Event at Benghazi was more detrimental to US standing than any Bush Department of State incident

There is NO bait and switch. The debate is as proposed that "Event at Benghazi was more detrimental to US standing than any Bush Department of State incident". As stated prior by PRO "In this debate I have attempted to quantify the term "more detrimental to US standing" by use of international diplomatic norms. " In international diplomatic norms, an embassy and associated missions are held in a special status. The grounds are considered to be "property" of the embassy's nation. Often these grounds are protected by host nationals who guard the host nation soil adjacent to the diplomatic property. Generally, the killing of a host national is considered a "local" issue to be handled by the host nation. ( An example here would be to look at the German embassy in Washington DC. This embassy may have American guards outside the embassy for enforcement of local laws. Should one of these Americans be killed, the case would fall to Washington police, not Germany. Additionally Germany's international standing would probably be unaffected). In 10 of the "13 Benghazis under Bush", the deaths were either ZERO, or were foreign nationals. The enforcement response in these cases was a matter for the host nation. US international standing was unaffected ( as per the German example above). Now to look at the remaining three cases. May 12, 2003 at Riyadh. Nine Americans were killed. This may appear worse than Benghazi except that the attack was not on a Department of State property. The Vinnell Corporation had set up a training program for Saudi military, and the attack was on the compound housing the trainers. None of the Americans was a DOS employee. Impact on US standing was minimal. Next is the March 2006 attack in Karachi. A US diplomat was killed, but not on Embassy soil. "On March 2, 2006, a suicide car bomb killed four people and injured thirty outside the Marriott Hotel in Karachi, which is about 20 yards from the consulate. Among the dead was David Foy, an American diplomat and three Pakistanis. " (1) Finally there is the September attack in Sana'a. The was no breach of the compound. One American guard was killed. "PRESS BRIEFING STATEMENT State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack September 17, 2008 This is a vicious attempt to try to breach the security of our Embassy in Sana"a. Fortunately, it did not succeed. The Embassy security upgrades that we have been putting in place over the past seven, eight years were, during this attack, effective in stopping the attack, along with the response of the Yemeni forces as well as the response of our American Embassy personnel. Sadly, there was a loss of life. There " at current count, there is one U.S. Embassy guard, a Foreign Service National, a Yemeni national, who was killed during the attack. Several Yemeni security forces " personnel were killed in the attack. " (2) and later "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman For Immediate Release September 17, 2008 Statement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Attack on Embassy Sana"a Fast action by Embassy security personnel and host nation Embassy forces, aided by the Embassy"s security systems and its emergency procedures, were vital in limiting the harm to Embassy employees and to the public who regularly visit the Embassy. This callous attack reminds us that American and locally-employed staff at our embassies serve the United States in many dangerous environments worldwide, often at great personal risk. We are proud of the work that they do. I extend my condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were tragically killed or injured in the attack. Their sacrifices reinforce our commitment to remain vigilant and ready to defeat the forces of global terrorism." (3) So "13 Benghazis under Bush " are now ZERO. (1) http://news.bbc.co.uk... (2) http://archives.uruguay.usembassy.gov... (3) http://archives.uruguay.usembassy.gov...