UPDATE: Confirmed reports indicate that the person killed was the U.S, Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Information is being updated by the minute. 4 Americans in all were killed. Ambassador Stevens helped free the Libyan people. President Obama issued the following statement:
“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives. I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.”
Demonstrators attacked a U.S. consulate in Libya, killing one American, and breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, amid angry protests over a film by a U.S. producer that mocks and insults the Prophet Muhammad.
The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” was directed and produced by an Israeli-American real-estate developer who characterized it as a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam. It has been promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots around the world.
In Benghazi, Libya, several dozen gunmen from an Islamist group, Ansar al Sharia, attacked the consulate with rocket-propelled grenades to protest the film, a deputy interior minister for the Benghazi region told the Al-Jazeera network. A government brigade evacuated the consulate, after which militants set it on fire, said the minister, Wanees Sharef.
One State Department officer was killed in the attack in Benghazi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday night.
Mrs. Clinton said the State Department was working with Libyans to secure the compound and protect Americans in Libya.
Enter Mitt Romney to throw a little gasoline on an extremely volatile situation.
The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the Obama administration’s handling of a violent and contentious day at two American facilities in the Middle East “disgraceful” in a statement released late Tuesday night.
The campaign had initially planned to hold the statement until after midnight — and the end of the eleventh anniversary of September 11th — but lifted the embargo an hour and a half early as the controversy flared over a series of attacks against the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi,” Romney said in the statement. “It’s disgraceful that the Obama Administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”
What is Romney thinking? There is a dead American staffer and obviously there are Americans in harm’s way. These Americans are not armed and are far away from home soil. Romney can be as outraged as he wants to be. Those Americans in those embassies aren’t his responsibility. Unless they are his responsibility, he needs to shut the hell up and stop strutting how incredibly unprepared he is to take on any role in foreign policy.
The statement that Romney was criticizing was not put out by the White House but instead it was put out by the Cairo Embassy itself. That’s quite a mistake, Mr. Romney. The White House disavowe
Rush to judgement by the Romney campaign is just shocking. We are in the middle of an incendiary situation–a diplomatic crisis as it were.
The statement issued by the embassy that spoke of being respectful of all religions was issued before the embassies were stormed and it was issued without approval of the White House or State Department. It was later disavowed after the embassy and consulate were overrun.
(Politico)
WHAT was he thinking? Get your facts first, Mr. Romney.
He needs to issue an apology…immediately.
Another demonstration of NOT being good in a crisis.
Romney needs a lesson in etiquette, maybe he could take some advice from the President Elect Obama!!!!!!!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/30/AR2008123003104.html
What was the crisis when Obama was running….and some reporter asked him about it and he refused to comment. He said that George Bush was the president and there was one president of the United States who would address the issue.
That was the correct answer.
Are we all outraged, hell yes. What a pack of uncivilized creatans would perpetrate such a heinous act. In fact, I bet, while all of us are outraged over the death of a fellow American, President Obama KNEW this man, who sounded, by the way, like a really decent person. These people behaved in way that proves the worst of how the west views parts of the world that follow Islam. What a discrace to the Prophet Mohamad and the milions of Muslims who would never condone such violence.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/three-quick-points-on-the-libya-killings/2622631/
Islamic fanatics darken another 9-11.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/three-quick-points-on-the-libya-killings/262263/
@Steve
The entire situation is horrible. I am angry at the zealot thugs who did it. I am also agnry at the irresponsible Americans who had to wave red flags in front of bulls. Terry Jones needs to have duct tape on his mouth.
Mr. Romney just showed poor judgement. I am not angry at him.
The Biden gaffe on this should be coming any moment now.
Obama says justice will be done, but how does he know whom to retaliate against? The Libyan government has already expressed their regret and I think they are honest in that they did not instigate this event.
The real problem is the Islamic fanatics who think they can control everyone. I’ve watched the video on YouTube and, guess what, it is insulting to Islam. Insults and derision just like Christians deal with every day, day in and day out. Get over it. The video, in however much bad taste, was produced in the United States where we still have freedom of speech (more or less, until the PC crowd kills it off for good).
By the way, Mitt Romney has as much or more foreign policy expertise now than Obama did when he ran. People like Leon Panetta, Hilary Clinton and professionals like the ambassador who was murdered have saved his butt on foreign policy. Romney will be able to pull together a strong foreign policy team fast. As we discused earlier on MH, it won’t be dominated by neo-cons.
