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
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:33 pm
For the glutton for punishment…
“Gov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later, and as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that,” Obama said during an interview with CBS. “It’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make them.”
Romney’s first statement came Tuesday night around 10 p.m. ET, as reports indicated an American diplomatic worker in Benghazi, Libya, had been killed in an attack on the consulate there. The Republican candidate’s statement was sent BEFORE news broke that the American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, had been killed in the attack.
In his statement, Romney said, “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,”
Like I said, to Kyle, this is not rocket science.
Quit whining, Del.It is unbecoming for an ex-marine…
A Dog Barks When His Master Is Attacked
September 12th, 2012
8:34 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout – Vote American
September 12th, 2012
8:28 pm
If anyone has substantiated information that verifies we are safer or weaker, please post.
Thanks in advance.
—————-
Never heard of the googles?
******************************************************************
Lil Barry……LINK PLEASE
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:35 pm
Linda, you and the North Koreans stand completely alone against the rest of an educated humanity.
You gotta be proud of that!
Stephenson Billings
September 12th, 2012
8:38 pm
“That was not a time for questions.
A husband, father, son, uncle was killed.
It was a time for condolences.”
Unless it’s Romney’s press conference, then it’s fair game. Gotcha. At least he didn’t run off to Vegas.
Del
September 12th, 2012
8:39 pm
Well the best the leftists can come up with tonight is a barking chihuahua, JamVet and Joe the Muppet. If I missed any of the other losers feel free to speak up.
Red
September 12th, 2012
8:39 pm
Mooslems need to chill the F out and figure out that Isreal is trying to drum up war. Obama said so today.
A Dog Barks When His Master Is Attacked
September 12th, 2012
8:39 pm
@Linda
September 12th, 2012
8:33 pm
If the left (Democrats, liberals, socialists, Marxists, Communists, progressives, nationalists, statists, American bankrupters, etc., whatever you want to call them) believe that our breath (what we exhale)(carbon dioxide) is causing global warning/climate change, why do they continue to breathe & buy soft drinks from fast food joints?
***********************************************************************************
” why do they continue to buy soft drinks from fast food joints?”
The SAME reason CONS continue to buy MOUNTAIN DEW for breakfast,
lunch, dinner and they even put it in their babies bottles.
I guess that’s why CONS have mountain dew teeth.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:40 pm
Linda, the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all take the threat of anthropogenic climate change very seriously. And are conducting their own studies and taking their own measures in that regard.
The commies.
Do you want some links so that you can read up on it?
Del
September 12th, 2012
8:42 pm
So Obummer flew out Vegas to shoot some crap, heck he doesn’t have to leave Washington to do that.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:42 pm
Del, you are a hoot…
Del
September 12th, 2012
8:44 pm
JamVet, thanks…you too.
@@
September 12th, 2012
8:44 pm
AmVet:
To @@’s point, the man is better off keeping his mouth shut…
Too many politicians are smooth talkers. Romney’s different…he’s not a politician. I thought that’s what voters wanted.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 12th, 2012
8:45 pm
Lil Barry……LINK PLEASE
———————–
Well, if you really don’t know…
http://www.google.com
Let me guess…you went to public schools…
mike
September 12th, 2012
8:45 pm
“The morons are aplenty on Jay’s blog this evening. A recent poster recants all of the heavy lifting and grief the Bush administration went through to rebuild our intelligence and military from his predecessors lack of attention to national security concerns. Unfortunately, his successor has squandered all of that hard work to once again put us into jeopardy.”-Del
“Any comment that refers to discussions on another AJC blog’s comments thread will be subject to removal. These comments only serve to distract from the discussion on this blog and to start fights among commenters. If you have something to say in another blog’s discussion, say it there. If you have been banned from that blog, my blog is not a place for you to air your grievances, or a mirror site for you to try to participate in it anyway.”-Kyle
What are rules if not to be broken.
A Dog Barks When His Master Is Attacked
September 12th, 2012
8:47 pm
@Del
September 12th, 2012
8:39 pm
Well the best the leftists can come up with tonight is a barking chihuahua, JamVet and Joe the Muppet. If I missed any of the other losers feel free to speak up.
*******************************************************************************
OKAY MOUNTAIN DEW TEETH.
