The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi as protests flared in that country and neighboring Egypt against a film about mocking the Prophet Muhammad.
Three other U.S. personnel were also killed in the attack, Libya’s Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur said in a phone interview from Tripoli, reports Bloomerg.
A 14-minute clip of the film, “The Innocence of Islam,” aired on YouTube shows a fictional attack by Muslims on a Christian family followed by an account of the origins of Islam depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer. AP said the film was made by an Israeli living in California, Sam Bacile.
I thought U.S. Marines guarded our embassies. Where were they?
ReplyDeleteone down 300 million to go !
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2012/09/12/world/africa/libya-us-ambassador-killed-fallout/index.html
ReplyDeleteNo U.S. Marines were guarding the consulate at the time of the attack, according to U.S. officials. But that is not necessarily unusual, Burton said.
"Having the Marines can be viewed as politically sensitive at times," Burton said.
Amazing. No Marines because it can be seen as 'politically sensitive'. Small consolation the the families of the dead Americans. Sad.
Delete"Americans may be tempted to celebrate the apparent victory of US and NATO backed rebels in Libya, since it seems the Gaddafi regime is overthrown. But I believe any enthusiasm for our Libyan misadventure is premature...
ReplyDelete"Disturbingly, we see a pattern of relatively secular leaders in the Arab world being targeted for regime change with the resulting power vacuum being filled by much more radical elements. Iraq, post-Saddam, is certainly far closer to Iran than before the US invasion. Will Libya be any different?"
— Ron Paul, August 29, 2011
http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1906&Itemid=69