US Ambassador Chris Stevens
John Christopher Stevens was a legendary revolutionary hero
to the Libyan people before most Americans ever heard his name.
Stevens, whose death at the hands of Islamic terrorist is
now a political football in Washington, was not your typical diplomat who ran
things from behind a desk, but was known to mingle among the people and meet
informally with tribal elders, earning their respect by not only speaking their
language and eating their food, but delivering on the promises he made.
Relatively unknown and unheralded when alive, Stevens served
in the Peace Corps teaching English in Morocco where he learned Arabic and
acquired a taste for the local cuisine, then joined the State Department, doing
embassy duty in a number of Arab countries until Gadhafi renounced terrorism
and renewed relations, when he served as an assistant to the US Ambassador in
Tripoli.
Stevens was aware of the efforts to repatriate the remains
of Richard Somers and the Intrepid crew because he was included in the early
correspondence between those seeking repatriation and the embassy. While
Stevens was in Tripoli the State
Department sought the restoration of Old
Protestant Cemetery ,
where the Intrepid graves are located, and nominated the cemetery as a World
Heritage site.
Shortly after the revolution began, Stevens was sent to Benghazi
to make contact with the rebels and determine their motives and intentions.
Arriving in the hold of a cargo ship, he met with the rebels and determined
they were mainly freedom fighters, though there were some extremists who sought
to impose an Islamic state. While a minority, the Islamists were the best fighters
and were part of the deal.
Reversing a long standing policy of support of foreign dictators
who backed US interests, Stevens recommended the United
States support the rebels America ’s
decision to intervene militarily and attack Gadhafi’s forces just as they bore
down on Benghazi .
As a student of history Stevens certainly saw the parallels between
his situation and that of William Eaton, the American counsel to Egypt
in 1805 who helped capture the eastern port city of Derna
and led a rag tag army of rebels fighting to topple a tyrant in Tripoli. While
Eaton’s promise was co-opted by the diplomatic moves of government, Stevens saw
it through, and finish the historic march to liberate Tripoli .
The revolution was difficult, but creating a new government
and an open society is harder, and as a reward for his revolutionary success,
Stevens was named US Ambassador to Libya .
On Memorial Day 2012 Stevens led a delegation of embassy personnel to pay their
respects at the graves of the Intrepid sailors at Old
Protestant Cemetery .
While not familiar to most Americans, the Libyans knew him as a hero much like
French General Lafayette was an American revolutionary war hero.
As ambassador Stevens went out among the people, met and
dined with them, and got to know them personally. On September 11, 2012 Stevens was in Benghazi
to visit his former guide who had opened a school. He visited the school and
made arrangements to meet a Boston
medical doctor, Dr. Thomas Burke, who was in Benghazi
to establish an emergency medical service that could have possibly saved
Steven’s life that night if it was operating.
A Libyan who sent a recent photo of Old
Protestant Cemetery ,
included the sentiment, “I would like to give you my belated condolences on the
loss of Ambassador Chris J. Stevens. He was a much liked and respected by
most Libyans. What happened to him in Benghazi
was tragic and shameful. 40,000 people marched in Benghazi
against his killers a week after his death. He will be missed.”
While the politicians in Washington play the blame game over
the circumstances of Stevens’ death, Americans can do something in his memory
by supporting the things Stevens was working on when he was killed - the
education of Libyans, especially women, and helping to establish such basic
social services as emergency medical assistance.
Towards that end, Chris Stevens’ sister and Dr. Burke have
set up a foundation that needs support - the J. Christopher Stevens Fund to
promote intercultural understanding between Americans and the people of the Middle
East , especially educational programs, student exchanges,
libraries and the Peace Corps. [ http;//rememberingchrisstevens.com. -
]
And you can also help convince the American government and US
military that the same radical extremists who killed Stevens are also grave robbers
who are now the most dangerous threat to the remains of the American sailors at
Old Protestant
Cemetery , remains that should be
repatriated home before they are desecrated.