As sad as I am about the loss of life in the consulate I can't believe the nonsense coming from Republicans about the administration response.
1. All US lives, diplomatic and military, are equal. Consider how many lives were lost in an Iraq war entered into and fought on false pretenses. Four casualties are just a drop in the river of national blood sadly squandered in that conflict and equaled and surpassed all too often in Afghanistan.
2. Republicans in their cost cutting zeal refused additional funding for diplomatic protection proving that ideologically-driven budget cuts have consequences.
3. No party or politician CAN or ever SHOULD say this will never happen again. It most certainly will. Intelligence cannot anticipate every eventuality, and groups intent on attacking us will find opportunities to surprise us.
4. Republicans have a fundamental misunderstanding of how diplomacy works. You cannot operate diplomatically in another sovereign country with a company of marines. American imperialism likes to think the rest of the world is just carpeting for us to walk over because we are always right. Ambassador Stevens understood the world far better than any of the armchair critics and chicken hawks.
5. I don't get where the political advantage is for the Republicans if this is proven to be a terrorist attack. There was evidence it was a terrorist attack and very different from the Egyptian protests within the first 24 hours. The administration could have pushed that explanation in those early days to further ridicule Romney's comments, and his assertion that apologist statements from the embassy in Cairo were to blame for the violence. They didn't do that for any number of reasons from conflicting information to covert payback; we don't know. The Republicans are simply trying to exploit the loss of 4 MORE lives in a volatile, dangerous world for shallow political gain.