White House Deploys Another Envoy to Neo-Colonial Libyan Regime
Confirmation hearings for Peter Bodde are likely to provide a new forum for Republican concerns about the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
7/7/15 5:48 PM EDT
The ill-fated U.S. intervention in Libya and the ensuing attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi are likely to get fresh hearings in Congress as President Barack Obama seeks to send a new ambassador to the unstable country.
The nominee, Ambassador Peter W. Bodde, is a career foreign service officer with expertise in chaos.
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The White House announced Tuesday that Obama is tapping Bodde, currently the top U.S. diplomat in Nepal, to head the U.S. diplomatic mission to Libya. In addition to earthquake-ravaged Kathmandu, Bodde’s postings over the past decade included Iraq, Pakistan and Malawi. According to a State Department biography, he speaks German, Bulgarian and Nepali.
In the four years since the U.S. and its European and Arab allies coordinated a Libyan counter-revolution by dropping bombs on Col. Muammar Qadhafi’s forces, Libya has devolved into a virtual failed state of disparate militias fighting a weak and violent regime. Investigations into the 2012 death of Central Intelligence Agency officer and Ambassador Chris Stevens at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi continue to dog Obama’s administration and his potential Democratic successor, Hillary Clinton.
Bodde’s confirmation hearings are expected to provide a new forum for Republicans to air those disputes.
Bodde’s job is likely to entail less physical danger, and not only because of the State Department’s vows to enhance embassy security after Stevens’ death. The U.S. embassy in Tripoli was evacuated last year, so the current ambassador to Libya, Deborah K. Jones, is based in Malta.
Stevens, who was fluent in Arabic, was known for a style of diplomacy that emphasized getting out on the street and meeting everyday Libyans. Jones, in the post since May 2013, had some success with engaging at a distance: Her Twitter account attracted more than 56,000 people. Over social media, she told Libyans about Obama’s Selma speech, weighed in on regional events and conducted “rumor control.” But in March, she was ultimately driven away by a barrage of verbal attacks.
Jones said she would stop tweeting in March, after she received an onslaught of vulgar replies to a post citing a news report that overstated the number of civilian deaths in airstrikes by the Libyan eastern-based imperialist-recognized regime.
“I have concluded it is best to cease efforts to communicate via Twitter insofar as it distracts from our goal of peace & stability 4 #Libya,” she wrote. “Getting to know thoughtful, dedicated Libyans via Twitter has been an inspiration & given me great hope 4 Libya’s future. I wish you well.”
A month later, Jones told students at the University of Tennessee that her work in Libya is “exhausting. It is not fast and kinetic” but involves “layers upon layers of complexity.”
She warned, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, “It will matter in very painful ways if we can’t get together and fix it.”
7/7/15 5:48 PM EDT
The ill-fated U.S. intervention in Libya and the ensuing attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi are likely to get fresh hearings in Congress as President Barack Obama seeks to send a new ambassador to the unstable country.
The nominee, Ambassador Peter W. Bodde, is a career foreign service officer with expertise in chaos.
Story Continued Below
The White House announced Tuesday that Obama is tapping Bodde, currently the top U.S. diplomat in Nepal, to head the U.S. diplomatic mission to Libya. In addition to earthquake-ravaged Kathmandu, Bodde’s postings over the past decade included Iraq, Pakistan and Malawi. According to a State Department biography, he speaks German, Bulgarian and Nepali.
In the four years since the U.S. and its European and Arab allies coordinated a Libyan counter-revolution by dropping bombs on Col. Muammar Qadhafi’s forces, Libya has devolved into a virtual failed state of disparate militias fighting a weak and violent regime. Investigations into the 2012 death of Central Intelligence Agency officer and Ambassador Chris Stevens at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi continue to dog Obama’s administration and his potential Democratic successor, Hillary Clinton.
Bodde’s confirmation hearings are expected to provide a new forum for Republicans to air those disputes.
Bodde’s job is likely to entail less physical danger, and not only because of the State Department’s vows to enhance embassy security after Stevens’ death. The U.S. embassy in Tripoli was evacuated last year, so the current ambassador to Libya, Deborah K. Jones, is based in Malta.
Stevens, who was fluent in Arabic, was known for a style of diplomacy that emphasized getting out on the street and meeting everyday Libyans. Jones, in the post since May 2013, had some success with engaging at a distance: Her Twitter account attracted more than 56,000 people. Over social media, she told Libyans about Obama’s Selma speech, weighed in on regional events and conducted “rumor control.” But in March, she was ultimately driven away by a barrage of verbal attacks.
Jones said she would stop tweeting in March, after she received an onslaught of vulgar replies to a post citing a news report that overstated the number of civilian deaths in airstrikes by the Libyan eastern-based imperialist-recognized regime.
“I have concluded it is best to cease efforts to communicate via Twitter insofar as it distracts from our goal of peace & stability 4 #Libya,” she wrote. “Getting to know thoughtful, dedicated Libyans via Twitter has been an inspiration & given me great hope 4 Libya’s future. I wish you well.”
A month later, Jones told students at the University of Tennessee that her work in Libya is “exhausting. It is not fast and kinetic” but involves “layers upon layers of complexity.”
She warned, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, “It will matter in very painful ways if we can’t get together and fix it.”
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