THE ATTACK IN BENGHAZI LAYS BARE MANY NASTY THINGS (A COMPILATION). The game plan in Syria. Short video on 9/11/1973
Enrique Ferro
THE ATTACK IN BENGHAZI LAYS BARE MANY NASTY THINGS.
They should have listened to Saif’s speech Monday 21/03/2011 where it was stated the following: “The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi accused Western powers on Sunday of making a “big mistake” by carrying out airstrikes against the country. “One day you’ll wake up and you will find out that you were supporting the wrong people,” Saif al Islam Gaddafi told American network ABC in a telephone interview.
Poetic justice, one could say. The greedy imperialists released the beast, and now they are put to pieces by its claws. That the Benghazi mob was riotous and fanatic was known for a long time. It is not the first time they indulge to blind violence to vent out their anger, or that they are willing to sacrifice foreigners as scape goats, remember the case of the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor, whose deaths were demanded by the same mob and that only Saif al Islam managed to rescue.This doesn't mean that Muslims don't have the right to protest against outrageous pamphlets which insult their beliefs. Of course they do! But there are manners. Look at the so reviled Orthodox Church in Moscow or the Catholic Church in Cologne, they brought to justice the "blasphemers", they didn't blindly kill anybody or destroy buildings. The angry believers could have demonstrated peacefully against the insult. But they fell once again in the trap of provocation, their brains are just as shallow, and now again the Muslim image in the world will drop to lowest esteem. Just what the provocation wanted: "If you merely say anything that’s derogatory about Islam, then they immediately go to violence, which I’ve experienced.” (See below: Origins of Provocative Video Are Shrouded).
So sad.
A timely comment:
The film which has brought about the protests in Libya and Egypt was produced by an Israeli-American real estate developer, Sam Bacile, who called Islam "a cancer". Should not the production and distribution of a film denigrating the Prophet be treated as a hate crime, punishable by law? The guy plainly acknowledged he produced the film to protect Israel, and has gone into hiding. It is the Ambassador to Libya and his three associates who had to pay for Bacile's idiocy with their lives.
And of course NATO intervened in Libya to promote democracy and human rights! The blowback has come even more quickly than anyone anticipated.
Basem Khader
Killing of US ambassador in Libya is yet more blowback for western intervention
- 12 September 2012
- Chris Nineham
- Libya
Instead of learning the lessons from the last decade of endless war, Barack Obama, David Cameron and their Nato allies are threatening more war against Syria and Iran.
Stop the War Coalition
12 September 2012
Storming of the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, 11/09/12
THE NEWS OF the killing of the US ambassador in Libya along with several other US officials shows how hollow is the West's triumphalism over last year's operation to remove Colonel Gadhafi.
We were led to believe that the West's military operation, which
started with a humanitarian 'no fly zone' and morphed quickly into a
massive air assault on pro-Ghadafi forces -- killing tens of thousands
-- would bring democracy to the country. Instead it has left the country
decimated, ethnically divided, and with a strong strain of anti western
feeling. The Libyan Observatory for Human Rights says, "The human rights situation in Libya now is far worse than under the late dictator Muammar Gaddafi."
The film which has sparked protests in Libya and Cairo -- called the Innocence of Muslims -- was clearly a deliberate provocation. Made in the United States by two film makers with deeply anti-Islamic views -- one of them an Israeli American -- it claims Mohammed was a fraud, and dresses up a series of insults against him as revelations.
The makers of the film are clearly in part responsible for the deaths
of the first US ambassador to be killed in over two decades and three
members of his staff.
But the virulent Islamophobia
portrayed in their film has also been a prominent feature of the 'war
on terror' for the past eleven years. And the widespread anti-western
sentiment across the Middle East and North Africa is the legacy of the
political and social chaos generated by the brutal wars that the West
has pursued against Muslim countries.
The attack in Benghazi shows how futile and damaging western intervention is. The disintigration into a new tyrrany in Iraq, the disastrous war in Afghanistan, the destabalising of Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia by illegal drone attacks, show how everywhere the US and its allies intervene, the only result is mass slaughter and destruction, making the world ever more unstable and insecure.
Yet instead of learning the lessons from the last decade of endless war, Barack Obama, David Cameron and their Nato allies are threatening more war against Syria and Iran. Which is why the anti-war movement must continue to campaign against all western intervention in other people's countries, and for all foreign troops to leave.
Libya: Sad, but Crude Reality
"Being dragged through the streets and murdered like Muammar al-Gaddafi
by the same "peaceful protestors" that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton,
Mitt Romney, ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, CNN News, CBS News, FRANCE 24
English, BBC World News and CBC News supported. What goes around really
does come back around. Enjoy!"
With Brett Rogers
Queue the hypocritical reactions to the murder of US ambassador in Libya
September 12, 2012 by AnonAF
By Lizzie Phelanhttp://americanfront.info/2012/09/12/queue-the-hypocritical-reactions-to-the-murder-of-us-ambassador-in-libya/
Libya – The American consulate in Benghazi attacked by rebels Salafi (12 September 2012)
The American consulate in Benghazi attacked by rebels Salafi
Source: ALGERIA ISP
ALGERIA ISP / Libya According Elmokawama, clashes have broken at the consulate U.S. Benghazi. Gunmen, rebels Salafis have taken assault the American consulate.
Assailants burned a car that was in the garden of the consulate. They stole the entire contents of the consulate.
An American was killed and dragged through the streets.
Assailants have protested against the film offensive to Islam.
Which is weird, they work well with rebels to destroy the predators Libyan and assassinate the Libyan leader.