Romney was stupid on this one. Plain and simple. He was 100% wrong on the spin he put on the state dept statement pre riot. How can you argue with that NTK?
From http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/obama_administration_disavows_cairo_embassy_statement_criticizing_free_speech.html
Politico:
The Obama administration is disavowing a statement from its own Cairo embassy that seemed to apologize for anti-Muslim activity in the United States.
“The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government,” an administration official told POLITICO.
The U.S. embassy in Cairo put out a statement early Tuesday that apologized for an anti-Muslim film being circulated by an Israeli-American real estate developer.
“The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions,” the embassy said in a statement published online.
So…who put out the “apology” for our free speech and is that person going to be fired? Who authorized this public policy statement?
I see nothing wrong with Cairo’s tone or words. However, those words are not the official word of the United States government.
Are you one of these types who pokes a stick at a mad dog and then gets all offended when he bites?
Its easier to not stir the mad dog up.
Oh…and God forbid that the religious feeling of anyone be offended…much less a group of people subject to “sudden jihad syndrome.” No one has the right to not be offended.
I see offensive things being written and said from all quarters about…well, everyone else. But its primarily the Muslims that go beyond offensives speech….but, unless you’re into politics, you never see it reported. And the reports that do make it to the mainstream show any “upset” as “understandable” if not justified.
And THAT belief that…oh..its just the Muslims being upset at someone’s “blasphemy”…those people should be quiet…..is the true bigotry.
No one has the right to riot and commit violence.
Also, where the hell were the Marines? Who’s providing security in Libya? Its STILL a war zone.
I think you might need to look at who sounds like a bigot.
No one is saying its a good thing that some Muslims can’t ignore aholes who make films like that. Just IS.
Why have a diplomatic corp anywhere without the diplomacy? Have we overlooked the meaning of the word?
OF COURSE, the WH is disavowing the Cairo statement. The WH has a long history of a) disavowing any knowledge of underlings actions b) throwing said underlings under the bus.
Any “apology” to the Muslims will be seen as dhimmitude. He should have stated that in America, unlike Libya and Egypt, we have the rights to free speech and that any future attacks on embassies will be met with violence.
The statement was made before the violence and was released by American Embassy in Cairo.
I think your statement is hideous.
Thanks God you aren’t president is all I can say.
We don’t have any totally unrestricted rights. Fire in a crowded theater etc.
@Moon-howler
I know that the statement was made before the attacks in Cairo. They apologized for American free speech in order to try and prevent rioting…or ..something. Of course, no “apologies” ever seem to work. It only incites further violence. We either stand for OUR principles or kowtow to theirs.
I’m sorry that you think my statement is hideous. But what other response is there to mob or organized violence? American embassies are sacrosanct. They ARE American soil. These are attacks on embassies and consulates and ambassadors. Do we not need to defend them?
I do think your statement is hideous.
You are missing the point. It was NOT a response to organized mob violence. It was sent out before the violence happened.
You know, I am sorry that you all can’t satisfy your urges and go in and nuke Cairo. Tell me, what would you have done if you had been the Abassador?
I am just freaking furious that anyone is taking a volatile situation and politicizing it.
I really hope you didn’t post that movie on my blog.
Of course wE have every right to defend our embassies and I would not have blamed US Marines had they opened fire on that barbaric mob in Cairo. Under international law, they would have been justified.
The Libyan incident was a carefully coordinated attack. That was not an angry mob. A drone strike would be appropriate.
Romney should support the president at a time like this.
The U.S. Embassy in Libya is part of the State Department, which is part of the Executive Branch, which is the Obama Administration. Embassies and Foreign Service Officers are accountable directly to the President. Presidents and Secretaries of State sign Foreign Service Officers’ commissions. Granted that the President does not have on-the-ground control of everything that every U.S. bureaucrat in every embassy says, but if he does not renounce a statement coming out of one of his embassies, it becomes part of his Administration’s official foreign policy. If I or another Moonhowlings contributor makes a public statement, it does not reflect the position of the administration and the U.S. Government. When an official of a U.S. embassy makes a public statement, it does.
The stupidity arose when the State Department made the statement. The cowardice occurred when Obama did not state that it did not reflect his foreign policy.
