Thread: U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in attack on consulate

U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in attack on consulate

Posted By Mary Casey, Jennifer Parker Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - 9:05 AM

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. officials have been reported killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate late Tuesday night in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi. Protesters armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the consulate and set it on fire, according to Libyan officials. One report said the Americans were killed when gunmen opened fire on their car as they were being evacuated, while others stated Ambassador Stevens died from smoke inhalation. The assault was sparked by a protest against a low-budget film made by an Israeli-American from California, Sam Bacile, and promoted by an Egyptian expatriate. The trailer to the film, "Innocence of Muslims," which was posted on YouTube, has been criticized for being highly insulting to Muslims, denigrating the Prophet Muhammad. The film also spurred an attack on the U.S. embassy in Cairo, where demonstrators breached the compound and pulled down and burned the U.S. flag, which had been flying at half-mast for the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have condemned the attacks, joined by Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur.

Syria
Syrian opposition forces killed at least 18 Syrian soldiers in a car bombing and attack on a military post in Idlib province. Four Armenian Syrians were killed and 13 injured in clashes about three miles from Aleppo's airport. It is not certain who initiated the fighting. Government forces shelled several neighborhoods in Aleppo, killing an estimated 13 people,mostly civilians. According to the Local Coordination Committees, up to 136 people were killed across Syria Tuesday, mostly in Aleppo, Damascus and its suburb, and Hama. A group of nearly 300 Filipino workers have returned to Manila fleeing Syria's civil war, in repatriation negotiated between Syria and the Philippines. There are an estimated 3,600 additional Filipino workers in Syria with 3,000 who have expressed a desire to stay despite the conflict. Meanwhile, U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is set to meet with President Bashar al-Assad in his first visit to Damascus since taking the post. The trip will come just days after Egypt hosted a summit on Syria with diplomats from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt.

Headlines

• The White House insists there is no rift between the United States and Israel, as Prime Minister Netanyahu chides President Obama for failure to set "red lines" on Iran's nuclear development.
• The Palestinian Authority has announced a package of subsidies and tax cuts in addition to canceling a tax hike in efforts to quell West Bank economic protests.
• Libya's 200-member national congress is electing a new prime minister on Wednesday, picking from eight candidates, including Mahmoud Jibril, who led the transitional council during last year's revolution.

Arguments & Analysis
‘Seven Lean Years of Peacemaking' (Daniel Levy, The New York Times)
"That Israel will never live in peace and security with the Palestinians or the wider Arab and Muslim world under such terms doesn't seem to matter. Forty-five years of Israeli impunity as settlements metastasized in defiance of international law has bred an understandable sense of invincibility. Add to that mix the emaciated state of liberal Israeli politics, the messianic orientation that infuses religious nationalism and the catastrophism endemic to much Zionist thinking - and the seven lean years look set to continue. But don't be under any illusions; such injustice will not be sustainable
...The choices are stark. Either Israel takes bold and urgent action to reverse the 1.5 percent doctrine by getting out of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, or it acknowledges that the doctrine has triumphed and embraces a democratic solution that moves beyond the classic two-state paradigm and guarantees full and equal rights for all residents in some form of confederation or unitary state."

‘The Future of Egypt's Electoral Law' (Daniel Tavana, Sada)
"The architects of Egypt's transition and those responsible for drafting the constitution have given little thought to the future of the country's electoral law-a critical component of sustainable democracy. Seemingly bigger issues have come to dominate the attention of decision makers in recent months: curbing institutional interests, checking the power of the military, and holding a broader debate on the role of religion in politics. Debate over these issues has come at the expense of discussing inclusive laws regulating elections and the legitimate transfer of political power."

‘Turkey is No Partner for Peace' (Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs)
"At first glance, it appears that the United States and Turkey are working hand in hand to end the Syrian civil war. On August 11, after meeting with Turkish officials, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement that the two countries' foreign ministries were coordinating to support the Syrian opposition and bring about a democratic transition. In Ankara on August 23, U.S. and Turkish officials turned those words into action, holding their first operational planning meeting aimed at hastening the downfall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Beneath their common desire to oust Assad, however, Washington and Ankara have two distinctly different visions of a post-revolutionary Syria. The United States insists that any solution to the Syrian crisis should guarantee religious and ethnic pluralism. But Turkey, which is ruled by a Sunni government, has come to see the conflict in sectarian terms, building close ties with Syria's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Sunni opposition, seeking to suppress the rights of Syrian Kurds, and castigating the minority Alawites -- Assad's sect -- as enemies. That should be unsettling for the Obama administration, since it means that Turkey will not be of help in promoting a multi-ethnic, democratic government in Damascus. In fact, Turkish attitudes have already contributed to Syria's worsening sectarian divisions."