I am a barking Jack Russell/Bichon Frise Poodle.
YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE!
bow wow…..bow wow……
ATLien
September 12th, 2012
8:47 pm
Thanks Del, seems as if everyone with common sense understands the facts as they are indeed facts. But the Romney apologist are out in full force spinning stupidity and nuance as a result of their blind ideology which probably at the the end of the day does them more a disservice than good
Secondly, the reason why Mitt was asked questions is BECAUSE HE’S NOT THE PRESIDENT. The president has a different set of standards. He has to be stately and presidential and in the midst of this crisis, not stoop to the level of addressing Mitt Romney in a National Security oriented press conference. HOW STUPID ARE YOU Stephenson Billings?
Linda
September 12th, 2012
8:47 pm
JamVet@8:20, Don’t blame me for bringing up the “climate change topic.” It was Michael today that brought up the audacity of our using our own God-given natural resources to wean our dependance off foreign oil.
Some deer running through the woods? That’s what I said, but they’re not just ordinary deer. They’re moose & maybe a few elk that have been intimidated by stationery pipelines & the shadows they create, up there in Alaska, where the fed. govt. knows what is best for moose & elk, not the residents of Alaska, who hate their state & the outstanding wildlife they have. Just leave it up to the fed. govt. to decide what is best.
ATLien
September 12th, 2012
8:48 pm
Sorry, thanks Jam Vet for the post with the facts
A Dog Barks When His Master Is Attacked
September 12th, 2012
8:55 pm
@Lil’ Barry Bailout – Vote American
September 12th, 2012
8:45 pm
Lil Barry……LINK PLEASE
———————–
Well, if you really don’t know…
http://www.google.com
Let me guess…you went to public schools…
*******************************************************************************
WRONG……..
I went to a private school in Washington, DC.
Let me guess………YOU GOT YOUR GED online
heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
September 12th, 2012
8:56 pm
So AmVet can’t even tell time.
Got it.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:57 pm
Linda, got it.
I just think it’s time that you Republicans join in with the community of nations, highly respected scientific organizations and the awesome United States military to take on this challenge instead of pretending that it does not exist.
“The minute the Republican party becomes the anti-science party, we have a huge problem,” he said. “When we take a position that isn’t willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 out of 100 climate scientists from what the National Academy of Scientists said on what is causing climate change, and man’s contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science and in a losing position.” ~Jon Huntsman
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
8:59 pm
tibs, quit pouting.
Let me guess…you went to public schools…
BB, you didn’t?
Del
September 12th, 2012
8:59 pm
Obama looked like a weak apologist and an incompetent ass this morning before he flew off to his Vegas fund raiser. This attack on our ambassador and his staff that murdered them was an attack on America and the president should have strongly put it in that context.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 12th, 2012
9:01 pm
Romney: I wouldn’t turn down Netanyahu meeting
While greeting supporters in Jacksonville, Fla. after his press conference on the attacks in Egypt and Libya, Mitt Romney took a subtle swipe at President Obama’s relations with Israel.
“I can’t ever imagine if the Prime Minister of Israel asked to meet with me, I can’t imagine ever saying no,” Romney said when asked about Israel, according to a pool report. “They’re our friends. They’re our closest allies in the Middle East.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/09/12/romney-i-wouldnt-turn-down-netanyahu-meeting/
——————-
No real American president would.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 12th, 2012
9:04 pm
Good thing there isn’t much going on in the world, otherwise Obozo would have to skip the trip to Vegas and wouldn’t be able to beg for campaign cash from his fatcat donors.
Obozo: Voting “present” on Middle East turmoil and Iran nukes.
Vote American.
Del
September 12th, 2012
9:05 pm
Gee Mike do you carry a badge? Probably one you got in your Christmas stocking years ago that you carry around still believing its real.
@@
September 12th, 2012
9:07 pm
Dog bark’s the perpetual name changer.
http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2012/09/06/georgia-charter-schools-amendment-gets-boost-from-rnc/?cp=all#comment-148707
I’m curious, Dog Bark…why do you do that?
AmVet:
Did you know that global warming is dead last on Pew’s Top Policy Priorities for 2012? Nobody cares ‘cept you, Rocky Anderson, and Bullwinkle.
