From Benghazi to Cairo to Jerusalem to Damascus, a question: Where does America stand? (Updated)
In March 2011, the U.S. and our allies intervened in Libya’s burgeoning civil war to prevent a massacre of civilians by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in the coastal city of Banghazi. Yesterday, militants in that city — including, perhaps, some of the more extremist elements of the rebels whose cause we took up last year — showed their gratitude by killing four Americans, including our ambassador to Libya.
“Lafayette, we are here,” it was not.
The murders in Benghazi followed a siege earlier in the day of the U.S. embassy in Cairo in neighboring Egypt. Both attacks were blamed on Islamic extremists angered by a film hardly anyone in America had heard of, made by someone hardly anyone in America had heard of or discussed, that purportedly insults the Muslim prophet Muhammad. (See screen grab below, a Google search for the name of the movie in question. Note: I stopped at Sept. 5 because results in the days after that date begin to include references to the attacks, which obviously were added as updates after the fact.)
Image: Google screen grab
The attacks came, of course, on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on American soil.
In Cairo, protesters scaled our embassy’s walls, lowered our flag — which was at half-staff in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks — and replaced it with a banner similar to the one used by al-Qaida, and chanted, “We are all Osama,” as in bin Laden. As they did so, some member(s) of the embassy’s staff wrote repeatedly on Twitter — the social media platform that was widely used by young Egyptians during their uprising against Hosni Mubarak’s government — that the U.S. government condemned … the movie. Those tweets were later deleted as the State Department distanced itself from those remarks, but do not believe that the reflexive sensibility on display in the messages came out of the blue: If nothing else, our diplomats, especially three and a half years into a presidency, are well-trained to reflect the prevailing beliefs and sensibilities of the administration in office. That is their job, after all.
The interim president of Libya has apologized for the deaths in his country. As of this writing, there has been no such regret expressed by Egyptian officials. On the contrary, the Muslim Brotherhood, one of whose members is the country’s new president, called for nationwide protests against the film on Friday. At least they said the protests are supposed to be peaceful, I guess.
For his part, the president this morning issued a statement that read, in part: “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.” The moral equivalence on display here — this is bad, that is bad, and no one should do bad things — is astounding.
But what’s really astounding is that, 11 years to the day after 9/11, our embassies in two Arab countries could be attacked by Islamic terrorists, and our government’s response would include wagging its finger at the people whose non-violent actions allegedly triggered the terrorists’ violence. That, 11 years to the day after 9/11, we still have people who believe these extremists need a reason to be mad at us.
Folks: They don’t need a reason, just an excuse to hand to the useful idiots who will continue to excuse them as people with legitimate religious grievances. (UPDATED at 12:25 p.m.: CNN is now reporting, based on information from “U.S. sources,” that the attacks in Benghazi were planned in advance and used protests about the movie as a diversion.) They just hate us. Period.
Now, “they” does not mean “all Muslims” or “all Arabs” or any such thing. But it does mean a large segment of the populations in the Middle East and North Africa, a relative few of whom trade on the ignorance and pliability of many others to pursue their totalitarian political goals.
Yet, 11 years later, they storm our embassy buildings and kill our civilians, and, 11 years later, our president doesn’t betray an understanding of the cause and effect at play here.
Add to these events and responses the statement from the White House, also yesterday, that the president is not available to meet with the prime minister of Israel, our closest ally in the region and a country known to be mulling military action to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Add to it as well the continuing massacre of Syrians by their own government, in a war eerily similar to the one in which we intervened in Libya, except for the fact that this time even our weakest efforts to stop the government-sponsored killing have been blocked by our supposed friends in Moscow.
And for all the crowing from Democrats, and specifically Obama, at their convention last week about their supposed foreign-policy superiority, the question I keep coming back to is one uttered a week earlier, by Condoleezza Rice, at the GOP convention:
Where does America stand? You see when the friends or foes alike don’t know the answer to that question, unambiguously and clearly, the world is likely to be a more dangerous and chaotic place.
