The US ambassador to Libya should not be personally affected for doing his job.
Libya is not demanding the recall of the US Ambassador. America is making the recall on its own initiative. Perhaps they are right.
In which case Gene Cretz should be given another ambassadorship, thereby distinguishing the requirements of maintaining good foreign relations from unfair personal retribution. Don’t shoot the messenger, he was only doing his job.
Embarrassing comment published by Wikileaks by the US ambassador to China did not result in him losing his job. The US Ambassador to the UK was critical and contemptuous of Britain’s Afghanistan operations, and gave a highly unattractive assessment of the new Prime Minister, David Cameron — he has kept his job.
Ghadafi’s personal touchiness though can make any external event swift and personal to resident and visiting foreigners in Libya, and last year took his country into conflict with the EU and Switzerland. On past form, the reaction the US State Department may well be real and adverse – some WikiLeaks on this would give more understanding!
Gene Cretz’s emails identified personal fears and peccadilloes of the Libyan leader – not from prurience, but because everything in that country related to Ghadifi is relevant.
Of all the more than 25,000 emails sent by US diplomats to Washington and passed to Wikileaks, it is not surprising that those relating to North Korea, Iran and Libya should rise to the surface. There is huge interest in these rogue countries whose actions threaten the safety and stability of other countries.
The State Department also has this interest, and required this information. American ambassadors should not need to fear The State Department for doing what is required of them.