Frederic Wehrey
Frederic Wehrey is the author of The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya. From his interview with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly:
KELLY: The event of course that dominated front pages here in the U.S. about Libya was the death of Chris Stevens...--Marshal Zeringue
WEHREY: Absolutely.
KELLY: ...The U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in Benghazi in 2012. You knew Chris Stevens.
WEHREY: Briefly. Briefly. Not that well, but...
KELLY: Oh.
WEHREY: ...We crossed paths at the embassy.
KELLY: As you sifted through and tried to investigate those much-investigated events, what strikes you? What leapt out?
WEHREY: Well, the great tragedy of this was that Ambassador Stevens was so committed to outreach to the Libyan people and to a particular practice of diplomacy that really meant getting out on the street and meeting people from all walks of life. And the great tragedy of that attack was that it constrained that approach. It curtailed it. There was a tremendous retreat or retrenchment of America's diplomatic presence.
And part of that was understandable for the need to safeguard lives. But part of it, unfortunately, was the partisanship - that this became so politicized back in Washington, D.C., that it affected America's ability to engage on the ground in Libya. And that's what I really took away from talking to Libyans, who said, look; what happened to you after this attack? And this is a real tragedy 'cause Chris would've...[read on]
