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.

[ReynardMuldrake]

RIP Vile Rat:

So: Vile Rat, Sean Smith, my friend for over six years, both in real life and in internet spaceships, was the “State Department Official” killed in Benghazi by a mob of religious lunatics, who had been incited to violence on this September 11th by a movie that was apparently made sometime in July. Obviously, given the combined attacks in Egypt and in Libya, this was a coordinated act designed for maximum media exposure; rile up a mob, point them at an embassy or consulate on 9/11 in particular, aim for the press. Many were injured in these pointless, reprehensible acts, and one of my closest friends was killed as a result.

(12:54:09 PM) vile_rat: assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures

We knew that Vile Rat was in Benghazi; he told us. He commented on how they use guns to celebrate weddings and how there was a constant susurrus of weaponry in the background. He was in situ to provide IT services for the consulate, which meant he was on the net all the time, hanging out with us on Jabber as usual and talking about internet spaceship games.

He was on jabber when it happened, that’s the most ****ed up thing. In Baghdad the same kind of thing happened - incoming sirens, he’d vanish, we’d freak out and he’d come back ok after a bit. This time he said ‘****’ and ‘GUNFIRE’ and then disconnected and never returned.

Then the major media began reporting on the consulate and embassy attacks in Libya and Egypt, and I freaked out and then it turned out that it was my friend of six years who helped build this alliance into what it is today since, the very beginning, starting out as one of my agents and growing to become the single most influential diplomat in the history of Eve, or perhaps of any online game.

I’m clearly in shock as I write this as everything is buzzing around my head funnily and I feel kind of dead inside. I’m not sure if this is how I’m supposed to react to my friend being killed by a mob in a post-revolutionary Libya, but it’s pretty awful and Sean was a great guy and he was a goddamned master at this game we all play, even though a lot of people may not realize how significant an influence he had. It seems kind of trivial to praise a husband, father, and overall badass for his skills in an internet spaceship game but that's how most of us know him, so there you go.

Shoot blues -> Tell Vile Rat.

RIP, my friend.

http://themittani.com/news/rip-vile-rat

[Bo's Pelini]

I'm a believer in small-R republicanism, and self-determination. I believe it is a great thing for a society that does not experience those qualities to move towards them, and I definitely think it's a net gain to rid the world of brutal dictators like we've seen under seige during the Arab Spring. That, to me, is my guiding principle.

Sometimes, the move towards republicanism throughout the Middle East will work to our favor, sometimes it will not. I believe we should support the Spring whether it does or not. The Middle East, as well as several places on earth, needs to catch up to modernity.

And sometimes it gets thousands of our own killed. Your argument for Libya is weak at best. Just admit you were wrong.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by driver2

Better the Devil you know than the one you don't!

Is anyone paying attention? Do you notice the parallels.
We elect a weak assed Democratic fool to the presidency!
He fails to support our allie in the country in question!
The radicals attack our embassy.

Compare 1979 to 2012.

Did you pay attention to any of the embassy attacks during Republican administrations, or do those somehow not count?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrori...tic_facilities

Looks like:

Ike: 1
Kennedy: 0
LBJ: 0
Nixon/Ford: 4
Carter: 2
Reagan: 7
Bush1: 1
Clinton: 4
Bush2: 12
Obama: 2

[Donger]

Originally Posted by billay

And sometimes it gets thousands of our own killed. Your argument for Libya is weak at best. Just admit you were wrong.

Are you addressing me or Direckshun?

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Did you pay attention to any of the embassy attacks during Republican administrations, or do those somehow not count?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrori...tic_facilities

Looks like:

Ike: 1
Kennedy: 0
LBJ: 0
Nixon/Ford: 4
Carter: 2
Reagan: 7
Bush1: 1
Clinton: 4
Bush2: 12
Obama: 2

Most of those didn't happen in countries that were needlessly lost to our adversaries by the President's lack of effective policy (or lack of interest).

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Most of those didn't happen in countries that were needlessly lost to our adversaries by the President's lack of effective policy (or lack of interest).

