Powerful: F-15 pilot, fmr Ambassador, Brigadier General Jim Smith endorses @HillaryClinton today #nh
Found this tweet--a few days old worth posting.
http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/column-using-benghazi-incident-for-political-gain-is-shameful/article_11e73f1a-a453-5609-b3c2-318d9936029d.html
Harrell Kirstein
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Powerful: F-15 pilot, fmr Ambassador, Brigadier General Jim Smith endorses @HillaryClinton today #nhpolitics #fitn http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/column-using-benghazi-incident-for-political-gain-is-shameful/article_11e73f1a-a453-5609-b3c2-318d9936029d.html
Column: Using Benghazi incident for political gain is shameful
Posted: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 1:00 am
James B. Smith
The call came late at night. .............................
In the confusion of the moment, it was hard to determine just what was happening...............
I'll never forget the challenge of that day, as we tried our best to make the right decisions with limited information.................
And that's why it's so infuriating to watch congressional Republicans turn a true tragedy into a partisan political exercise designed to bring down our former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
It's a clear and transparent attempt to smear the former secretary of state, and it's shameful. Secretary Clinton was a decisive, intelligent leader who cared deeply about the diplomatic corps she led. In a dangerous and chaotic situation, she took the right steps -- and to say that she is somehow responsible for the deranged actions of anti-American fanatics is not only false, it is disgraceful.
Americans would be well served having Secretary Clinton's tenacity and judgement in the White House. At home and abroad, she has taken on tough fights and delivered.
When I took that post representing the United States in one of the most turbulent regions in the world, I knew the danger it could entail. We all did. Every member of our nation's diplomatic corps, from junior officers to ambassadors, accepts that we may be targeted precisely because of what we represent: American ideals of free speech, democracy, and equality. And each and every one of us decides that representing the United States abroad -- strengthening peaceful ties, safeguarding national security, opening economic doors, and spreading American ideals throughout the world -- is far important than the threat to our personal safety. But we do not go about this blindly. Those of us in leadership positions take seriously our responsibility to protect the lives of embassy employees and Americans in our country of responsibility. That is the first responsibility of every American ambassador serving overseas.
The four Americans who died in Benghazi that day made the same choice: to put their country ahead of themselves. Pundits and politicians who don't understand that are not only exploiting the sacrifice of those courageous individuals, they're insulting the service of the thousands of Americans around the globe who are working every day to make America safer, more prosperous, and more respected in the world.
They should be ashamed.
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