If you haven't heard already, yesterday's 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was a bad day for America in the Middle East. First, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was stormed by violent protestors who tore down the American flag and raised an Al Qaeda flag in its place. Why? Because they were offended about the portrayal of Muhammed in a new film and because they really just hate America and everything she stands for.
A group of protesters scaled the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday evening and entered its outer grounds, pulled down an American flag, then tried to burn it outside the embassy walls, according to witnesses.
In both Cairo and Benghazi, protesters said they were demonstrating against a U.S.-released film that insulted the prophet Muhammad.
"A video they say is insulting to Islam."
Then, we got news an American State Department officer was killed during an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the incident.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement. “As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack.”
But what was the Obama administration's official response to the tearing down of the American flag at the U.S. flag on 9/11? The administration issued an apology to the protestors for offending them. Here is the entire statement from the U.S. Embassy to the protestors.
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.
You read that correctly. The U.S. Embassy isn't scolding protestors for attacking the Embassy, but instead are attacking free speech itself by condoning radical Muslims who were protesting against....free speech, or in other words, protesting because someone simply said something they didn't like.
As a refresher, remember President Obama's international apology tour for America's "bad behavior" over the years to foreign leaders immediately after taking office in 2009? Remember when he proverbially flipped the bird to our friend Great Britain by returning a Winston Churchill bust that sat on the Oval Office for years just two weeks after his inauguration? Remember when President Obama threw our only true ally in the Middle East, Israel, under the bus by taking the Palestineans' side and asking the Jewish State to go back to indefensible 1967 borders? Remember when President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to try those responsible for 9/11 not in military tribunals, but in New York City, just blocks away from where they murdered 3,000 innocent Americans? Remember when President Obama offered Russia more "flexibility" after his re-election in November? Remember when Obama's closest White House advisers leaked highly classified national security secrets and intelligence to the press in order to make Obama look better surrounding the bin Laden raid, putting our special forces and allies in harms way? Remember yesterday when President Obama and his chief campaign officer David Axelrod couldn't bring themselves to take even one day off of campaigning on the 11th anniversary of 9/11? Remember yesterday when President Obama blew Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu off when a meeting was requested, all because he's "too busy" but had time to schedule a Letterman appearance? Etc. Etc. Etc.
You get the drift. With that said, I'm with Charles.
GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney seemed to be as appalled as the rest of America with the Obama administration's response and issued the following statement.
UPDATE: Post apology, Reuters is reporting the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, along with three other embassy staff have been killed.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a center of last year's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated.
"I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi," 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."