Bernard-Henri LĂ©vy: Remembering Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens
The fanatics who assassinated America’s ambassador to Libya in Benghazi on Tuesday night are not only criminals—they are imbeciles.
A brilliant young diplomat as well as a courageous man of action, Christopher Stevens was one of Libya’s best friends and an important behind-the-scenes contributor to its liberation.
In the common struggle to free Libya, our paths crossed several times—in Paris, Benghazi, and finally Washington.
The first occasion was in Paris, on March 14, 2011. Embattled dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s forces were marching on Benghazi, tasked with spilling “rivers of blood.” France appeared alone in its support for the Libyan revolutionaries. All seemed lost at the moment when I asked Mahmoud Jibril, the emissary from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) who had negotiated France’s recognition of free Libya with Nicolas Sarkozy several days before, to return immediately to Paris to meet with Hillary Clinton, who was in Paris for a meeting of the G8. Christopher Stevens was at that meeting. Deeply moved, as he told me later, by Jibril’s plea for assistance, the diplomat was among those who urged Clinton to describe to President Obama the call for help that he had just heard. The rest is history.