MARTIN BENSKY, Richland

Weird sex scandals and email exchanges have taken over the media, and irrelevant actions like Sen. John McCain's ranting and posturing have almost made us lose sight of the important question, "What happened in Benghazi, and how can a recurrence be prevented?"

If we can focus for a moment on that subject of Benghazi, however, I will say what none of the politicians can say without being accused of insensitivity -- the ambassador made a foolish, fatal decision to go to the consulate in Benghazi from the safety of the embassy in Tripoli despite knowing how risky it was in that volatile, uncontrolled area and that backup security resources could not possibly arrive for hours after any emergency call.

No one else will accuse the ambassador of being the principal cause of his own and three other deaths because it would be insensitive to make that accusation, but that's the most likely scenario I can imagine until the investigation is completed and a report says otherwise.

All this nonsense about the failure of the president or the secretary of state failing to make an at-the-moment tactical decision to send in resources that could materialize in a moment out of nowhere is just that, nonsense.