On 9/11, a day devoted to remembering those killed at the hands of Islamofascist terrorists -- and this year, a day when a mob in Egypt attacks the US embassy and replaces the American flag with the Al Qaeda one -- here is the Obama administration's statement in full:
The Embassy of the United States 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. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.
One would think this was a horrible, outrageous joke. But it's not. It's the actual statement. It's kind of reminiscent of Obama's response to 9/11 itself. Just a week after the collapse of the Twin Towers, them State Senator Obama published a piece in the Hyde Park Herald where he discussed
“the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness.”
“The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others,” he wrote. “Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity….”
“We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad,” he went on. “We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent."
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(That rhetoric, was, of course, before his expanded use of drones meant more civilian deaths.)
Note his big concerns: "understanding" the attackers and the preemptive denunciation of expected "bigotry or discrimination" against Middle Easterners -- bigotry that really never materialized. It is, however, revealing of his view of average Americans . . . just as his administration's statement today likewise is dismayingly reflective of his concerns and priorities.
Sources:
http://egypt.usembassy.gov/pr091112.html
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hyde-park-herald?before=1341684768
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