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Killed in Attack on Consulate - By Mary Casey and Jennifer Parker | The Middle East Channel

What are we going to go to war with Libya over a small group of RELIGIOUS extremists who took advantage of a protest in order to satisfy their lust to kill Americans? Are we going to pour billions into another quagmire? First we have Israel's President up on us for not attacking Iran, and now we're certainly going to hear from war hawks wanting to bomb Libya.

Amazing how fiction, not backed by any scientific evidence whatsoever, is so ingrained into these people's heads that they're willing to kill in the name of it. It would be like fans of Harry Potter killing those who insult the great Harry.

Isn't it a shame these dum-dums who make movies that are inflammatory and untrue like that don't think ahead and see the social cost in Americans' safety and lives before they make them? It's enough to have people hate us for the truth-it's totally unacceptable to fan the flames for nothing!!

Originally Posted by sacredrage

Isn't it a shame these dum-dums who make movies that are inflammatory and untrue like that don't think ahead and see the social cost in Americans' safety and lives before they make them? It's enough to have people hate us for the truth-it's totally unacceptable to fan the flames for nothing!!

I also agree that the film makers were stupid in releasing this film. And although I do not believe in any religion, I would never want to go out of my way to call Jesus or Mohammed child molesters or whatever insults, much less publish my opinions in such a manner knowing that millions of people (for reasons unknown to me) believe in their sacredness. But at the same time, these extremists need to realize that we have the freedom of speech and that just because a few idiots make a film does not mean our government or our citizens agree with the film maker. The protests were fine (although misdirected), but killing is never right.

In Libya our Ambassador and several other American were murdered by a Salafist mob over some obscure video shown on the Internet. I doubt if 99% of American were even aware of the video. But radical Islamists in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were aware of it and attacked our embassies.

What did we do? Instead of reaffirming our Free Speech values, the U.S. embassy redefined and limited freedom of speech to that speech which others, and, explicitly Muslims, do not find offensive: The embassy asserts that to “hurt the religious beliefs of others” is to “abuse the universal right of free speech.” Normally our Embassies speak for our government. Not in this case, Obama, realizing the cost to his political campaign disavowed the statement. But would he have disavowed it had he not been trying to convince the American people to re-elect him. I don’t think so.

Under Obama the US has taken a very pro-Islamic position and has gone out of its way to kick our secular allies under the bus while supporting our new friends in the Muslim Brotherhood. Remember Hillary Clinton laughing, saying of Ghaddafi and Libya – “we came, we saw, he died” and then laughing at what she considered to be a clever remark.

Whatever you may think of Ghaddafi, Mubarak, Ben Ali – they would not have allowed the murder of our Ambassador, and the burning and looting of our embassies. They would have put down the mobs. Current leaders just whine, wring their hands and say there is nothing they can do, but they are sorry.

All along we have done nothing but empower our enemies in the Middle East. If anyone thought these people wanted democracy they should look at the recent pictures coming out of Cairo and Benghazi. Above all we should NOT let Syria fall to the Salafist who call themselves the Free Syrian Army or we will see a repetition of Salafist brutality in Syria.

It should remind us that Islam is NOT a religion of peace. It is a religion of war, conquest and domination. It has been that since its founding. The Arab Spring is just another phase of conquest and domination, in which radical Islamists lulled the West into helping them overthrow moderate Secular Leaders. We helped them and we are paying the price everywhere in the Middle East for our naïveté. We see our Ambassador murdered, our embassies sacked and burned. Instead of viewing this rightly as an Act of War, we have a President who issues some platitudinous words with no power behind them. If there was every a time for a drone attack it is NOW against these Salafists. If we fail to respond the Salafist will take it as a sign of weakness and will be empowered to commit worse atrocities against the US and Americans.

Originally Posted by sacredrage

Isn't it a shame these dum-dums who make movies that are inflammatory and untrue like that don't think ahead and see the social cost in Americans' safety and lives before they make them? It's enough to have people hate us for the truth-it's totally unacceptable to fan the flames for nothing!!

As long as the First Amendment exists, they filmmakers have the right to make that film. We should not limit our first amendment right because of Muslims.

Pretty scary times. it was Romney/Ryan that tried to turn this into political advantage, and based upon their commments I felt that they have a poor understanding of diplomacy and the pressures diplomats and ambassdors work under/with. As info developed Obama/Clinton put the thing into pespective, after awaiting, no doubt, for the intell community to report, IMHO..