A car burned in American Consulate
A rebel who steals items from the Consulate
One American killed and stripped and dragged through the street
(*** This would never had happened with the Jamahirya so Obama lump it! 3 of your people is nothing compared to what we have lost and mainly children! Your’s and your country’s greed is costing you these lives! )
US ambassador, consul among 4 killed in militia attack on Benghazi consulate
Published: 12 September, 2012, 13:05
Edited: 12 September, 2012, 19:18
A vehicle (R) and the surround buildings burn after they were set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012.(AFP Photo / STR) Video from doualia.com
(11.1Mb) embed videoTAGS: Conflict, Religion, Scandal, Libya, Security
The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed when local militia assaulted Washington's consulate in Benghazi. President Barack Obama has condemned the attack.
Reports from various sources paint an unclear picture of the
circumstances surrounding Ambassador John Christopher Steven's death.
A group of extremist militia members stormed Benghazi's US consulate on Tuesday night. Stevens may not have been killed in the Tuesday night assault, however, but rather when a second mob attacked his motorcade as it was leaving Benghazi Wednesday morning, the Guardian said.
Libyan
officials alleged that Islamist militants fired rockets at Steven's
car, killing him and three other embassy staffers. Witnesses cited by
local media claimed that members of the hardline Islamist group Ansar
Al-Sharia were among the ranks of the attackers.
President Obama and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen have roundly condemned the attack, and mourned Steven's death.
"Chris
was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States.
Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and
the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi," Obama said in a statement.
"We apologise to the United States, the people and to the whole world for what happened," interim Libyan president Mohammed Magarief said in a news conference. "We confirm that no one will escape from punishment and questioning."
The US diplomatic facility in eastern Libya was evacuated following violent clashes, and a horde of militia members then stormed the building and torched it.
Tunisian Salafis are now calling for an attack on their country's US embassy, Tunisian media outlets said. Salafis militants had previously attempted to attack the embassy, but were repelled by security forces. Many in the region believe another attack is imminent.
President Obama has ordered increased security for US diplomatic personnel around the world, and a Marine fleet anti-terrorist security team has been dispatched to Libya to boost security.
Film mocking Muhammad sparks violence, worldwide anger among Muslims
The outbreak of violence is part of global Islamic outrage against the American amateur film 'Innocence of Muslims,' which was deemed offensive to the Prophet Muhammad. Similar attacks took place at the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
The independent film was allegedly produced and directed by Sam Bacile,
a 56 year-old Israeli-American real estate developer. According to
Ynet, Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors,
whom he declined to identify. On the eleventh anniversary of the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, controversial pastor Terry Jones
released a video promoting the film, which portrays the Prophet in what
he described as a "satirical" manner.
A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames after it was set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012.(AFP Photo / STR)
The attack may also be a retaliatory tactic by Gaddafi loyalists for the arrest of the regime’s former Intelligence Chief Abdullah al-Senussi, journalist Zaid Benjamin’s wrote on Twitter.
Al-Senussi was extradited from Mauritania to Tripoli on September 5. The International Federation for Human Rights called on Libyan authorities to send al-Senussi to the International Criminal Court, concerned that a trial in the country would not be open and transparent.
An armed man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames after being set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012.(AFP Photo / STR)
Ambassador Stevens was born in northern California in 1960.
He was first sent to Libya in June 2007 as deputy chief of the country’s US mission, and then served as chargé d’affaires at the Tripoli embassy until 2009.
Stevens returned to Libya in April 2011, arriving on a cargo ship. The US government sent him to rebel headquarters in Benghazi to serve as a special representative to the Libyan National Transitional Council.
In March 2012, Stevens was named the US ambassador to Libya.
A vehicle sits smoldering in flames after being set on fire inside the US consulate compound in Benghazi late on September 11, 2012.(AFP Photo / STR)
A man walks inside the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen yesterday, in Benghazi September 12, 2012.(Reuters / Esam Al-Fetori)
An interior view of the damage at the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen yesterday, in Benghazi September 12, 2012.(Reuters / Esam Al-Fetori)
John Christopher Stevens, US ambassador to Libya, shakes hands with Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil (R) after presenting his credentials during a meeting in Tripoli, June 7, 2012.(AFP Photo / Mahmud Turkia)
http://rt.com/news/us-ambassador-libya-killed-946/
U.S. to send Marines to Libya to bolster security: official
(Reuters) - The United States is dispatching a Marine fleet anti-terrorist security team to boost security in Libya after an attack that killed the U.S. ambassador, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
No further details were immediately available.
Late on Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. diplomats were killed in a rocket attack on their car, Libyan and U.S. officials said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film that was said to have mocked the prophet of Islam.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Barack Obama said he directed his administration "to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe."
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Trott)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-libya-ambassador-marines-idUSBRE88B0UD20120912American soldiers are en route to Benghazi
Source: ALGERIA ISP
ALGERIA ISP / According Yawm 17 February Thida Fi Libya, American soldiers en-route to Libya Benghazi.
The American embassy in Tripoli closed its doors.
A German plane was targeted by gunfire in the same base. This aircraft had carried the body of the consul and American diplomats.
Security has been strengthened at the military airport in Benghazi Benina. Foreign diplomatic delegations begin to evacuate Benghazi.
http://libyaagainstsuperpowermedia.com/2012/09/12/libya-american-soldiers-are-en-route-to-benghazi-12-september-2012/Hunting them or hiring them for their war on Syria?
