The killing of our ambassador at Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans at our embassy, is a reminder that the dangers faced by our GIs in the global war are also shared by the officers of our foreign service. It’s a point that is all too easy to forget in a war in which by far the biggest sacrifice has been made by our GIs and our military families. It’s a time to remember that our foreign service officers and their colleagues run their own enormous risks, day in and day out, and often find themselves in sitautions where our enemies can strike at any moment, even on a peaceful day and even inside our most secure diplomatic compounds.

Ambassador Stevens was himself a classical diplomat, a career officer in the foreign service whose dedication can be appreciated even by critics of the State Department and by opponents of an entente with the Arab world for which Stevens and his colleagues gave their lives. His biographical sketch tells the story of a man whose imagination was struck by the long search for the possibilities of diplomatic work. He served in the Peace Corps at Morocco as far back as 1983. He learned such Middle Eastern languages as Arabic and French. It can be said that his life and his career were animated by an all-American idealism that placed a premium on honest intercourse and democracy. He died trying to protect his staff.

There will be time — not “plenty” of time, but time — for the issues surrounding our mission to Libya and to the Arab spring to be debated in the current presidential campaign. They deserve the most aggressive debate possible. For the moment, though, the simple point to be made is that the murder of an Ambassador of the United States — any ambassador of the United States — is a huge event, like the assassination of a federal judge. It is made more horrifying by the nature of diplomatic work, its idealism and its principles of talk rather than arms. When the body of Ambassador Stevens is brought home, he will deserve the most solemn salute and most heartfelt public honors. His killing will deserve the most serious consequences.