Benghazi falls on Clinton’s shoulders

Steven Saterlie, Las Vegas

Saturday, June 1, 2013 | 2 a.m.

In his letter to the editor, “Lack of security was House’s call,” Richard Mundy says that Benghazi was the Republicans’ fault because they cut the security budget. Others have stated what Hillary Clinton said, “What difference does it make?” Let me address both issues.

America has 1,200 Marines assigned to security detachments in more than 130 countries. These Marines are deployed based on requests by the State Department. In spite of Ambassador Chris Stevens’ requests to increase security in Libya, the State Department eliminated the Marine detachment in Libya, reduced security and hired locals of dubious loyalty. Yet Paris and London embassies, some of the safest in the world, continue to have Marine detachments for security. Clinton could have allocated Marines to the ambassador in Libya but chose instead to remove them.

As to why it matters: Besides still not getting a clear answer to what happened, four Americans, including our ambassador, were killed and we don’t want that to happen again. Also important is the perception that the world and terrorists now have. Right or wrong, that perception is that if terrorists attack our embassies or consulates, America will do nothing to rescue our personnel during the attack, nor will we track down the terrorists and bring them to justice.