U.S. Sending Drones to Hunt Libyan Attackers
CNN reports that the United States will send unmanned drones to Libya to look for jihadist camps, as the White House now accepts the belief that the Benghazi attack was the premeditated work of terrorists. U.S. officials say the attack was not a direct assassination attempt on Ambassador Christopher Stevens, but that used the otherwise peaceful protest of an anti-Muslim film as a diversion to infiltrate the area and then strike the compound.
Nic Robertson of CNN reports that the top suspects are the Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades, named after the infamous "Blind Sheikh", who is currently in jail for orchestrating the original 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The group has claimed responsiblity for previous attacks in the Benghazi area and even attacked the same diplomatic offices back in June. On September 11, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called for new attacks to avenge the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi, who had been the No. 2 man in the Libyan Brigade.
The U.S. has previously flown surveillance missions over the Benghazi area in the search for terrorist camps, but has not launched any attacks using the drones, leaving that to Libya forces. However, given the failure of Libyan security at the embassy, it's possible that U.S. military will take action, should any groups be found that can be tied to the attack.
Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at dash...@dashiellbennett.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/09/us-sending-drones-hunt-libyan-attackers/56791/
US deploying warships to Libyan coast – reports
Published: 13 September, 2012, 03:11
USS McFaul Guided Missile Destroyer (AFP Photo)
American officials have said that the Pentagon is sending two warships toward the coast of Libya, the Associated Press reports. Earlier, the US announced it was sending 50 Marines to Libya to reinforce security at American diplomatic facilities.
The move comes in the aftermath of an attack on US the consulate in
the eastern city of Benghazi that killed the US ambassador to Libya and
three members of his staff.
The USS Laboon moved to a
position off the coast Wednesday, and the USS McFaul is en route to
arrive to its destination within days. Sources say that the vessels are
equipped with Tomahawk missiles but are not scheduled for deployment
yet, giving the commanders flexibility to respond to any mission ordered
by President Obama.
The destroyers have crews totaling about 300. American drones also were expected to join the hunt for potential targets. They would be part of "a stepped-up, more focused search" for a specific insurgent cell that may have been behind the attack, the official told the CNN.
The drones are expected to survey militant
encampments over the North African country before handing over the
information to the Libyan leadership to strike any targets.
Earlier, a special task force of 50 Marines group known as a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team was deployed to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
http://rt.com/news/us-warships-libya-violence-011/
Libya – A rebel who participated in the attack on the American consulate (12 September 2012)
A rebel who participated in the attack on the American consulate
Source: ALGERIA ISP
ALGERIA ISP / According Yawm 17 February Thida Fi Libya, the rebels took part in the attack American consulate in Benghazi. He used an RPG inside the consulate. He has published on his Facebook page his joy in attacking the consulate.
The release of rebel battalion “Ansar Sharia.” They welcomed the attack on the American consulate.
Al-Qaeda, CIA armed wing, sodomized and killed U.S. ambassador in Libya, creating an excuse for the final military intervention in Africa
The U.S. embassy in Benghazi was attacked by the mercenaries alqaedisti armed by NATO last year, and the U.S. ambassador to Libya has been sodomized before being killed by these terrorists, who had yesterday staged a protest against the offensive film against the Prophet Muhammad, who had been released in the U.S. a few days ago.
Al-Qaeda, CIA armed branch, sodomizing and killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya, is creating the pretext for U.S. final military intervention in Africa?
The American intelligence services have sacrificed, on 9/11 many years ago, thousands of their citizens to create an excuse for military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yesterday, 11/9, have they repeated the intelligence operation to clone the project in north Africa?
Do U.S./CIA hope to do the same in Syria? That ‘s why they arm terrorists and mercenaries of al-Qaeda in Syria?
We believe so, but history always reserves many surprises…
*
September 11, 2012
Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Libya and Egypt
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
CAIRO — Protesters angry over an amateurish American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, killing a State Department officer, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the fortified walls of the United States Embassy here.
On the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the assaults were a violent reminder that the changes sweeping the region have hardly dispelled the rage against the United States that still smolders in pockets around the Arab world.
The mobs were set off by Egyptian media reports about a 14-minute trailer for the video, called “Innocence of Muslims,” that was released on the Web. The trailer opens with scenes of Egyptian security forces standing idle as Muslims pillage and burn the homes of Egyptian Christians. Then it cuts to cartoonish scenes depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a child of uncertain parentage, a buffoon, a womanizer, a homosexual, a child molester and a greedy, bloodthirsty thug.
The trailer was uploaded to YouTube by Sam Bacile, whom The Wall Street Journal Web site identified as a 52-year old Israeli-American real estate developer in California. He told the Web site he had raised $5 million from 100 Jewish donors to make the film. “Islam is a cancer,” Mr. Bacile was quoted as saying.
The video gained international attention when a Florida pastor began promoting it along with his own proclamation of Sept. 11 as “International Judge Muhammad Day.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the pastor, Terry Jones of Gainesville, Fla., called the film “an American production, not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam” and said it “further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad.”
He said the embassy and consulate attacks illustrated that Muslims “have no tolerance for anything outside of Muhammad” and called Islam “a total deception.”
Mr. Jones inspired deadly riots in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011 by first threatening to burn copies of the Koran and then burning one in his church. He also once reportedly hanged President Obama in effigy.
In Benghazi on Tuesday, protesters with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the United States Consulate and set it on fire, Libyan officials said. Some news reports said American guards inside the consulate had fired their weapons, and a brigade of Libyan security forces arriving on the scene had battled the attackers in the streets as well.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton confirmed late Tuesday that a State Department officer had been killed in the Benghazi attack, and she condemned the violence. “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” she said. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”
The death in Benghazi appears to be the first such fatality in a string of attacks and vandalism against foreign and especially Western diplomatic missions in Libya in recent months. Since the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya’s transitional government has struggled to rebuild an effective police force, control the weapons that have flooded the streets and restore public security.