I’m waiting to hear Obama clearly reject that Libyan Embassy/State Department/Executive Branch statement and declare that it does not represent his foreign policy. Romney was right to condemn the embassy statement as a statement of U.S. Government policy.
THIS is the reason? [film link redacted]
If this is a reason for violence……. Monty Python is in horrible danger.
Well….violence against horrible cartoonish movie making…maybe.
Offensive? Yes. Is it satire? Yes. Does it actually point out some truths? Maybe.
But justification for anything violent…..NO.
Funny how the violence that is being blamed on this movie actually supports the premise of part of this movie. Sad.
Would you like all of Catholicism represented as priests diddling little boys? I think that would be very offensive myself.
Of course Muslims would be offended. Would we be offended if Jesus were shown in that light and being called a bastard? Yes. How about Moses? Yes.
I took down the link. Maybe it belongs on YOUR blog.
@Cargosquid
Cargo, # 11
Does this Cairo Embassy statement include condemning “South Park’s” and Bill Maher’s ongoing and frequent mocking and insulting of Christians? I’ve seen things on those shows that are more insulting to Christians than the video in question is to Muslims. If not, why is the U.S. Government trying to protect the sensibilities of Muslims, but not Christians, Jews, atheists, or anyone else? If so, where does the U.S. Government get off condemning anyone’s right to free speech? “South Park,” the Muhammad video and Bill Maher’s stuff are all produced in the U.S. and last time I checked, all three have the right to free speech. I’m offended by “South Park” and Bill Maher, but deal with it by using the change channel button on my remote; not by trying to kill any of them or destroy their property.
It was the Cairo Embassy for God sake. What is so f-ing difficult to understand. There is a volatile situation and it is still going on . There is a sect of muslims who are highly charged.
NO ONE is justifying violence. Officials and others are attempting to quell the the craziness.
Who gives a flying F at this point if you are offended by Bill Maher or South Park. Turn them off. These thugs in the Cairo and Libya don’t understand that part the United States government didn’t publish the film. They cannot separate that fact that people function independently of their governments. Nothing in their life experience has modeled this concept to them.
4 Americans are dead. Let’s honor their service by showing a little respect and sensitivity.
I can see a whole bunch of stirred up Christians right now if the roles were reversed.
Remember The Last Temptation of Christ? That stirred up a whole bunch of Christians.
Moon,
Just accept it, our own President and State Dept, of which this ambassador was a member of, HATE America! Really, beneath the ridiculous comments is this sentiment right?
Candidate Romney has distinguished himself as a fool.
I just listened to him double down on his criticism of the embassy. He wasn’t there. He is just flapping his gibs in the wind.
Just what we need. Another middle east war.
Maybe, just maybe for a brief moment, people could think about the ambassador and his family. What makes someone want to be an ambassador, it sure isn’t to hear shit like this.
Please put up the bio, Elena.
He served in the Peace Corp and acquired his love of the region then.
Cargo,
I watched the film, if you can call it that! Horrible horrible. If that had been a movie about Jesus and Christianity, you would have been aghast!
Now, let us not forget a period in history called the crusades. Let’s not forget the Spanish Inquistion. But at any point anytime anywhere is it worth killing people over religion, OF COURSE NOT, not 500 years ago, not today, not anyday!
I wish the entire world were atheists right now.
To those fueling the flames of division, shame on you. Here is the ambassadors bio. Read it and wonder, how YOU are honoring his lifes work by our comments today?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/12/world/africa/libya-us-ambassador-killed-profile/index.html
(CNN) — Chris Stevens knew what he was getting into.
He knew, longtime friend Daniel Seidemann said, that Libya was a place of great promise, but also one of great peril.
“When he went to Libya, he had no illusions about where he was going,” Seidemann said. “He has probably done more than anybody on the planet to help the Libyan people, and he know going in that this was not going to protect him.”
U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens died Tuesday in an assault on the American Consulate in Benghazi, the very city where he had arrived aboard a cargo ship in the spring of 2011 to help build ties between the upstart rebellion and the rebels.
“He risked his life to stop a tyrant, then gave his life trying to help build a better Libya,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
“The world needs more Chris Stevenses,” Clinton said.
Stevens graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982, then took a pause in his studies to join the Peace Corps, according to his State Department biography.
Clinton blames ‘small, savage group’
Obama: ‘Justice will be done’
Romney: No apology for American values
“Growing up in California, I didn’t know much about the Arab world,” he said in a State Department video prepared to introduce him to the Libyan people after his appointment as ambassador in May.
