By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2012 – The attack
in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans should “shock
the conscience of people of all faiths around the world,” Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton said here today.
U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher
Stevens and Sean Smith, a Foreign Service information officer and Air Force
veteran, were killed in the attack. The State Department is withholding the
identities of the other Americans, pending next-of-kin notification.
“All over the world every day, America’s
diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our
country and our values because they believe that the United States must be a
force for peace and progress in the world,” Clinton said. “Alongside our men and
women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous
nation.”
Stevens risked his life to stop former
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and then gave his life trying to help in
building a better Libya, Clinton said.
“The world needs more Chris Stevenses,”
she added.
Although this happened in a country the
United States helped to liberate and in a city it helped to save from
destruction, Clinton said Americans must remain “clear-eyed, even in our
grief.”
“This was an attack by a small and
savage group, not the people or government of Libya,” she added. Libyans stood
and fought to protect Americans during the attack, and Libyans carried Stevens’
body to the hospital, Clinton noted.
The United States will not waver in its
mission in Libya, the secretary pledged.
“The mission that drew Chris and Sean
and their colleagues to Libya is both noble and necessary,” she said. “A free
and stable Libya is still in America’s interest and security, and we will not
turn our back on that.”
Clinton said the United States is
working closely with Libyan authorities to bring those responsible for the
attacks to justice.
“Some have sought to justify this
vicious behavior, along with the protests that took place at our embassy in
Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the
Internet,” Clinton said, referring to a video that is purported to blaspheme
Islam.
“Let me be clear, there is no
justification for this,” she said. “Violence like this is no way to honor
religion or faith. And as long as there are those who would take innocent life
in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.”
Clinton noted that the attack took place
as Americans observed the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United
States.
“It's an anniversary that means a great
deal to all Americans,” she said. “Every year on that day, we are reminded that
our work is not yet finished -- that the job of putting an end to violent
extremism and building a safe and stable world continues.”
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