Local Islamist militant groups capitalizing on the security vacuum have claimed responsibility for some attacks, and some reports on Tuesday suggested that one such group, Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for that day’s assault.
In Cairo, thousands of unarmed protesters gathered outside the embassy during the day. By nightfall, some had climbed over the wall around the embassy compound and destroyed a flag hanging inside. The vandals replaced it with a black flag with an Islamic profession of faith — “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet” — favored by ultraconservatives and militants.
Embassy guards fired guns into the air, but a large contingent of Egyptian riot police officers on hand to protect the embassy evidently did not use their weapons against the crowd, and the protest continued, largely without violence, into the night.
A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, the mainstream Islamist group and the sponsor of Egypt’s first elected president, Mohamed Morsi, urged the United States government on Tuesday to prosecute the “madmen” behind the video, according to the English-language Web site of the state newspaper, Al Ahram.
The spokesman asked for a formal apology from the United States government and warned that events like the video were damaging Washington’s relations with the Muslim world. He also emphasized that any protests should remain peaceful and respect property.
There should be “civilized demonstrations of the Egyptian people’s displeasure with this film,” the Brotherhood spokesman said, according to the newspaper Web site. “Any nonpeaceful activity will be exploited by those who hate Islam to defame the image of Egypt and Muslims.”
Bracing for trouble before the start of the protests here and in Libya, the American Embassy released a statement shortly after noon that appeared to refer to Mr. Jones: “The United States Embassy 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.” It later denounced the “unjustified breach of our embassy.”
Apparently unaware of the timing of the first embassy statement, the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, put out a statement just before midnight Tuesday saying, “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” Mr. Romney also said he was “outraged” at the attacks on the embassy and consulate.
Responding to Mr. Romney’s statement, Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, said, “We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.”
Suliman Ali Zway contributed reporting from Tripoli, Libya.IS ISLAM A CANCER?
Muhammad film: Israeli director goes into hiding after protests
Sam Bacile stands by his film, Innocence of Muslims, and describes Islam as 'a cancer'
-
Associated Press
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 September 2012 11.09 BST
An Israeli film-maker based in California has gone into hiding after his film attacking the prophet Muhammad sparked angry assaults by ultra-conservative Muslims on US missions in Egypt and Libya, claiming the life of one American.
Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, the writer and director Sam Bacile remained defiant, describing Islam as "a cancer". The 56-year-old said he had intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.
Protesters angered by Bacile's film on Tuesday opened fire on, and burned down, the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing a US diplomat. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the US embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.
"This is a political movie," said Bacile. "The US lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we're fighting with ideas."
Bacile, a California property developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, said he believed the movie would help his native land by exposing Islam's flaws to the world.
"Islam is a cancer, period," he said repeatedly.
The two-hour movie, Innocence of Muslims, cost $5m (£3.1m) to make and was financed with the help of more than 100 Jewish donors, said Bacile, who wrote and directed it.
The film claims Muhammad was a fraud. An English-language 13-minute trailer on YouTube shows an amateur cast performing a wooden dialogue of insults disguised as revelations about Muhammad, whose obedient followers are presented as a cadre of goons.
It depicts Muhammad as a feckless philanderer who approved of child sexual abuse.
Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any manner, let alone insultingly. A Danish newspaper's publication in 2005 of 12 caricatures of the prophet triggered riots in many Muslim countries.
Though Bacile said he felt sorry about the death of the American who was killed in the outrage over his film, he blamed lax embassy security and the perpetrators of the violence.
"I feel the security system [at the embassies] is no good," said Bacile. "America should do something to change it."
A consultant on the film, Steve Klein, said the film-maker was concerned for family members who lived in Egypt. Bacile declined to confirm this.
Klein said he had vowed to help Bacile make the movie but warned him: "You're going to be the next Theo van Gogh." Van Gogh was a Dutch film-maker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a film that was perceived as insulting to Islam.
"We went into this knowing this was probably going to happen," Klein said.
Bacile's film was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone unknown to him. The film-maker speaks enough Arabic, however, to confirm that the translation is accurate. The film was made in three months in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and about 45 people behind the camera.
The full film had been shown once, to a mostly empty cinema in Hollywood, earlier this year, Bacile said.
Origins of Provocative Video Are Shrouded
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: September 12, 2012
LOS ANGELES — The film that set off violence across North Africa was made in obscurity somewhere in the sprawl of Southern California, and promoted by a network of right-wing Christians with a history of animosity directed toward Muslims. When a 14-minute trailer of it — all that may actually exist — was posted on YouTube in June, it was barely noticed.
But when the video, with its almost comically amateurish production values, was translated into Arabic and reposted twice on YouTube in the days before Sept. 11, and promoted by leaders of the Coptic diaspora in the United States, it drew nearly one million views and set off bloody demonstrations.
The history of the film — who financed it; how it was made;and perhaps most important, how it was translated into Arabic and posted on YouTube to Muslim viewers — was shrouded Wednesday in tales of a secret Hollywood screening; a director who may or may not exist, and used a false name if he did; and actors who appeared, thanks to computer technology, to be traipsing through Middle Eastern cities. One of its main producers, Steve Klein, a Vietnam veteran whose son was severely wounded in Iraq, is notorious across California for his involvement with anti-Muslim actions, from the courts to schoolyards to a weekly show broadcast on Christian radio in the Middle East.