“I worked as an English teacher in a town in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco for two years, and quickly grew to love this part of the world,” he said.
U.S. increases embassy security worldwide after Libya attack
After returning to the United States, he attended the University of California’s Hastings College of Law, graduating in 1989, according to his biography.
He worked as an international trade lawyer in Washington before joining the Foreign Service, the career diplomatic corps, in 1991, according to the State Department biography.
He spent most of his career in the Middle East and North Africa, including postings to Israel, Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia, in addition to serving as the deputy chief of the U.S. mission to Libya from 2007 to 2009, during the rule of Moammar Gadhafi, according to the State Department.
Pro-al Qaeda group seen behind deadly Benghazi attack
“He joined the Foreign Service, learned languages, won friends for America in distant places and made other people’s hopes his own,” Clinton said.
It was during Stevens’ time as the political section chief in Jerusalem that Seidemann got to know the man dubbed “the senator” for his unflappable character and unrelenting empathy.
FYI, this heinous act was perpetrated by a small violent extreme group. Most Libyians are thankful to America, in fact, it was Lybian people who “rescued” the body of the Ambassador and brought him to a hospital. Those “muslims” should not be punished by the actions of a few. Certainly, it sounds like the ambassador would not want that kind of reprisal.
@Elena
OR….
there really IS a problem in how our gov’t is presenting the US.
there really IS an oversensitivity to one religion, primarily because they are violent.
I’m sorry for the Ambassador and his family. AND for the other three people, including two Marines.
We have not said anything about the President or the State Dept hating America. We are saying that they were incompetent at presenting a strong front defending American ideals.
I don’t care WHAT the motivations may be. There is no reason to attack us, our embassies, etc.
Instead of questioning our motivations….or our beliefs about the President, why aren’t you concerned about some low level flunky condemning American freedoms and apologizing for a minor satirical video? Apparently this policy statement was done in a vacuum.
Shame on anyone for not properly honoring this brave public servant.
@Elena
That video was no worse than Monty Python’s Life of Brian.
It was ridiculous. And the manufacture outrage, the excuse to riot, will ensure that it becomes widespread.
It was insulting. And it wasn’t funny. But,…..so what?
@Elena
FUELING FLAMES OF DIVISION?
Really? You haven’t seen the press lately have you? Criticizing State Department statements and responses of our gov’t to attacks on us is fueling the flames of division?
Furthermore, this thread is up and is talking about ROMNEY and the adminstration’s statements. You want to honor this Ambassador AND the other three nameless people, including two Marines, let’s put a thread up.
Personally, I consider all of them as honorable casualties of war. THEY are not being criticized. Their BOSSES are.
I see how Republicans work, its ok to cow tow to Netanyahu and allow Israel to dictate our foreign policy. But, intially, when flames were being fuled by muslim extremists, try to quell the rising hysteria in Egypt first, before the horrendous violence erupted, and therefore you must “hate” your own country? WTF, what ARE the rules of the right when it comes to foreign policy, clearly, I don’t get it.
None of us on Moonhowlings or the Romney camp has attacked or criticized Ambassador Stevens. He seems to have been a wonderful person and his death is a great loss to the U.S. Foreign Service and American diplomacy. As far as I’m concerned, he’s joined the ranks of another 3,000 or so other innocent people who died on another 9/11.
Elena wrote, “I watched the film, if you can call it that! Horrible horrible. If that had been a movie about Jesus and Christianity, you would have been aghast!” But Christians are subjected to this sort of thing all the time. Reference “South Park” and Bill Maher, among many others, that I cited above. They don’t form a gang and murder people, especially murder someone such as Ambassador Stevens who I’m sure would find the video as offensive as the Muslims do.
Btw…check Drudge. Then you can see what actually happened. Be warned…graphic.
Now other countries are getting in the act.
Isolated small groups my aunt Petunia!
en. Bill Nelson, Florida Democrat, said the attacks “have the markings of revenge by al Qaeda.” He said they could be connected to the killing in June of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a top leader of the terrorist network.
“In light of Monday night’s Internet-video statement by the head of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who urged Libyans to attack Americans to avenge the recent death of al-Libi, I am asking my colleagues on the Senate intelligence committee to immediately investigate what role al Qaeda or its affiliates may have played in the attacks in Libya and Egypt, and to urge appropriate action,” Mr. Nelson said in a statement.