Karl Rove
September 12th, 2012
9:09 pm
Good job Kyle – you kow Obama has no diplomatic skills unlike Mitt who has been training with Dick Cheney and John Bolton. Mitt would have nuked those sand rats by now. Probably Obama and the DNC made that film to show how he was not one of them Muslims . We all know he is a Muslim with a name like Hussein.
Remeber if you pass gas and can find a Muslim in the room blame it on them.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:10 pm
C,mon cover up artists! The putz lied. Why is that so hard for you to admit??
(CNN) – Has Mitt Romney twisted the narrative of Tuesday’s attacks at U.S. missions in Libya and Egypt?
A timeline of the events suggests Romney was wrong in his accusation that the Obama administration’s “first response” on Tuesday was one of sympathy for those who started the violence itself–as the violence came after the first statement was published.
Condemnation of Romney’s tactics has been sure and swift though and that is a good thing to see.
Even 99.9% the Republicans won’t touch this Romney boner with a ten foot pole.
The election is as good as over now…
Linda
September 12th, 2012
9:11 pm
JamVet@8:35, Maybe you should expand your scope of information.
The climate change bill was one of the first Obama pushed forward & was passed in the house under Pelosi by 219 to 212 on 6/26/09 but was soundly rejected in the Democratically-controlled Senate. Why? Because Democrats believed that it was a hoax ((pronounced hoe axe in certain circles).
Obama is pushing it forward thru the EPA in a circumvention of congress & the constitution, bankrupting coal companies, as he promised, & causing utility rates to “skyrocket,” as he promised.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:12 pm
Nobody cares ‘cept you…
Republicode for I don’t, so nobody does.
You could not possibly be more wrong.
There are way too many non-ostriches in the world for you and the North Koreans to speak for them…
JDW
September 12th, 2012
9:12 pm
@LBB…”Vote American.”
I intend to…along with 50%+ of the electorate. The American from Hawaii that keeps his money in an American bank. You know the one that isn’t ashamed of his tax returns.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:14 pm
Linda, you are parsing the topic.
You do not believe in anthropogenic climate change.
The Republican leadership does not.
The North Korean government does not.
Virtually everybody else of consequence does, including the US military.
Is that correct?
JDW
September 12th, 2012
9:14 pm
“I can’t ever imagine if the Prime Minister of Israel asked to meet with me, I can’t imagine ever saying no,” Romney said when asked about Israel, ”
See that’s the difference between Romney and Obama. One is at Netanyahu’s beck and call. The other does what is best for America.
@@
September 12th, 2012
9:16 pm
AmVet:
It was a public opinion poll. Dead last on voters’ list of priorities.
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Del
September 12th, 2012
9:17 pm
Oops, gas attack… probably green gas from our leftist posters. They sure can stink up a place.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
September 12th, 2012
9:25 pm
Random thoughts on different posts:
As I peruse these posting listing all the Muslim atrocities perpetrated on the US, some that happened on Carter’s, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II, and Obama’s watch, where the poster blamed that administration, I couldn’t help but think, Hey, that is a lot of atrocities, when do we get PO’d at these folks? The first hundred times maybe, but I’m tired of those who make excuses for these terrorists.
Why did Obama quit using the War on Terror. Too harsh, I guess, maybe inflame all those “peace loving” Muslims working everyday to help us. It is OK to talk about a GOP war on Women, but the War on Terror, totally over the top and insensitive.
All those other governments and the military were all in on the Ozone Hole Death theory, the Nuclear Winter theory, the global New Ice Age theory, so they couldn’t ever be wrong, right. Some people it seems, fall for whatever disaster theory someone cooks up.
You would think the Muslims would want Obama to win, after he has coddled them, apologized to them, helped them overthrow their tyrants, and formulated Obamacare to recognize dhimmitude and their opposition to insurance. He is a sensitive guy, for sure. Besides being filled with hate, violent, and irrational, they also seem very ungrateful.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 12th, 2012
9:26 pm
The other does what is best for America.
———————-
$1.5 trillion deficits every year
$6 trillion added to the debt
43 months of 8-10% unemployment
Credit rating downgraded
Record numbers on the dole
Is that the best he can do?
