Protesters storm U.S. Embassy in Cairo

[Donger]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/world/...html?hpt=hp_t1

I suppose it's a good thing that "it doesn't have to be a good thing for us"....

Cairo (CNN) -- Angry protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and hauled down the American flag, replacing it with a black standard with Islamic emblems, apparently in protest of the production of a film thought to insult the Prophet Mohammed.

The incident prompted a volley of warning shots to be fired as a large crowd gathered outside, said CNN producer Mohammed Fahmy, who was on the scene.

The replacement flag read, "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger."

Others expressed more general grievances about U.S. policy, chanting anti-American slogans and holding up bits of a shredded American flag to television camera crews in front of the embassy.

An embassy operator told CNN that the facility had been cleared of diplomatic personnel earlier Tuesday, ahead of the apparent threat, while Egyptian riot police were called to help secure the area.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Tuesday that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims -- as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."

"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the statement said. "We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."

The incident occurred on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, as crowds gathered in somber remembrance of the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

It is not clear which film upset the protesters in Cairo.

In 2008, an anti-Muslim and anti-immigration parliamentarian from The Netherlands sparked international outcry when he produced a film that portrayed Islam as a violent religion.

Geert Wilders' film "Fitna," which he released online, featured images of terrorist acts superimposed over verses from the Quran.

[dmahurin]

I wonder if this guy showed up

[Bo's Pelini]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Reports now coming in that the US Ambassador to Libya was killed in a rocket attack.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19570254

Something has to be done. You can't not respond to this. I don't envy anyone who has to decide what though. No way to come out of this clean.

Yea there's a supposed pic of him on twitter.

Are these the same extremist we helped in Libya?

[AustinChief]

IF this report is true... we are looking at two embassy attacks that obviously were coordinated and one where it appears they planned on killing a high level target.

Before anyone starts throwing blame around, please remember that the intelligence community will NEVER be able to know EVERY threat or plot out there. What matters now is how we react.

Obviously we don't know how much was known beforehand... but I expect we are scrambling to get all the information now.

From a political standpoint, I certainly hope Romney stays on the sidelines for a while and gives the current administration time to get the facts sorted before making judgments. That being said, you can NOT allow a US Ambassador to be killed without retribution of some kind. This is a complete nightmare.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by billay

Yea there's a supposed pic of him on twitter.

Are these the same extremist we helped in Libya?

Libya is and has been utter chaos so there's no way to know. They could be Ugandans for all we know at this point.

[Bo's Pelini]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Libya is and has been utter chaos so there's no way to know. They could be Ugandans for all we know at this point.

If its ghaddifis opposition what a cluster ****. Libya was a mistake to begin with. When will people learn intervention in the middle east doesn't work.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

From a political standpoint, I certainly hope Romney stays on the sidelines for a while and gives the current administration time to get the facts sorted before making judgments. That being said, you can NOT allow a US Ambassador to be killed without retribution of some kind. This is a complete nightmare.

Too late...

Bracing for trouble before the start of the protests here and in Libya, the American Embassy released a statement shortly after noon that appeared to refer to Mr. Jones: “The United States Embassy 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.” It later denounced the “unjustified breach of our embassy.”

Apparently unaware of the timing of the first embassy statement, the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, put out a statement just before midnight Tuesday saying, “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.” Mr. Romney also said he was “outraged” at the attacks on the embassy and consulate.

Responding to Mr. Romney’s statement, Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, said, “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/wo...pagewanted=all

[Donger]

Four dead. But, it still doesn't have to be a good ****ing thing for us, right Direckshun?

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

True they don't care about our rhetoric good or bad. BUT it's a gross oversimplification to say it's out actions. What it in fact is.. what they are TOLD our actions are.

The root cause of this is rampant levels of ignorance that causes a massive reliance on religious leaders for guidance.

In this case, (as you have pointed out) none of them have seen the video, they are protesting because various religious leaders told them to. Period.

Ignorance, poverty and an over reliance on religion is a seriously bad mix.

Yup.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Donger

Four dead. But, it still doesn't have to be a good ****ing thing for us, right Direckshun?

Um, Qaddafi murdered Americans, too.

You're just laying everything bad at the feet of the Arab Spring.

[mikey23545]

The Libyan ambassador was not killed by a rocket attack...Three employees were killed by gunshot, he was suffocated.

[mikey23545]

They were trying to escape in a car.

[mikey23545]

"The Americans were targeted in an attack in their car, trying to move to a safer venue away from the violent protests that erupted at the U.S. Consulate, Reuters reported. Stevens died of suffocation, while the three other personnel were killed by gunshot wounds, CBS News reports."

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Um, Qaddafi murdered Americans, too.

You're just laying everything bad at the feet of the Arab Spring.

I'm laying this at the feet of the Arab Spring, yes. So should you.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Donger

I'm laying this at the feet of the Arab Spring, yes. So should you.

I do, of course.

Your point seems to be that this makes the Arab Spring de facto unjustified.

When, if that's going to be our bottom line, Americans have been murdered by Qaddafi as well.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I do, of course.

Your point seems to be that this makes the Arab Spring de facto unjustified.

When, if that's going to be our bottom line, Americans have been murdered by Qaddafi as well.

My point is that the Arab Spring, which you supported so dramatically, has now lead directly to the deaths of Americans. The difference between this and Qaddafi is that I didn't support Qaddafi.

Which is why I took issue with your "it doesn't have to be a good thing for us" stupidity. Do you still think that?