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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Enough.

Sadly, yesterday was not only a day for Americans to remember those we lost in the terrorist attacks eleven years ago, but also a day of violence in the Middle East, violence directed towards Americans. 

Our embassy in Egypt was overrun by protesters, who tore down our flag and ripped and burned it, then replaced it with their own banner. Even worse, in Libya similar protests resulted in our ambassador being killed. 

Embassies are legally treated as the sovereign soil of the countries that operate them, so I can't see how yesterday's violence in Egypt and Libya was anything other than an act of war against the United States

As usual, the White House's response is so cowardly and pathetic, it can only embolden our enemies and give pause to those who might consider standing up with us. Think about the Pakistani doctor who helped us find Osama bin Laden - he was thrown in jail and is being tortured after his name was leaked by some shameless cowards in the Obama administration, presumably to bolster the President's reelection efforts. 

If you were in a foreign country, and you saw the United States fail to protect people who provided information to the U.S. military, and respond to violent attacks with feckless press releases condemning anyone who hurt anyone's feelings about Islam, would you respect our country? Would you trust us to protect you and your family if you provided intelligence against terrorists in your country?

Foreign policy involves a lot more than just making toasts at state dinners and sending out press releases. It is no secret that I am not a fan of our current president, but the events of just the past day make me fear that he is doing irreversible damage to our national security interests. 

What message does it send the world when our embassies and citizens are violently attacked, and our response is to blithely continue discussions about the generous foreign aid we are planning to send?

Apparently President Obama can't see Egypt and Libya from his house. On the anniversary of the worst terrorist attacks ever perpetrated on America, our embassy in Cairo and our consulate in Benghazi were attacked by violent Islamic mobs. In Cairo, they scaled the walls of our embassy, destroyed our flag, and replaced it with a black Islamic banner. In Benghazi, the armed gunmen set fire to our consulate and killed an American staff member. The Islamic radicals claim that these attacks are in protest to some film criticizing Islam. In response to this, the U.S. embassy in Cairo issued a statement that was so outrageous many of us thought it must be a satire. The embassy actually apologized to the violent mob attacking us, and it even went so far as to chastise those who use free speech to "hurt the religious feelings of Muslims." (Funny, the current administration has no problem hurting the "religious feelings" of Catholics.)

But where is the president's statement about this? These countries represent his much touted "Arab Spring." How's that Arab Spring working out for us now? Have we received an apology yet from our "friends" in the Muslim Brotherhood for the assault on our embassy? 

It's about time our president stood up for America and condemned these Islamic extremists. I realize there must be a lot on his mind these days – what with our economy's abysmal jobless numbers and Moody's new warning about yet another downgrade to our nation's credit rating due to the current administration's failure to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan. And, of course, he has a busy schedule – with all those rounds of golf, softball interviews with the "Pimp with the Limp," and fundraising dinners with his corporate cronies. But our nation's security should be of utmost importance to our Commander-in-chief. America can't afford any more "leading from behind" in such a dangerous world. We already know that President Obama likes to "speak softly" to our enemies. If he doesn't have a "big stick" to carry, maybe it's time for him to grow one.

2 comments:

  1. Here in America, the Da Vinci Code became a national bestseller; no Catholics killed anyone because of it, nor felt the need to storm an embassy (or even Dan Brown's home).

    The National Endowment for the Arts gives taxpayer money for "art" such as soaking a crucifix in bodily waste. Christians somehow manage to not riot, kill the artist, or invade a museum.

    That someone is "offended" by art, film, or literature, or feels that his religion was denigrated by such, is not an excuse for violence - at least not in a free world.

    In theory, a "constitutional law professor" would know that, but Obama doesn't seem to grasp that the exercise of free speech rights does not a moral claim to violence make.

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