You are right, many more people will die in all sorts of religious/political configurations. This overall mess is neither the fault of Obama or McCain. I decided over 40 years ago that it was such a mess that it was not worth spending time or energy worrying about. Arabs killing Jews, Muslims killing Muslims, and autocratic Arab rulers using Palestinians to keep a continual proxy fight going with Israel, when they could have made major strides in resolving the problem. Frankly I doubt Mitt will be more successful, and may drag us into a much worse situation that my son may end up having to fight.
As for death tolls. It amazes me the fuss that is being made over 4 deaths, tragic though they are, when over 300 were kill at US facilities during Reagan’s administration and more hundreds killed at two US embassies in Africa, I forget which administration, and over 200 killed with the Lockerbie bombing which seems to be pretty clearly tied with Libya and Gaddifi.
So far as to why our Ambassador was in such a dangerous situation, I have a theory, one of several. He had already been on the ground before the fighting ended and was well liked/respected? by factions of the rebels. This is one reason why he was named Ambassador. Was he a covert CIA operative there during the rebellion?? The very fact that he was there indicates he was quite daring. My son is in Special Forces and I have met some of his buddies. There is a certain bravado in the face of danger they have. It would not surprise me if the Ambassador had it too. He undoubtedly knew about the troubles in Benghazi while he was 500 miles away in the Tripoli embassy. He may have felt he needed to go there, check up on the situation, debrief some of his contacts, make security decisions for the consulate, etc. So, my question is, how was that decision made? Was it his idea, was it suggested he go, was he ordered to go, etc? And he may have gone feeling that he was above the danger. We can’t ask him but we can find out more about his activities before he was named Ambassador.
On a separate but related topic. I have just finished reading about Sandy and looking at 150 photos. People don’t take danger serious enough even when warned. For days there were FReepers saying this was being hyped by the media. Politicians worry about making the right call. Too little and more people die. Too much and the next time people listen even less. [Think the poor seismologists in Italy who are sentenced to jail time for not yelling loud enough about earthquake potential.] Looking at the photos I saw one of water front Fells Point in Baltimore where the Mayor ordered cars removed from low lying areas. No dead cars. Then looked at downtown Hoboken, NJ, an entire fleet of Yellow Cabs drowned as well as many other cars there. Also many in NY, and all along the Jersey Shore and NY state shores. See the huge lines of people trying to gas up their cars. What, no planning?? I made sure my tank was full 4 days before the storm hit and that I was not parked under a tree or in a flood zone. Then there are the people short of food and water. What, no empty bottles to fill with water, or the bathtub? Buy some extra food several days before so you are not in the mad scramble the day before? I went to get a few minor things the day before (I had most of what I need already), and I have never seen my supermarket so crowded. I did loose some windows, but some things can’t be helped, oh, well.