Since then, reports have come out that continue to puzzle. There was an obscure internet movie identified that offensively portrayed the prophet Mohammed. It was so obscure previously that it had essentially no notice and no notoriety. It played only once in a theater, to an almost empty house. The filmmaker is now in hiding, and the attention will cause much more viewing than would have occurred without this call to attention. (The movie was removed from online, but here is information about it.)
But it appears the movie-as-catalyst-to-violence is just an excuse. The attacks are more likely a retaliation for deaths from drone strikes in Pakistan some time ago, and the dates were coordinated to hit on 9/11 for the symbolism of the day. In addition, the administration may have had 48 hours warning prior to the attack on the Libyan embassy. Security was believed to be tight enough, but it turns out documents were stolen, and information leaked about a nearby safe house, which was directly attacked.
Additional unrest has occurred in Yemen, Tunisia, and Sudan—and a total of 20 countries. (Info here and here.) Closer to home, an anonymous caller with a middle eastern accent, claiming ties to al Qaeda, said bombs had been placed around the University of Texas Austin campus this morning. The campus was evacuated, and the time passed for the explosions, and nothing happened or was found. But the sense of vulnerability that terrorism was spread as intended. A similar threat happened on the North Dakota State campus.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the president skipped his intel briefing—again. Also, the House Intelligence Committee requested a briefing from the State Department, which was refused, no reason given.[i] The president sort of said Egypt wasn’t an ally, apparently uncertain of the definition of the word, and then had that statement walked back by the state department.
Hillary Clinton and others are “shocked, SHOCKED” that the US should be treated this way after all the mollifying we’ve done.
The thing about mollifying is, it lets a bully know your intention is not to stand up to them, and it validates their excuse for violence. Mollifying is not good foreign policy. Unwise people mistake mollifying for diplomacy, but they are quite different. Diplomacy shows respect to other parties while expressing your own party’s (in this case the US's) interests so that all interests can be addressed with respect while moving toward, hopefully, mutual agreement, or at least understanding.
It is difficult to know the president’s inscrutable reasoning. Does he see the situation as acceptable? Does he misread the situation as unimportant? Is he pleased for some anti-American reason? Is he simply incompetent, or is he evil? If there is some other explanation, we certainly ought to hear it—very soon.
[i] From Kevin Jackson’s The Blacksphere Face book status, 9-13-2012: “On the John Batchelor radio program this evening, a little after 9p.m (eastern), Congressman Devin Nunes (California) was being interviewed by Batchelor. He said that the House Intelligence Committee (of which Nunes is a member) REQUESTED someone from the State Department come to brief them on the events in the Middle East, and not only were they refused that brief, but State didn’t give a reason why
“Congressman Nunes said it was unprecedented and, as long as he could remember, it had never happened previously in our history. He made a point of saying there was a great deal of bi-partisan cooperation on the committee, so it couldn’t be blamed on election year partisanship; said that both parties on the committee were infuriated. Lastly, he said, ‘Tomorrow, I thinkthe CIA will come in and brief us.’”
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