Chris Stevens shouldn't have gone to Benghazi

Editor,

I know that four Americans, each brave and patriotic to a fault, are dead and their deaths could and should have been avoided; however, the blame for their deaths rests not with the president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, or CIA, but with Ambassador Chris Stevens himself.

I realize blaming Ambassador Stevens is not the politically correct thing to do. Neither the politicians on the left nor the right want to place blame on such a heroic and noble figure. But the fact remains that his decision to go to Benghazi was made in the face of overwhelming evidence that it was a tinder box fraught with terror groups just waiting to go on the attack, and the riots in Egypt and Tripoli provided the spark and cover they needed.

There had been numerous CIA documented acts of terrorists both and around Benghazi and Tripoli, an over abundance of warnings and alerts of possible violence to Americans and its diplomatic compounds. These warnings were strong, especially in Benghazi.

In light of all this overwhelming evidence of danger, the question must be asked, why did Ambassador Stevens risk his life and the lives of three other Americans by going to Benghazi without the military force necessary to deal with the known threat. The threat Ambassador Stevens knew was real and deadly. So why did he go to Benghazi?

Ambassador Stevens was a diplomatic "cowboy" who had been spared during the Libyan civil war when he was the American diplomatic representative to the Libyan rebels in Benghazi. Being in that war zone for months and coming out unhurt only embolden Ambassador Stevens who viewed himself to be bullet-proof. Having been to the Benghazi war zone numerous times before without incident, "John Wayne" Stevens carelessly made the fatal decision to test fate a final time, not only for himself but sadly for three other brave Americans.

Had Ambassador Stevens simply waited until adequate military force/protection was provided before making this otherwise routine visit, we would never had to learn how to pronounce Benghazi and four brave Americans would still be alive. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."