Acts of War, Not Spontaneous

This morning, following the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, we awoke to learn that a violent mob of Islamists stormed U.S. diplomatic compounds in Egypt and Libya, ostensibly upset over a film reportedly made by Americans that they claim is "insulting" to Mohammed. They scaled the embassy walls, tore down and shredded the American flag, and tried to hoist the al Qaeda flag bearing the words "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger" in its place. Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood leadership ---which just has to send the signal to get such mobs acting in the first place---did nothing to rein in or punish the mob. Instead, new Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi suggested that the United States should "protect Islam." All of this was orchestrated. None of it was spontaneous. It was a set-up, but a set-up for what, exactly?

In response to the events in Egypt, our besieged embassy did not offer a defiant and strong defense of the First Amendment. Instead, it released a statement of apology, to the Islamists, for the film. It said:

"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."

Many Americans thought that statement was a joke, a spoof. An official U.S. State Department statement apologizing to Islamists and terrorists for

"hurting their feelings?" That couldn't possibly be real.

Oh, but it was. Our Embassy even doubled down on the apology after it began to be criticized as laughably absurd and destructive and AFTER the violence began. It tweeted: "U.S. Embassy condemns religious incitement."

Late in the evening, the White House attempted to distance itself from the apology, saying the embassy's statements weren't "cleared by Washington."

So Mr."Competent" wants us to believe he had no idea what his own State Department was doing.

Speaking of the State Department, Obama's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also doubled down, along with the embassy, on the apology, releasing a

statement saying, "We condemn the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims." And: "The U.S. deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others."

So, which is it? Apology or "not cleared by Washington?"

Seeing this confused and weak appeasement, another emboldened and violent mob of Islamists went on a rampage in Libya, attacking our consulate in

Benghazi (where, you will recall, the first al Qaeda flag was raised after we and NATO "liberated" that nation from Moammar Qaddafi.)  They assassinated our Ambassador, Christopher Stevens---a man dedicated to helping the Libyan "rebels" transition to a new government.  The Islamists killed him, along with three U.S. embassy staffers, in a blaze of rocket, grenade, and gun attacks.

Obama's first response to these attacks on the United States was to "strongly condemn" the "senseless violence" and to reiterate our Egyptian

embassy's original anti-First Amendment apology that the U.S. "rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others." (What happened in Egypt and Libya yesterday is not a random act of violence. It was coordinated by the Islamists to occur on 9/11...and therefore, it was far from "senseless." It made perfect sense.)

Obama also chose yesterday to blow off Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had requested an immediate meeting with him about the rising tensions in the Middle East and in particular, the urgency of dealing with Iran's nuclear program. (Keep in mind that Israel is not only one of our

closest allies, period, it's also now our ONLY real ally in the region.) Obama turned him down, citing "scheduling conflicts." The White House then announced that Obama would be appearing on "Letterman."

The United States of America was brutally attacked---on September 11, no less----in acts of war against us, and the first reaction of the Commander-in-Chief is to issue a boilerplate, meaningless statement pandering to the attackers I don't know why his anti-American weakness surprises me anymore.

Anybody can issue a meaningless statement. The question is: what are the consequences for such acts of war against the United States?

The Middle East is aflame, much of which is a result of Obama's policies of helping to dislodge allies like Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Qaddafi and replace them with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. He may use the orchestrated violence as a pretext to act in order to get Americans' attention off the economy.  I don't know.  But in any case, Obama must be defeated on November 6 if we're to have any hope of surviving as a serious world power. Maybe surviving, period.