The New York Times.
WASHINGTON — The violent deaths of four American diplomatic personnel in Libya
during a heavily armed and possibly planned assault on a flimsily
protected consulate facility on the Sept. 11 anniversary provoked an
uproar in Washington on Wednesday, presenting new challenges in the
volatile Middle East less than two months before the American
presidential election.
The killings of the four Americans on Tuesday, including the ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens,
also raised basic questions about security and intelligence in the
eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where the assault took place, as well
as other American diplomatic facilities elsewhere in the region, where
deep-seated anti-American sentiment remains a potent force despite
United States support for the Arab Spring uprisings that have transfixed
the region for nearly two years.
President Obama denounced the
attack, promised to avenge the killings and ordered tighter security at
all American diplomatic installations. The administration also
dispatched 50 Marines to Libya for greater diplomatic protection,
ordered all nonemergency personnel to leave Libya and warned Americans
not to travel there, suggesting further attacks were possible.