CONTINUED: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html
J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Ambassador To Libya, And 3 Embassy Staffers Killed In Attack On American Consulate In Benghazi (VIDEO)
AP/The Huffington Post | Posted: 09/12/2012 7:10 am Updated: 09/12/2012 6:10 pm
UPDATE: U.S. officials have told The New York Times and CNN that the deadly consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, may have been planned in advance.
According to the CNN report, "attackers used the protest outside the consulate as a diversion," though sources "could not say whether the attacker instigated the protest or merely took advantage of it."
Previously from AP:
TRIPOLI, Libya -- The American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed when a mob of protesters and gunmen overwhelmed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, setting fire to it in outrage over a film that ridicules Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Libya's new president apologized Wednesday for the attack, which underlined the lawlessness plaguing a region trying to recover from months of upheaval.
Ambassador Chris Stevens, 52, died as he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as a crowd of hundreds attacked the consulate Tuesday evening, many of them firing machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
By the end of the assault, much of the building was burned out and trashed. Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES)
A Libyan doctor who treated Stevens said he died of severe asphyxiation, apparently from smoke. In a sign of the chaos of during the attack, Stevens was brought alone by Libyans to the Benghazi Medical Center with no other Americans, and no one at the facility knew who he was, the doctor, Ziad Abu Zeid, told The Associated Press.
Stevens was practically dead when he arrived close to 1 a.m. on Wednesday, but "we tried to revive him for an hour and a half but with no success," Abu Zeid said. The ambassador had bleeding in his stomach because of the asphyxiation but no other injuries, he said.
President Barack Obama ordered increased security to protect American diplomatic personnel around world. Hours before the Benghazi attack, Egyptians angry over the film protested at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, climbing its walls and tearing down an American flag, which they replaced briefly with a black, Islamist flag.
"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi," Obama said, adding the four Americans "exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe."
Libya's interim president, Mohammed el-Megarif, apologized to the United States for the attack, which he described as "cowardly." Speaking to reporters, he offered his condolences on the death of the four Americans and vowed to bring the culprits to justice and maintain his country's close relations with the United States.
The three Americans killed with Stevens were security guards, he said.
"We extend our apology to America, the American people and the whole world," el-Megarif said.
The spark for the protests in Libya and Egypt was an obscure movie made in the United States by a California filmmaker who calls Islam a "cancer." Video excerpts posted on YouTube depict Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a madman in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.
But the brazen assaults - the first on U.S. diplomatic facilities in either country - underscored the lawlessness that has taken hold in Libya and Egypt after revolutions ousted their autocratic secular regimes and upended the tightly controlled police state in both countries.
Islamists, who were long repressed under the previous regimes, have emerged as a powerful force and made up the bulk of the protests in both countries.
Moreover, security in both countries has broken down. Egypt's police, a onetime hated force blamed for massive human rights abuses, have yet to fully take back the streets after Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011.
On Tuesday in Cairo, riot police stood by the embassy's walls but continued to allow protesters to climb them for several hours. The protesters, however, appeared to intentionally stick to certain limits: A few entered the embassy grounds to remove the flags and come back, but otherwise the chanting youth stayed on top of the walls without storming the compound or damaging property.
The uproar over the film also poses a new test for Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, who has yet to condemn the riot outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo or say anything about the offending film. The protest was by mostly ultraconservative Islamists.
In Libya, central government control is weak, arms are ubiquitous and militias are pervasive. The consulate in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, is a one-story villa in a large garden located in an upscale neighborhood. By the end of Tuesday night's attack, much of the building was black and smoldering. Libyans wandered freely around the burned-out building, taking photos of rooms where furniture was covered in soot and overturned.
The violence raised worries that further protests could break out around the Muslim world as knowledge of the anti-Islam movie spread. So far, however, the only sign of unrest on Wednesday was a protest by dozens of Gazans in Gaza City. Some of the protesters carried swords, axes and black flags, chanting, "Shame on everyone who insults the prophet." The rally was organized by supporters of the Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group aligned with the ruling Hamas movement.
Afghanistan's government sought to avert an outbreak of protests. President Hamid Karzai condemned the movie, which he describes as "inhuman and insulting." Authorities also temporarily shut down access to YouTube, the video-sharing site where excerpts of the movie were posted, said Aimal Marjan, general director of Information Technology at the Ministry of Communications.
Ultraconservative Islamists also were suspected of being behind the Benghazi attack. Advocating a strict interpretation of Islam, they have bulldozed Sufi shrines and mosques that house tombs in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and other cities, including ancient sites dating back to 5,000 years ago.
Heavily armed, ultraconservative groups like Ansar al-Shariah, or Supporters of Shariah, have claimed responsibility for the attacks on the shrines, declaring Sufi practices as "heretical."
Libya has been also hit by a series of recent attacks that served as evidence of the deep and persistent security vacuum in the country after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime, which was ousted by rebels backed by a NATO air campaign. Many Libyans believe that unrest in their country is in part the work of Gadhafi's loyalists who want to undermine efforts to rebuild the country after last year's ruinous civil war.
Stevens was a career diplomat who spoke Arabic and French and had already served two tours in Libya, including running the office in Benghazi during the revolt against Gadhafi. He was confirmed as ambassador to Libya by the Senate earlier this year.
Before Tuesday, five U.S. ambassadors had been killed in the line of duty, the last being Adolph Dubs in Afghanistan in 1979, according to the State Department historian's office.
The two-hour movie that sparked the protests, titled "Innocence of Muslims," came to attention in Egypt after its trailer was dubbed into Arabic and posted on YouTube.