Evidently so.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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575 comments Add your comment
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
September 13th, 2012
12:40 pm
BTW…The State of NC has gone Red.
That’s kind of an after the fact statement, isn’t it? Polls don’t tell you the entire truth. NC still has to watch Romney snake his way around the debate questions – unwilling (or unable) to answer anything with specificity.
Jefferson
September 13th, 2012
12:41 pm
Sometimes you are even more shallow than I give credit for.
xxx
September 13th, 2012
12:42 pm
PROUD NAVY VET , why don’t you forward your biased screed to the parents of the deceased so they realize they can “just sit back and chill” while making funeral arrangements. Useless tool.
Del
September 13th, 2012
12:43 pm
This really demands a congressional investigation. Hillary and Obama jumping on the movie motive is falling apart.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/13/consulate-attack-planned-as-2-part-militant-assault-libyan-official-says/
Dr. Frank Romano
September 13th, 2012
12:49 pm
Dear Friends,
You are welcome to join us for the November Interfaith Freedom Marches:
Jenin,West Bank, Wed., Nov. 21, 2012, 2:30 pm, Main Square, Abu Baker Street
Ramallah, West Bank, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, 12:30 pm, Manara Square
Jerusalem, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, 2:30 pm, Damascus Gate, Old City
My friends, it’s no longer possible to say, “Ah, that’s the other side of the World, what does this place have to do with me, my family, my world….”
The people in the Holy Land, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, are enshrouded by deep suffering, terrible restrictions on freedoms, limitation of circulation, restricted access, unfair confiscation of land, etc. Whenever that happens in the World, we all suffer because I truly believe, my friends, we are all connected.
When they are free (of suffering, etc.), only then can we be free!
As such, the occupation of the West Bank must end as a precursor to peaceful coexistence.
It’s time we all do something about it, in an effective, non-violent way.
Let this march be a precursor to freedom through love and understanding by bringing all people together in the cosmic light, as brothers and sisters and as children of the creator, showing the world that all people want peace in Israel and Palestine.
Dr. Frank Romano
A Land Day Organizer: March 30, 2012, Qalandia Checkpoint
Professor: University of Paris
Member of the California and French Bars
getalife
September 13th, 2012
12:52 pm
Kyle,
We stand united to show patriotism and resolve like ion the Senate floor yesterday.
Where does romney stand? He attacked America and stands with aq like a traitor.
“You are with us or against us” and the war on terror is not over.
Follow your party’s lead Kyle and cons.
@@
September 13th, 2012
1:03 pm
Now I’m curious, Dog Barks: How exactly did you still have the text of the comment made by the name-jacker, when I removed it from the blog Monday morning?
My thoughts exactly, Kyle, but then the kinder, gentle side of me kicked in…
maybe he/she is just a pervert who likes to save those thoughts for cold and lonely nights? Problem is, my namejacker is also a pervert.
For everyone’s benefit, I can leave or change my name. I would rather not do the former and refuse to do the latter.
His/her problem with me should not become everyone’s problem here.
Let me know if there’s anyway I can help, Kyle.
md
September 13th, 2012
1:04 pm
“Clinton called the video “disgusting and reprehensible,”"
Funny how those in power worry so much about offending the bad guys…….Bill Maher offended many with his movie on religion and it is aok………screw the bad guys. If they don’t like what is being said they can choose to ignore it or respond to it and then we should respond in kind.
md
September 13th, 2012
1:08 pm
Dr Frank……in a gesture of good faith Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza only to have Hamas move their rockets that much closer to the border……..what kind of rationale would expect them to fall for that a second time??
Darwin
September 13th, 2012
1:11 pm
Where does America stand…in the Middle East? For Oil and Israel. Now do you understand why they hate us?
md
September 13th, 2012
1:11 pm
“Where does romney stand? He attacked America and stands with aq like a traitor.”