These “protests” aren’t spontaneous acts of outrage. They were and are fully planned.
I am not saying the Ambassador is being critized! I am saying you are dishonoring his memory by fueling partisianship where non exists.
No one is defending the Mob!!!! What I am outraged about is the attack on Obama and the State Dept. THAT is simply outrageous in my opinion. Period.
Elena – how can you say we are fueling partisanship when the title of this thread is, “Romney remarks muddle the works in Egypt and Libya crisis”? Some of us don’t agree and are arguing our position.
@Elena
Has anyone here said that we need to kowtow to Israel or dictate our foreign policy? Has anyone advocated a military strike against Iran? Or even mentioned Israel? Even I haven’t said anything and I’m a huge supporter of Israel.
Again, no one has mentioned “hating your own country.” We have said that apologizing for our principles is a) wrong b) useless. It is especially useless in the face of said extremism. These Islamists do not care. In there culture, we are weakening ourselves, as they think we should. They believe themselves to be superior….and we should acknowledge that. That is dhimmitude.
I don’t believe for one second that this “outrage” was caused by this idiotic film. I believe that it was incited by the mullahs for political purposes. Notice, this was pre-planned event, and it took place on 9/11. Both of them. The previous “outrage” caused by the Mohammed cartoons was also artificially created. Some of the mullahs involved in the incitement actually created some of their own cartoons to make it worse.
@Elena
I didn’t say that you or anyone is defending the mob. What we are saying is that the response was weak. And the initial State Dept. Cairo statement fueled the fire. THAT is the incompetence. And now that the State Dept was caught in that….they are disavowing it. Again, who authorized such an idiotic dhimmi statement apologizing for our principles? Hillary needs to find out quickly.
I think bringing in the Marines is a fairly strong statement.
I totally disagree with you regarding the response. For the 4th time, the Embassy remark in Cairo was not a response to any violence. It was a statement regarding the film.
A local clerk had discovered it and was chatting it up around town. It was a stupid offensive film. How do you explain free speech being separate from the government of a country to libyans? Libyans still require witnesses to a marriage consummation. We aren’t talking abot a sophisticated society.
No one authorized it. The Embassy acted on its own. I was up most of the night watching these events as they unfolded. That was made very clear.
I even agree that Romney should have reserved comment, if only to be more critical later.
Even National Review thinks that. https://www.moonhowlings.net/index.php/2012/09/12/romney-remarks-muddle-the-works-in-egypt-and-libya/comment-page-1/#comment-164622
Why did Drudge have to put that horrible video of our ambassador’s ladt moments up?
As far as kow-towing to Netanyahu, Elena and I agreed the other day on deterrence as the appropriate strategy to deal with Iran, and to avoid a war if at all possible. Netanyahu would prefer, from what I gather from his public statements, to go in with guns blazing now. If push comes to shove, I’m solidly with Israel and doing whatever it takes to ensure the survival of Israel, even if that means using nuclear weapons against Iran. However, I don’t we’ve exhausted alternatives other than a preemptive attack on Iran to protect Israel.
@Starryflights
Starry – I don’t read Drudge and won’t go there to look at gruesome photos. To me, that represents news porn.
@Moon-howler
Someone IN THE EMBASSY authorized it. No bureaucratic clerk does this on their own. And if they did…they need to be fired.
Notice… I did not say WHO, just that SOMEONE did.
@Need to Know
I like that. I agree.
@Moon-howler
“I totally disagree with you regarding the response. For the 4th time, the Embassy remark in Cairo was not a response to any violence. It was a statement regarding the film.”
I said that Cairo was trying to pre-empt any violence by apologizing for the film.
How do you explain it to Libyans? Easy.
“In America, we have the right to free speech. We do not approve or disapprove of speech. Be aware that any and all attacks on this or any embassy will be met with overwhelming force. Have a nice day.”
فى امريكا, لدينا الحق فى حرية التعبير. ونحن لا تنفيها الكلام. ان ندرك ان جميع الهجمات على هذه السفارة او اى اجتمع مع قوة عظمى. حلو اليوم.
There is one president of the United States, constitutionally. Mitt Romney needs to SDASTFU.
I am outraged that any candidate would step in and start second guessing those in the middle of a crisis.
