend One of four Americans we lost in Benghazi. And a man who deserves to be remembered for more than the place where he died. #12DaysOfBenghazi #Benghazi #13Hours #ChrisStevens #NeverForget #HonorTheFallen