Geez get, thanks for the chuckle…….Romney attacks an apology statement that has since been disavowed by the administration and only one of them is attacking America??
Do you guys ever think things through???
md
September 13th, 2012
1:14 pm
” For Oil and Israel. Now do you understand why they hate us?”
That oil has worked for both parties for decades…….as for Israel, if we truly stand for freedom and democracy then we must stand beside the only stable democracy in the ME.
iggy
September 13th, 2012
1:15 pm
“Clinton called the video “disgusting and reprehensible,””
Deep down where no one can see where no one really talks, clinton is happy about the attacks. Clinton is a multi-lateralist and while this incident may stir some regret in the overall scheme of things it helps in knocking the USA down a notch or so and that is what clinton is all about.
Same goes for carter.
iggy
September 13th, 2012
1:16 pm
We have bought and paid for the oil hundreds of time over via foreign aid. The oil is ours and we will have it.
DawgDad
September 13th, 2012
1:35 pm
“Americans are usually fair ”
Really? You obviously aren’t paying attention to the MSM or the daily Democrat talking points, or listening to the speeches at their convention, or Obama and Hillary, or reading Leonard Pitts, Mary Sanchez, Paul Krugman, et. al. in the paper every day, or listening to the constant whining from the global warming and environmental crowd.
A whole bunch of teachers don’t think Rahm Emmanuel is “fair”, and a whole lot of Americans don’t think the Chicago teachers are fair. Are public unions “fair”? Fair to whom? Are Obamacare mandates “fair”? Are Obamacare waivers fair? Are attacks on Chik-Fil-A or Big Gulps fair? Is it fair to invite millions of people to live in our country as non-citizens? To take jobs from our citizens? To use public services? Is it fair I pay more tax than you do? Less? Hmmm. I’d say there is a general perception NOTHING in America is fair, listening to the MSM and Democrats anyways.
iggy
September 13th, 2012
1:38 pm
And nothing should be fair. Fairness is a symtom of communism.
Mr. Thomas Anthony Jones, SR
September 13th, 2012
1:42 pm
Only a fool goes meddling in his neighbors’ affairs when his own home is in disarray. We have homelessness, hunger, poverty, racism, prejudice, bias, bigotry, people who need Medical Care, millions of children who drop out, illiteracy, to many people in prison, corrupt Georgia Judges, failing infrastructure, and pollution and we dare tell anyone else how to run their own country. If i was a foreigner and some Fool American told me how to run my country I was Kill the American and burn his body. That is how to deal with Meddlers!
Kyle Wingfield
September 13th, 2012
2:12 pm
Ok, everyone who jumped on Romney for his statement: What’s worse, that or the White House now having to walk back the president’s own remark that he doesn’t consider Egypt an ally?
Shoot first, aim later much?
Poll Position: How should Obama respond to embassy attacks? | Kyle Wingfield
September 14th, 2012
12:07 pm
[...] of you took my first post on the subject to imply a military action is needed. As I tried to make clear in the comments, [...]
Oblama
September 14th, 2012
12:11 pm
Kyle – Obama stands where his handlers put him – just like most politicians. Check the polls, stick your finger up in the air to see which way the wind blows and “evolve”. As a military and foreign policy expert Obama makes a decent class action suit trial lawyer. Not blaming Obama for the crazies in the middle east that want to destroy everything that isn’t islam but his apologizing for murders committed by these fanatics makes us look weak. The middle east has always and will always be in turmoil until the day of reckoning – fast approaching. I don’t know if Obama is a Christian but he says he is and he needs to start praying (along with us) overtime. There’s not much to do in the desert but ride camels over sand dunes and start wars. the desert is a very boring, boring, boring place to be.
Oblama
September 14th, 2012
12:14 pm
Trying to reason and negotiate with these fanatics is like trying to reason with an insane person or a brain dead zombie for Obama.
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September 15th, 2012
4:38 pm
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