I remember president elect Obama deferring to PRESIDENT BUSH with those very words. One voice–the president.
Romney is not ready for prime time.
He is an opportunist trying to make political gain during a time of tragedy and on 9-11, no less. He really is making a fool of himself.
Years of warning about embassy security preceded Libya attack
http://www.washingtonguardian.com/red-flags-embassy-security
Underfunded, apparently. I wonder who got that money instead….Solyndra?
Too bad no budget has been written since 2009 when the first warnings appeared.
They blame poorly trained contractors.
Hmmm…they didn’t lose a single, solitary, State Dept. person when BlackWater was running security during the war in Iraq. Too bad that they got disbanded.
Maybe we need to either bring them back …or, I KNOW! Isn’t there a branch of the service that traditionally provided the security for the State Dept?
@Cargosquid
I repeat, I am glad you aren’t president. I am glad you aren’t an ambassador.
No one suggested attacks on an embassy. The statement was issued at least 6 hours before any attacks were staged.
Stick to topic please. This thread is not about your Obama hatred. We are aware.
Perhaps we should have gunned down all the protesters. Called in the drones.
yea. aint diplomacy great?
@Cargosquid
So what? So what? You are kidding, right?
What gives anyone the right to go around insulting large groups of people?
Do you understand consequences? Do you think 9-11 just happened randomly?
Building resentment and hatred made it happen…whether rightly or wrongly. perception is reality. It was their reality.
The open thought was that Hollywood produced the anti Mohammad film and that our government approved it. Far from the truth but…perception is reality.
@Moon-howler
“I even agree that Romney should have reserved comment, if only to be more critical later.”
Notice that I agree somewhat with you. But if Romney is not ready for Prime Time and ou consider that Obama is….. wow.
Second guessing…like Obama did when he said that the surge was a mistake and would not work and that he would bring home the troops by March of 2008?
His statement about deferring to Bush was pure political spin. Both he and the entire Democrat establishment 2nd guessed everything that Bush did. Politics did NOT end at the shore line.
Candidate Obama in 2008 was not really so pure in avoiding meddling in foreign policy. As examples, Candidate Obama declared his willingness to meet with Iran’s leaders with no preconditions. This position was contrary to the Bush administration’s policy, and even his primary opponent, Senator Clinton mocked it as naïve.
On a foreign policy tour in 2008 giving speeches outside the U.S. and criticizing U.S. policies, Candidate Obama created an imbroglio when he wanted to deliver an address at the Brandenburg Gate to try to associate himself with Ronald Reagan. Chancellor Angela Merkel objected, and Candidate Obama changed his venue to the Victory Column in Berlin. What the foreign policy geniuses of the Obama campaign did not realize was that this place was a monument to German imperialism kept in place as a reminder of history that many Germans want to forget, and was put in place by none other than a former, well-known German dictator whose name we are discouraged from saying on Moonhowlings.
@Moon-howler
“So what?”
So what? – EXACTLY. That is free speech. It was a poorly made, idiotic you tube video. You’re upset about this video? Where’s your outrage about the constant hatred pouring out of the muslim world against anything that they find “objectionable?” If we are worried about offending Muslims, etc, then dead silence is the only policy. 9/11 happened because Osama Bin Laden hated America and he had the money and network to do something about it. He was a fanatical terrorist. He didn’t hate America because of resentment over some insult. He hated America because it was the OTHER superpower and he was a fanatic about resisting the spread of modernity. He also hated our support of Saudi Arabia. And Israel. Even when we assisted the Afghanis against the Soviets, he hated us.
Here’s some history: http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/10/29/what-makes-the-muslims-angry/0/
The Role of Wahhabism
The rigid views of Wahhabism and the patronizing it received from the Saudi rulers in the past, fostered Muslim fundamentalism. The doctrine considers Muslim sects like the Shiites and the Sufis as heretics. It even inspired people like Juhayman to take up arms against the royal family.
Although Juhayman was beheaded soon after the uprising, his ideals and vision survived long after. The baton was passed on to another misguided flag-bearer of Islam, Osama Bin Laden. Like Juhayman, Osama too, had issues with Saudi ties to the US.
It came as no surprise to many that 15 of the 19 al-Qaida jihadists involved in the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia. The sad news was followed by a discovery of a huge arms cache in Riyadh and subsequent attacks on residential compounds in 2003. The terror continued in the country so much that by the December of 2004, some 176 policemen and civilians (mostly foreigners) had lost their lives.
