Letter from a Reader

Why was Ambassador Stevens killed in Libya?

Having spent 17 years overseas as a field officer with a U.S. government agency and being very familiar with typical security procedures for U.S. Ambassadors and high-level diplomatic staff, I genuinely believe that Ambassador Stevens was purposely betrayed and sacrificed.

I read approximately 10 different news reports, both foreign and domestic, and none of them explained why the Ambassador was in Benghazi (as the Embassy is in Tripoli) nor how he came to be separated from his security detail.  Was he instructed from Washington to go to Benghazi?

You need to understand that your typical U.S. Ambassador normally has the sort of security which an old Roman proconsul would have enjoyed.  In my view this could not have happened unless the Ambassador had been betrayed - I searched the news stories to see if this Ambassador had a habit of ditching or trying to ditch his security team (some do that).  I didn't find any mention of this, nor could I imagine a diplomat with Stevens' experience doing such a thing... especially in a county that has gone through what Libya recently went through.

Were I the State Department Director of Security I would have some very serious questions regarding this, particularly since the Department of Security "war games" and trains their security personnel precisely for situations such as Libya.

Something stinks in Denmark, as the saying goes.