Talking It Over

Whenever Bill and I travel abroad on behalf of our country, be it to London or Paris, Ulaanbaatar or Dar es Salaam, we make time to meet the men and women who represent the United States in our embassies. We do this because we know how hard it can be to live so far from home and we want to thank them personally for representing America.

Many Americans probably have a somewhat old-fashioned view of diplomacy — pinstripe-suited men engaged in formal negotiations followed by elegant rounds of cocktails, dinner and dancing. Regretfully, many Americans, including some in Congress, don't appreciate exactly what the members of today's foreign service do or how important their role is in protecting and promoting America's interests abroad.

They assist U.S. citizens traveling in foreign countries and help foreign nationals who want to come to the United States. They work with American businesses and foreign governments to increase trade. They also help strengthen democratic institutions, advance military security, protect the environment and fight disease.

This is what they do for our country every day. But this is not who they are. They are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. And now, along with hundreds of Kenyans and Tanzanians, they are the innocent victims of cowardly acts of terrorism.

The day after the horrible bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, many Americans, including some who had been critical of federal authority, saw their government in a new light. As they looked at the faces of the innocent victims — most of them federal employees and their children — they saw a government made up of men and women just like themselves. They saw fathers and mothers, sons and daughters — men and women going to work every day, doing the jobs that make the country run.

The 12 Americans who died last Friday were doing their jobs, too — jobs that helped our government function and, in the process, promoted the ideals that symbolize America.

Marine Sgt. Jesse Alaganga, just 21, died at his post guarding the embassy gate. The Consul General, Julian Bartley Sr., was one of the highest-ranking African Americans in our diplomatic corps and well on his way to becoming an ambassador.

His 20-year-old son, Julian Jr., was a student at the International University in Nairobi and working at the embassy for the summer.

Jean Dalizu had lived in Kenya for 26 years and worked in the Kenya-U.S. liaison's office. Molly Hardy had devoted 25 years to the State Department. Army Sgt. Kenneth Hobson was an aide in the military attache's office.

Born in India, Prabhi Kavaler had become an American citizen and ultimately a career foreign service officer. Arlene Kirk was an Air Force budget officer. Mary Louise Martin was an epidemiologist working to treat children suffering from drug-resistant malaria.

Michelle O'Connor was the embassy's second-ranking budget officer. Sherry Lynn Olds was an Air Force Master Sergeant. And Tom Shah was assigned to the political section.

After the blast, my husband addressed the nation, saying: "The bombs that kill innocent Americans are aimed not only at them but at the very spirit of our country and the spirit of freedom. For the terrorists are the enemies of everything we believe in and fight for — peace and democracy, tolerance and security."

But if the cowards who carried out these craven attacks think they have accomplished anything, they badly misunderstand America and Americans. The message of Oklahoma City — and now Nairobi and Dar es Salaam — is this: The United States does not and will not give in to terror.

If those responsible doubt America's resolve, they must listen carefully to the warning of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as she spoke to her staff:

"These United States — this principled, purposeful nation — will not be intimidated. We will redouble our efforts to build peace and to fight intolerance. We will meet our responsibility to stay engaged in the world, to keep standing up for the values that the peacemakers cherish and for the future that the bomb throwers fear. For although terror can turn buildings to rubble and laughter to tears, it can never, will never, deter America from its purpose or presence around the globe."

America's prayers today are with the loved ones of all those who died on Friday. And we extend America's deepest gratitude to the governments of Kenya and Tanzania for their support, the rescue teams that flew in from all over the world to help locate the injured and those passersby whose simple acts of heroism saved so many lives. And, once again, I want to thank all the men and women who serve the United States in its missions around the world.

To find out more about Hillary Rodham Clinton and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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