Ambassador’s Friends Say Death Is Tragic Loss For U.S. (WMUR-TV)

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[[{“type”:“media”,“view_mode”:“media_large”,“fid”:null,“attributes”:{“class”:“media-image alignright size-full wp-image-1614”,“typeof”:“foaf:Image”,“style”:“”,“width”:“100”,“height”:“100”,“title”:“”,“alt”:“WMUR”}}]]In an interview with WMUR-TV about U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens’ death in Libya, George Trumbull, an associate professor of history at Dartmouth, discusses the current political climate in the country.

“Libya is still trying to build basic institutions of democracy, and one of the challenges it faces is the sheer number of arms,” Trumbull said.

Trumbull said he believes Stevens’ death was the result of a coordinated attack, rather than spontaneous action, as some reports had initially indicated. He said the chaotic political landscape in Libya makes it difficult for the U.S. to retaliate.

“This is an extraordinarily difficult position for the United States because there is no possibility of attacking these individual militias in any meaningful way,” he said.

Watch the video or read the full story, broadcast 9/13/12 on WMUR-TV.

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