Sam Bacile, a 56-year-old California real estate developer, said he wrote, produced and directed the movie. Bacile told The Associated Press he was an Israeli Jew and an American citizen. But Israeli officials said Wednesday they had not heard of Bacile and there was no record of him being a citizen. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to share personal information with the media.
Separately, the film was being promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States.
Bacile said he had not anticipated such a furious reaction. Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, Bacile, who went into hiding Tuesday, remained defiant. He said he believes the movie will expose Islam's flaws to the world.
"Islam is a cancer, period," he repeatedly said in a solemn, accented tone.
Israel, however, sought to distance itself from Bacile.
"It's obvious we'll have to be vigilant. Anything he did or said has nothing to do whatsoever with Israel. He may claim what he wants. This was not done with or for or through Israel." Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Wednesday.
Clinton and Obama's shock over Libya violence 'naive'
Published: 12 September, 2012, 21:48
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have condemned the deadly attack on the US consulte in Libya, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other embassy workers.
The two leaders said that America liberated the country so it could form a new democracy.
“It’s especially tragic that Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it’s a city he helped to save. At the height of the Libyan revolution, Chris led our diplomatic post in Benghazi…he built partnerships with Libyan revolutionaries and helped them as they planned to build a new Libya,” Obama said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also firmly denounced the attack: “How could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?”
But some believe the US shouldn’t be so surprised by the violence.
It’s naïve to for the US to believe it can have normal diplomatic relations in Libya, which is unstable because of the 2011 NATO-led intervention, Patrick Henningsen, geopolitical analyst for current affairs website UK Column Patrick said in an interview with RT.
Libya is divided because of NATO. The chaos of the intervention has given rise to warlords, militias, and raided weapon stocks that were formerly secured by the Gaddafi government, he said.
Henningsen argues that the
violent assault on the US consulate is simply blowback against
Washington and London’s aggressive foreign policy.
RT: These
attacks happened in countries where Washington was directly involved in
regime change. What does that say about the effect the revolts have had
on the US?
Patrick Henningsen: This is a
very interesting development and what you can deduce from this is that
Washington and America are still living in their own Western bubble
where they believe they don’t have any chain of responsibility for the
events that have happened to transform countries like Libya, and Egypt
to a lesser degree. There was a military intervention that killed
thousands and thousands of civilians. So this event could easily be more
than just an Islamic anti-American protest. It could have something to
do with Gaddafi loyalists that are still being rounded up, arrested, and
extradited – particularly the recent extradition of Abdullah
al-Senussi, a deal which the US brokered for Libya.
RT:
Are the new governments of Libya and Egypt too ill-prepared to protect
diplomatic premises, or were these events just too unpredictable?
PH: You really have to look at this in a mature way. For the US to bomb and basically destroy a country and assassinate its head of state on worldwide television, and then for diplomats to go in, those diplomats have to realize that they’re not innocent. They are parties in a major war crime. So they have to on guard for that. To think there’s going to be normal diplomatic relations in a country like Libya – that’s totally unstable as a result of NATO intervention – is a bit naïve by western pundits and politicians in Washington and London. No one is innocent anymore. This is the new paradigm of Western aggression that they have to accept as a reality.
RT: Islamist groups
have been on the rise since the dawn of the Arab Spring – why are their
radical elements proving so difficult for these countries to contain?
PH: Most
of the radical Islamic elements in all of these countries are
controlled by the West. The al-Qaeda factions are directed, controlled,
and now funded openly – in the case of Syria – by Washington and London.
So they have control of the radical elements. This is really an
excellent divide and rule situation, to use this clash of civilizations –
Islam vs. Christianity – it’s a great cover for a neo-colonial agenda
and the technique of dividing countries into their respective
compartments, compartmentalizing them, and then being able to rule over
them, through the UN or NATO or other transnational bodies.
RT: What do you expect Washington's next step to be?
PH: This is a tragedy, our hearts go out to the council workers and Ambassador Stevens and his family. But look – the US called all the dead Libyans "collateral damage" when they were working to take over the country. You can look at this recent death as "collateral damage." This is still a part of the aggression. This is what’s called the blowback of Washington and London’s aggressive foreign policy. Ambassador Stevens and his staff are "collateral damage" of the western agenda to march forward and to radicalize parts of the countries and take over the Middle East in order to prepare for the eventual confrontation with Iran, with Israel by its side.
RT: Why are the American diplomats paying this tragic price when the anger is supposedly directed at a film which has nothing to do with the government?
PH: There’s more than meets the eye here. It’s not just about the film. This anti-Western, anti-American angst isn’t just about what this film was depicted as. This film will come and go. It will wash away. The real issue here is about the Western aggression – the violence and killing – from Afghanistan all the way to Libya. That is the big issue that people aren’t talking about.
It’s not so much about a religion or clash of civilizations. It’s an anti-Imperialist angst that’s fueling this aggression towards America and some of Europe’s leading NATO countries. This is the price they will continue to pay. But the West will use this crisis as an opportunity to either balkanize these countries or introduce other military UN peace keeping forces, more small pockets of NATO troops. They’ll use this crisis as an opportunity as they always have done. So we need to look through the narrative, which is mainly a Western narrative.
RT:
Ambassador Christopher Stevens was a key figure in arranging ties with
Libya's post-revolution interim government. Does his tragic death signal
a deep divide between the new leaders and the people of Benghazi?