I beleive, that to maintain peace upon our own cntinent we have problems, specifically immigration and fiscal problems, one integrated with the other, that must be addressed. These prblems need a solution befoe we can entertain more wars on other continents. Wars that do not specifically maintain protect and strengthen our own needs must be avoided, as they now would only weaken our ability to defend our nation.

My father told me as a young lad that republicans start wars, but leave them for democrats to bring them to an end. The last 20 some yeas would provide that some credence.

My sympathies to the State Dep't. empolyees families, to you and our sevicemen's famililes I am forever grateful for your sevices.

Originally Posted by judyweller

In Libya our Ambassador and several other American were murdered by a Salafist mob over some obscure video shown on the Internet. I doubt if 99% of American were even aware of the video. But radical Islamists in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were aware of it and attacked our embassies.

What did we do? Instead of reaffirming our Free Speech values, the U.S. embassy redefined and limited freedom of speech to that speech which others, and, explicitly Muslims, do not find offensive: The embassy asserts that to “hurt the religious beliefs of others” is to “abuse the universal right of free speech.” Normally our Embassies speak for our government. Not in this case, Obama, realizing the cost to his political campaign disavowed the statement. But would he have disavowed it had he not been trying to convince the American people to re-elect him. I don’t think so.

Under Obama the US has taken a very pro-Islamic position and has gone out of its way to kick our secular allies under the bus while supporting our new friends in the Muslim Brotherhood. Remember Hillary Clinton laughing, saying of Ghaddafi and Libya – “we came, we saw, he died” and then laughing at what she considered to be a clever remark.

Whatever you may think of Ghaddafi, Mubarak, Ben Ali – they would not have allowed the murder of our Ambassador, and the burning and looting of our embassies. They would have put down the mobs. Current leaders just whine, wring their hands and say there is nothing they can do, but they are sorry.

All along we have done nothing but empower our enemies in the Middle East. If anyone thought these people wanted democracy they should look at the recent pictures coming out of Cairo and Benghazi. Above all we should NOT let Syria fall to the Salafist who call themselves the Free Syrian Army or we will see a repetition of Salafist brutality in Syria.

It should remind us that Islam is NOT a religion of peace. It is a religion of war, conquest and domination. It has been that since its founding. The Arab Spring is just another phase of conquest and domination, in which radical Islamists lulled the West into helping them overthrow moderate Secular Leaders. We helped them and we are paying the price everywhere in the Middle East for our naïveté. We see our Ambassador murdered, our embassies sacked and burned. Instead of viewing this rightly as an Act of War, we have a President who issues some platitudinous words with no power behind them. If there was every a time for a drone attack it is NOW against these Salafists. If we fail to respond the Salafist will take it as a sign of weakness and will be empowered to commit worse atrocities against the US and Americans.

Okay then so lets start another war then! We saw how oh so well that went in Iraq and now Afganistan. The Salafists and other religious extremists are threatened by the increasing atheists and secularist youth in the Middle East. These more social liberal youth do not want these religious nuts take their respective countries back to the stone age. So how about instead of starting wars that only hurt our reputation among the growing secular youth who are our only hope, lets find other ways to support this vital secular movement.

If either Obama or Romney call for another costly war, then this country is doomed. We cannot deal with any more of this crap esp. when we have our own issues here at home.

Originally Posted by kevinssdad

Pretty scary times. it was Romney/Ryan that tried to turn this into political advantage, and based upon their commments I felt that they have a poor understanding of diplomacy and the pressures diplomats and ambassdors work under/with. As info developed Obama/Clinton put the thing into pespective, after awaiting, no doubt, for the intell community to report, IMHO..

Well that's what we expect from those two amateurs. I really would like to know who is running their campaign because he/she should get the boot immediately. Their responses to Obama's deferred action for the illegals, then on Obamacare this week, and now this are simply astounding. Obama is the weakest President in history, and this is what the Republican party could muster up to go up against him??? Seriously??? I don't know whether to laugh or cry for my country.

Originally Posted by sacredrage

Isn't it a shame these dum-dums who make movies that are inflammatory and untrue like that don't think ahead and see the social cost in Americans' safety and lives before they make them? It's enough to have people hate us for the truth-it's totally unacceptable to fan the flames for nothing!!

I think it's sad that a lame movie about their "prophet" gets lives lost - however the verbal and physical assaults against Christians happen every day, all over the world and the verbal abuse is especially rampant against Christians in this country.

Why? Oh I KNOW! Because NOTHING happens to them when they do and they are too big of a pu$$ to insult muslims!!!!! The non Christians can insult Christians with a piss soaked cross and call it "art" meanwhile a mere drawing deemed insulting of Mohammed gets rioting and loss of life.

Really makes me wonder why all the hatred towards Christians in this country....