One can't lose what one doesn't control/own. This concept you and many other Republicans especially hold that we get to decide who rules where etc. is pretty comical. We can help or hinder, certainly, but when we get involved in local politics we take on great risk with questionable reward. Being seen as hypocritical (when we support brutal dictators while toppling others) may not be helpful to us across the world either.

Obama "lost" Egypt like Truman/Marshall "lost" China. Or Nixon "lost" Vietnam for that matter. Oh, and Ike lost North Korea and Cuba, etc.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Most of those didn't happen in countries that were needlessly lost to our adversaries by the President's lack of effective policy (or lack of interest).

I assume you're not arguing that Libya was "lost to our adversaries", right?

[dirk digler]

First off prayers go out to the diplomats family for their loss. Indeed this was a tragic event(s).

Politically it looks like some on the right are nailing Romney for his stupid response. As Peggy Noonan said it was probably best to keep his mouth shut.

Mitt Romney's "sharply-worded attack on President Obama over a pair of deadly riots in Muslim countries last night has backfired badly among foreign policy hands of both parties, who cast it as hasty and off-key, released before the facts were clear at what has become a moment of tragedy," Ben Smith reports.

Said a very senior Republican foreign policy hand: "They were just trying to score a cheap news cycle hit based on the embassy statement and now it's just completely blown up."

Said another Republican: "I guess we see now that it is because they're incompetent at talking effectively about foreign policy. This is just unbelievable -- when they decide to play on it they completely bungle it."

Another said it was "a parallel to the moment when John McCain, amid the 2008 financial crisis, failed to come across as a steady leader."

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan is criticizing Mitt Romney’s response to the death of a U.S. diplomat in Libya, telling Fox News today she doesn’t feel that the Republican presidential nominee “has been doing himself any favors” in the past few hours.

“I was thinking as he spoke, I think I belong to the old school of thinking that in times of great drama and heightened crisis, and in times when something violent has happened to your people, I always think discretion is the better way to go,” Noonan said. “When you step forward in the midst of a political environment and start giving statements on something dramatic and violent that has happened, you're always leaving yourself open to accusations that you are trying to exploit things politically.”

“I don't feel that Mr. Romney has been doing himself any favors, say in the past few hours, perhaps since last night,” Noonan told Fox News. “Sometimes when really bad things happen, when hot things happen, cool words or no words is the way to go.”

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Pittsie

Nope, he's going the hail mary, politicize the deaths of Americans route. As expected. Dude's as cravenly opportunistic as they come.

dude.

[Aries Walker]

The guy who said it was an attempt to score a cheap news cycle was probably right. He's a politician, and he reacted in the textbook politician way. No one's ever accused Mitt Romney of being big on empathy.

[Iowanian]

We should have just let their government smash them.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

We should have just let their government smash them.

Exactly what I'm thinking. Them killing each other is a good thing plus it keeps them busy so they can't commit cowardly acts of terrorism against civilized people. Like the Iran-Iraq war; I'd like to have seen that go on forever.

[mlyonsd]

In the good ole Bush days acts like this were pointed to as proof by the left on how bad his policies had deteriorated our standing in the world.

Glad to see Obama is doing so much better.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

No one's ever accused Mitt Romney of being big on empathy.

Yep. This is the same guy who a couple of weeks ago told a man who just lost his house in the hurricane to go home and call 211.

[Aries Walker]

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

In the good ole Bush days acts like this were pointed to as proof by the left on how bad his policies had deteriorated our standing in the world.

Glad to see Obama is doing so much better.

Obama refrained from intervening as a dictator which we've been supporting through five Presidencies was overthrown. Also, he actively helped overthrow the other brutal dictator while their population cheered.

Bush started two wars against Muslim countries.

Big diff.

Also, CNN is now quoting a US source in saying that this was a targeted terrorist attack that used the protesters as cover.

Originally Posted by CNN

[Updated at 12:11 p.m. ET] Tuesday's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was planned in advance, and the attackers used the protest outside the consulate as a diversion, U.S. sources told CNN Wednesday.

The sources could not say whether the attackers instigated the protest or merely took advantage of it. The sources do not believe Ambassador Chris Stevens was specifically targeted.