PH: Libya
was well divided before Ambassador Stevens set foot there. It was
divided as a result of the NATO intervention. You have warlords and
militias, raided weapon stocks that were formerly held by the Gaddafi
government. So it’s absolute chaos. Meanwhile, amongst this chaos on the
surface, the oil assets, the state utilities, the water assets, some of
the agricultural assets, and some of the economic pockets have already
been divided up by British, American, and French companies. They’ve
divided the country and are selling off its assets for pennies on the
dollar in order to pay off the IMF’s money injection they’ve put into
Libya. The corporations will still profit from this chaos, which they’ve
done very efficiently. And that’s not being talked about in the
mainstream media.
AN INTELLIGENT STATEMENT BY MAZIN QUMSIYEH, WHO REMINDS US AGAIN AN ORDER OF PRIORITIES. AS A MATTER OF FACT IF ALL THAT SOUND AND FURY WAS CHANNELED TO FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER, OCCUPATION, LAND GRABBING, ETHNIC CLEANSING, ETC., INSTEAD OF AGAINST A MEDIOCRE AND STUPID FILM, THERE WOULD BE MORE JUSTICE IN THE WORLD. AND PEOPLE WOULD BE MORE INTELLIGENT.
Sep 12, 2012
Benghazi
http://popular-resistance.blogspot.be/2012/09/benghazi.html
Statement on the Attack in Benghazi
Washington,
DC | www.adc.org
| September 12, 2012 -- The
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC) strongly condemns the
brutal attack on the U.S.
Consulate in the Libyan city
of Benghazi that erupted
during protests last night.
Four Americans were killed in
the attack, among them the
U.S. Envoy to Libya,
Ambassador J Christopher
Stevens.
This senseless act of violence
occurred amidst angry protests
decrying an anti-Islamic film
produced in the U.S. that
appeared on YouTube. Thousands
of Egyptians also protested
the film at the U.S. Embassy
in Cairo yesterday. The film
is highly insulting to the
religious sentiments of
Muslims.
While ADC is committed to the
right enshrined in our
nation's Constitution of free
speech, there is no question
that the purposeful
provocation of any religious
group is divisive and
reprehensible. However,
responding with violence only
plays into the hands of those
who seek to divide us and
inevitably leads to painful
loss.
ADC extends its deepest
condolences to the family,
friends, and colleagues of
those killed; and urges Muslim
Americans and Muslims around
the world to always react with
reason, not anger, against any
ignorant attack on Islam.
###
NOTE TO EDITORS: The
American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC), which is non-profit,
non-sectarian and
non-partisan, is the largest
grassroots Arab-American civil
rights and civil liberties
organization in the United
States. It was founded in 1980
by former Senator James
Abourezk. ADC has a national
network of chapters and
members in all 50 states.
ICNA condemns attacks on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya
ICNA issued a press release today condemning the attacks on U.S.
missions in Egypt and Libya, which came after the preview for an
anti-Islamic film by an American filmmaker surfaced online.
“ICNA strongly condemns the violent attacks on American embassies in
Egypt and Libya. Nothing is worth the cost of a human life, and we
firmly believe that there is no honor or faith in committing such
violence.
http://www.icna.org/icna-condemns-attacks-on-u-s-missions-in-egypt-and-libya/
THE FAILURE OF THE INTERVENTION OF US/NATO/GULF MONARCHIES.
'US-backed Libyan militias are turning on each other'
Washington continues to support militant Islamist groups as long as it’s politically expedient to do so, says global affairs researcher Benjamin Schett.
US military adventurism, and the war crimes committed by the country's forces, impoverish the entire region and ultimately lead to a rise in the number of Islamic militant groups, he told RT. Such groups, he says, can end up posing a threat to US citizens.
Schett spoke to RT about the killing of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff in Libya.
RT: Ambassador Stevens was responsible for building Washington's relations with the Libyan post-revolution interim leadership. Does that indicate that the people behind the attack are of a very different mindset to Libya's current rulers?
Benjamin Schett: Not necessarily. The United States supported militant extremist Islamic groups in order to topple the government of Muammar Gaddafi last year. And one example is the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. It is, according to the Washington Post, a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaeda. Nevertheless, in 1996, they received support from British Secret Service MI6 to kill Gaddafi, which did not work out, as we know. After 9/11, in 2001, they still got support from Western powers during the so-called uprising in Libya last year and the NATO bombing campaign. They got support from the US and Saudi allies, so obviously the US never stopped supporting militant Islamist groups as long as it’s in their geopolitical interests.
RT: What does this attack say about the authorities' grip on security in post-Gaddafi Libya?
BS: It
shows that Libya is part of a broader organization of the Middle East
and South and Central Asia, which is a direct result of US policies. We
saw what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq after the US invasion – the
clashes between Sunnis and Shias. We see what’s happening now in Syria,
where the sectarian violence is being supported from the outside – from
the Gulf states, from the US, and from France. And it’s what’s happening
in Libya – all these different militias that received support in order
to fight against Gaddafi are now turning against each other and are
pushing for a trivialization of Libya.
RT:
It's believed the attacks were a response to this US film deemed
offensive to Islam. But could it also be a side effect of US foreign
policy in the region?
BS: Definitely. The
whole story of the clash of civilizations and Christianity versus Islam –
all these stories, they don’t show the real picture. The real picture
is that the majority of Muslims are as peaceful as the majority of
Christians or Jews or whoever. The policy of supporting militant
extremist Islamist groups as long as it serves geopolitical interests
and fighting secular independent governments in the Middle East, or
direct military intervention and war crimes, impoverishing of the whole
region – certainly this leads to an increase of Islamic militant
movements, which can turn out to be a threat to US citizens, as we’ve
just seen.
