Benghazi, dead diplomats and scoring political points

The April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, killed 63 people.

Politics can get ugly, but the partisan bluster over Benghazi is revolting.

U.S. embassies and consulates are among the most dangerous places on Earth ... easy and frequent targets for the enemies of America.

U.S. diplomatic missions have been flash points for assassination attempts and bombings for decades. The April 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut is among the deadliest attacks, with 63 killed including 17 Americans. The Beirut embassy bombing was followed in October 1983 by suicide bomber attacks on U.S. Marine and French paratrooper barracks in Beirut, with 241 U.S. troops killed.

For those keeping track of the political points, Ronald Reagan was president in 1983.

In Benghazi, four Americans were killed at the U.S. consulate on Sept. 11, 2012.

It's a tragedy whenever lives are lost.

It's a farce to play politics with casualties at U.S. diplomatic missions.

American troops suffered heavy losses during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, including a deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. /Image via historyimages.blogspot.com

U.S. consulate building in Benghazi, Libya, September 2012. /Image via amnesty.org

Al-Qaida-linked Egyptian Islamic Jihad bombed the US. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 1998. About 212 people were killed and more than 4,000 were wounded. /Image via www.newstimeafrica.com