We wish he WOULD do what’s best for America. He’s too busy doing what’s best for the cause of growing government at the expense of Americans.
Obozo: Failure.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
September 12th, 2012
9:28 pm
gm never could bring himself to admit that it was the Islamofascist terrorists who caused 9/11.
Typical of the America-hating Democrat party.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:31 pm
To the thousands of scientists around the globe, including those in the US Armed Forces, commissioned to find solutions to the problem, I guarantee you is not dead last.
But I’m sure that Kim Jong-Il agrees with you that it is of no importance…
Li'l Aynie
September 12th, 2012
9:32 pm
This is the stupidest article Kyle has ever posted!
Blame Obama for the actions of a frenzied mob in Libya? Maybe it was climate change, but most likely it was provoked by a movie intended to insult Muslims and their religion. The movie was bankrolled by a dozen or so Jewish-American radicals intent on demonizing Islam. Hate-mongering of that sort is illegal in Israel, by the way.
So, tell us Kyle, where should America “stand”? How about standing tall and proud but not arrogant, being fair and honest, hunting down terrorists and their protectors, defending our interests, and supporting human rights and world peace? Sounds just like the Obama foreign policy!
Hillbilly D
September 12th, 2012
9:34 pm
I believe there probably is climate change going on. As to how much if it is natural and how much of it isn’t I don’t know and don’t believe anybody else does either. Does that make me a North Korean?
Dusty
September 12th, 2012
9:36 pm
Whew
Amvet is trying to link Republicans to North Koreans.
I realize that he posts from the lower levels of illegitimate mud buckets but that one is 100% propaganda proof and totally exempt from reason
‘Oh well, standard brew from Jam Vet of far fetched fields of self importance. There he blows!!
Linda
September 12th, 2012
9:36 pm
Dog Barker@8:39, First you insult me by re-posting @ 8:39 what I said @ 8:33. For your information, most women don’t ever forget anything. Zilch! Nada! I suspect that you have had a few relationship issues, so let me give you some advice, that coming from from a mature, experienced lady. Don’t ever assume that a woman forgets anything. Some do. Most of us don’t. Got it?
Second, don’t ever insult a lady. You do know the difference between a woman & a lady, don’t you? Evidently, not. Don’t ever call a lady a “con.”
Third, don’t ever insult mothers. Our son, close to 30, has never had a cavity.
Get over your vindictiveness. If you can’t debate the real issues, get off this blog. You will never be able to intimidate women, ladies, mothers or conservatives with your “moves,” which I find highly insulting.
Del
September 12th, 2012
9:36 pm
Long live global warming, long live climate change…$hit none of these bumper stickers are firing up the masses, so what can we call it next. These damn deniers are really pissing me off.
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:39 pm
Dusty, the facts are the facts.
Ignorance will only get you so far in this life.
But who cares? It’s not as if the GOP and the DPRK are gonna stop the rest of an enlightened planet from trying to find the answers!
Like I said to Linda, it is high time that you joined in that effort…
@@
September 12th, 2012
9:40 pm
AmVet:
Are you a fan of Cap & Trade?
JamVet
September 12th, 2012
9:43 pm
No, of course not. Cap & Trade is a nonsensical non-answer to the problem.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
September 12th, 2012
9:51 pm
http://washingtonexaminer.com/how-the-media-turned-obamas-foreign-policy-bungle-into-a-romney-gaffe/article/2507779#.UFE6trKPW8A
When Romney gave a press conference Wednesday, the questions focused on whether it was appropriate for him to criticize Obama at the time he did. Romney’s responses didn’t really matter, because reporters had already decided their narrative. Obama did not take any questions in his own press conference moments later.
In 2004, John Kerry routinely attacked President Bush’s handling of Iraq when things weren’t going well in the country. And the media dutifully reported on Bush’s foreign policy blunders in Iraq. But now, instead of scrutinizing Obama’s handling of a foreign policy crisis, the media has decided that the real story in Egypt and Libya is a Mitt Romney gaffe.
Dusty
September 12th, 2012
9:53 pm
JamVet,
I have no desire to penetrate the dark smog of misinformation that surrounds you, The rest of the planet may be seeking enlightment, but you are far off on Mars.
Please don’t overload your circuits of information. The three street lights of Doraville might go out. .