RT: It's the first death of a high-profile US diplomat on duty abroad since 1979. Could this killing affect future policymaking in the State Department?
BS: The US official propaganda has a very cynical term regarding civilian deaths during a bombing campaign, called “collateral damage.” Of course, they wouldn’t use this term when it comes to the death of a US citizen. But I think in the mindset of the US establishment, in a certain way this also was collateral damage because it won’t make them stop their policies in the Middle East, even if it threatens the lives of American citizens.
http://rt.com/news/us-ambassador-libya-killed-995/
The game plan in Syria
Source - by Aamir Raza Husain
The present violence is part of a larger narrative of Western manipulation of the Arab world
The situation in Syria today is a result of a hundred years of Anglo-American intervention and incitement. This is the third time the West has tried to topple a legitimate Syrian Regime. The difference this time though is that the West has a pliant press as an ally.
Bashar Assad had lost the propaganda war long before trouble started in Syria two years ago. The movement against him grew by the week in the media, while on the ground it remained a murmur of discontent. CNN, BBC and Wahhabi Arab channels belted out stories of large scale persecution, with preachers like Sheikh Aruoor and the Qatar based Ahmed Karazvi extorting the Syrians to rise up and bomb government buildings and blow up minority religious institutions.
The story of Western manipulation of the Arab world started in the early 20th century as imperial Britain attempted to redraw the maps of the Middle East. They did it for oil, they did it for trade routes, and they did it for fun. With the U.S. as an ally, Britain plotted the overthrow of unfriendly regimes, and the assassination of hostile leaders. After the Second World War President Eisenhower asked his British allies to develop "a high class plan to split the Arabs." And by the early 60's the Arabs were split right down the middle.
On one hand were the secular nationalist regimes led by Egypt's Nasser, which included Syria, Libya and Iraq. On the other hand pro-Western monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar ruthlessly crushed human rights and followed archaic tribal laws.
"Britain is forced to support the traditionalist (read Salafi/ Wahhabi) though obscurantist regimes" piously wrote James Craig of the foreign office in 1973. "The anti-imperialists" (read anti west) are just so detrimental to our interests."
In the last decade, America has targeted only those nations where there was no al-Qaida, no terror, and no Wahhabi ideology. American intervention has not only destroyed the infrastructure in these countries but also established violent terrorist movements in all of them. The staunchest allies of the U.S. in the Muslim world are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Pakistan. The first three are the largest sponsors of international terror and Pakistan of course practices terror as a state policy.
Through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the US and the UK undertook military expeditions to destabilise secular Arab nations. They undertook an invasion of Egypt, which failed. They sponsored two assassination attempts on Nasser, which failed. They tried to instigate two revolts in Syria, which also failed.
Way back in 1957 the British cabinet had approved Operation Straggle, a plot to engineer a coup in Damascus. The plan was to create disaffection on the border areas, infiltrate armed insurgents into urban areas and instigate uprisings. Then an Arab invading force was to walk into the country and take over. The then British ambassador to Damascus, Sir John Gardener had been sent funds to encourage defection of Syrian officials. But the plot was foiled by the Syrians and the main conspirators arrested.
Undeterred the MI6 and CIA came up with a "Preferred Plan", which envisaged sabotage and disruptions as strategy. "False Flag" action was initiated, under which Western sponsored terrorists would carry out killings and bombings in opposition areas, blaming the Syrian government, and instigating widespread riots and protests. Watching the events unfold in Syria over the past two years, it seems that the Americans are serving old wine in old bottles. They have just changed the date on the labels.
Beleaguered Assad has been claiming that the terror blasts in Syria in December 2011 were Saudi/US sponsored. The Western media kept insisting that they were engineered by the regime itself. But when a tragic blast recently killed the defence minister, the head of national security and Bashar's brother-in-law, this media remained silent.
For centuries British foreign policy was dictated only by commercial gain. Today's Western intervention needs to be understood against the backdrop of a new pattern of energy transportation. Gas pipelines between Iran, Iraq and Syria, provide an enormous impetus to growth. New markets, constructions contracts, infrastructure development are all now available to Russia and China while Bashaar cocks a snook at the West.
The Arab nationalistic challenge to Western interests has always been rooted in the desire to be masters in their own lands and control their own resources. In the latter part of the last century Nasser, Hafiz al Assad, Gaddafi and Saddam became symbols of this freedom for all Arabs.
Today, after 60 years, the lands of Nasser, Gaddafi and Saddam stand destroyed, their resources plundered, their infrastructure demolished, their children growing up in the shadow of guns. Assad stands as the lone survivor.
As the Indian diaspora flee from Damascus and land in Delhi, they have a similar story to tell. "Before an American presidential election some Muslim country gets ravaged," says Kaniz Zainub Zehra. "Clinton did it to Afghanistan, Bush did it to Iraq, Obama did it to Libya. As he comes up for re-election, he is doing it to Syria." "The protests against the regime were all engineered," said Sayed Intikhab, who returned to UP recently.
Even as India has finally re-asserted its non-alignment by abstaining in the Saudi/Qatar/US sponsored UN resolution against Syria, Moscow and China staunchly shield Bashar. Saudi Arabia and Qatar provide rebels with heavy arms while the US and their Western allies continue to fund them.
While Syrians on both sides die the gap between Romney and Obama widens in opinion polls.
http://lizzie-phelan.blogspot.be/2012/09/short-video-on-9111973-to-those-who.html
--
“They have succeeded in dominating us more
through ignorance, than through force”.
Simon Bolivar
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed" - Steve Biko