The maker of the anti-Islamic film the Obama administration used as a scapegoat for the deadly 9/11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which had absolutely nothing to do with the attack, has been sentenced to a year in jail. He was sentenced for charges "unrelated to the film."
The sentence was the result of a plea bargain between lawyers for Mark Bassely Youssef and federal prosecutors. Youssef admitted in open court that he had used several false names in violation of his probation order and obtained a driver's license under a false name. He was on probation for a bank fraud case.
Shortly after Youssef left the courtroom, his lawyer, Steven Seiden, came to the front steps of the courthouse and told reporters his client wanted to send a message.
"The one thing he wanted me to tell all of you is President Obama may have gotten Osama bin Laden, but he didn't kill the ideology," Seiden said.
All parties agreed that none of the violations had to do with the content of "Innocence of Muslims," a film that depicts Mohammad as a religious fraud, pedophile and womanizer.
This is a strange situation. Here is this guy, who made an anti-Islam film the Obama adminstration used to lie to the entire world about 9/11 and now, he's been sentenced to one year in prison on unrelated charges even though he was hauled off to jail the day after 9/11? And right after the administration started using him as a scapegoat? This doesn't add up. Not to mention, Yousef has been described by press reports as a Coptic Christian. Who is getting slaughered in Egypt right now? Coptic Christians. Again, this film had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack on our consulate. The raging violence in the Middle East was a result of the film being publicized and blamed over and over again by this administration.
On September 11, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, were attacked. The United States flag in both locations was torn down and al Qaeda flags were raised in their place. Neither event was a “spontaneous action.” The attack in Libya was pre-planned, with armed Islamic militants wielding RPGs leading the way. The riots in Egypt were pre-planned for 9/11 to protest the imprisonment of World Trade Center Bomber and "Blind Sheikh" Omar abdel Rahman, with al Qaeda sypathizers rallying the crowd.
It was after the initial attack in Egypt that the administration threw free speech under the bus. The U.S Embassy in Cairo released the following statement on 9/11, the same day as the attacks. Notice “the video” isn’t mentioned.
“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.”
A day later, the same argument with a specific reference to an anti-Islam video was used by administration officals to explain the attack in Benghazi, the place Americans were brutally murdered and where they left bloody finger streaks on the walls of the U.S. consulate.
Although the White House initially distanced itself from the embassy statement above, they had their straw man. Obama administration officials decided to push the argument that the amateur YouTube video insulting Islam, with just 300 views at the time, was the reason for the violence. A spontaneous protest of the film that spun out of control was the talking point.
Then, after Obama administration officials repeatedly blamed the YouTube video, the Muslim world erupted, with U.S. Embassies in multiple countries coming under siege, just as we saw with the Danish cartoon fiasco.
On September 14, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “The cause of the unrest was a video," adding, “The reason there is unrest is because of the film.”
In this case, Carney was actually telling the truth. The cause of the unrest was a result of a video, a video the Obama administration cynically promoted.
In its attempt to avoid taking a political hit and to distract away from the fact al Qaeda is getting stronger, not weaker as President Obama has claimed on the campaign trail, the Obama administration successfully enraged radical Muslims around the world in more than 25 countries including Indonesia, Yemen, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Iraq, and London after the planned attacks in Libya and Egypt. The administration’s efforts to blame the video fanned the deadly flames of anti-American sentiment around the world. In Pakistan alone, 17 people were killed.
We now know the YouTube video had nothing to do with sparking the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi or the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on 9/11. However, we do know that the White House narrative of the video being responsible did give thousands of Muslims a reason to riot around the world. The Obama administration’s false talking points, attack on free speech and bogus narrative, put U.S. personnel further at risk, despite President Obama claiming his number one priority is to keep U.S. diplomats safe.