The events showed a scary trend. The home-grown fundamentalists were turning into terrorists. The rulers of the state had to take swift and strict measures.
Dr. Sherifa Zuhur gets the point across, “Saudi Arabian officials decried al-Qa’ida’s actions in the United States, and have captured and killed operatives, arrested more than 600 suspects, forced key clerical figures to recant their radical views on television, recalled more than 1400 imams who were counseled on their divergent opinions, and took a variety of measures to diminish the financial support of terrorist organizations. The government also announced modest political reforms that began with voter registration from 2004-05, and municipal elections in 2005 which will enhance political participation.” [7]
The tentacles of the Osama factory are now reaching Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Indonesia, among others. It misses no opportunity to unleash terror on countries and people in the name of God.
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I’m tired of worrying about how the Muslim world will take offense against something said or done and then they try and kill people. They object to EVERYTHING. They kill EACH OTHER over the slightest thing. Why should we be treated any different? They have found violence to be a profitable thing.
Perception is perception, not reality. If its reality, then we truly ARE at fault for anything that others perceive. I don’t care if it seems like I’ve done something. If I haven’t done something, then the problem is the “perceiver’s” and I bear no responsibility for his actions.
Yes, I know that most Muslims are peaceful people. Its actually up to THEM to stop tolerating the poison. But they won’t. The extremists are able to point to the Koran and win the arguments. Look at the degradation of various Muslim societies since the 60’s in regards to women’s rights and children’s rights and education. They had their “reform” movement. Unfortunately, their “Reformation” went the other way.
In a nutshell, I expect more out of Americans. I don’t expect as much out of some who are probably not even a generation away from being bedouins.
Outrage? Too strong of a word. We have a huge job to keep millions of people who have lived under dictators and whose view of the world is very simplistic out of our lives and for trying to harm us.
Their perception is their reality. You just can’t think or wish away ignorance and a thousand years of living under a dictatorship.
@Moon-howler
What Obama hatred? I didn’t blame Obama. I spoke about security problems at the Libyan embassy, its underfunding, and its weaknesses. They spoke about a lack of money since 2009.
Why is pointing out that there was plenty of money for everything else “Obama hatred?”
I don’t understand your comment, “No one suggested attacks on an embassy. The statement was issued at least 6 hours before any attacks were staged.”
Um…that’s the definition of NOT spontaneous. The attacks were coordinated between countries. Where did the protestors get the banners, Al Quaeda flag, and giant banner picture of Obama? They didn’t get all that in 6 hours.
Protesting is fine. Violence is not. Violence equals attacks on embassies and embassy personnel. If they come over the wall, defend the embassy. Because who knows where they want to stop?
I have no idea. I said the statement was issued before the uprisings began by about 6 hours. It is simply a matter of chronology.
It might have been cordinated. Who knows. The jury is out. I will wait for facts. On the other hand, that makes the “apology whining” all the more ridiculous.
The focus should be on the 4 Amreicans who lost their lives. They were murdered in a most heinous way.
Even the most pro-life Christians decry violence against others. Those who have murdered doctors who provide abortions have been condemned by pro-life Christians as antithetical to what they believe and are trying to accomplish. Murdering people over a poorly-made video is abominable.
Either we have freedom of speech or we don’t. That’s the fundamental American value issue Mitt Romney was addressing. U.S. Embassies have no business apologizing for Americans who use their freedom of speech. They should instead explain what freedom of speech means. Either the guy in California who made the Mohammed video has freedom of speech or none of us does. Either “South Park” and Bill Maher have freedom of speech or none of us does.
I remember that decrying when Roeder killed Dr. Tiller and Paul kill murdered Dr. Baird Britton and James Barrett. Dr. Britton was a personal friend of my uncles so it is somewhat personal for our family. Certainly not everyone disavowed the killings. Bill O’Reilly comes to mind with Tiller the Killer.
I agree murdering over a film is an abomination. Who disagrees with that? No one I have spoken to. That isn’t the point.
The film was offensive not only to muslims but to all of us who believe in respecting the religions of others. It would have hit me about like a film of the Virgin Mary having sex with all of the Disciples. Not acceptable. Very offensive.
Why offend people? Why poke a stick in the eye of a snake handler? How do we expect them to react? the only way they know how.