Letters of the Day (Sept. 13): Diplomat's death

The death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, is a loss to the State Department and to his foreign-service colleagues. Stevens, like many other foreign-service officers, first became involved with the world through Peace Corps. He served in Morocco between 1983-85 as an English teacher. His Peace Corps service put him close to those he served, and this continued as a diplomat. May we all extend our condolences to his family and friends.

EDWARD P. ROWLEY, ROCHESTER

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Mitt Romney's reaction to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo calls into question his qualifications for the presidency. After action taken by some people against the embassy because of an anti-Islam video produced by an American citizen, the embassy criticized "the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

That was a worthy but unsuccessful attempt to defuse the anger of Muslims, and we are certainly saddened by the subsequent death of the U.S. ambassador in Libya. Afterwards, Romney said, "It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks."

Either he doesn't understand basic diplomacy, in this case the effort to reduce further harm, or he's just pandering to certain voters. In any case, he once again has demonstrated a lack of ability to conduct the crucial function of foreign relations.

JIM BARTOS, BROOKLYN PARK

The hasty statement by Romney on the latest diplomatic crisis reveals once again how eager he is to be president and ill-suited he is to be commander in chief.
JOYCE GROSS, SAVAGE

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Just last week, the United States promised the Egyptian government, under a radical Muslim Brotherhood leader, $1.5 billion in aid. The U.S. has been giving billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars to radical Islamic governments all over the world, from Pakistan to Egypt to Libya. And what do we get in return?

An attack on the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and the U.S. Consulate in Libya, killing at least four Americans in the process. This president (Obama) has tried to be cozy with radical Muslims ever since he took office.

His secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, both backed him in support for radical Muslims in Egypt and Libya during that stupid "Arab Spring." So I hold Obama responsible for these attacks. In my opinion, both Clinton and Panetta should be fired, and Congress should bring impeachment proceedings against the president. He is not fit to govern.