Christopher Stevens: Devoured by a Monster He Helped Create

From Robert Spencer's essay, at FrontPage Magazine:

What happened to Stevens is a microcosm of what is happening to the country in general. Christopher Stevens, after aiding the Libyan jihadists, ended up being tortured and murdered by them. And with this murder the Obama administration’s folly in aiding the “Arab Spring” uprisings is laid bare. Just as Stevens rushed to Libya to aid the forces that ended up murdering him, so also the U.S. rushed to aid rebels in Egypt and Syria, as well as Libya, thereby installing regimes that are proving to be much, much more anti-American than those they supplanted. The monster unleashed in the Arab Spring has already begun to devour its chief benefactor.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Christopher Stevens “will be remembered as a hero by many nations. He risked his life to stop a tyrant then gave his life trying to help build a better Libya. The world needs more Chris Stevenses.”

And the world will get them. Lenin never feared there would be a shortage of capitalists ready to sell the communists the rope they would use to hang them. And now, even despite this brutal murder, there is no shortage of diplomats in Washington, ready to show their nation’s good will and bestow its largesse among those who will stab them in the back as soon as they turn in the other direction. If our nation continues indefinitely down this road, the entire country will eventually suffer the fate of Christopher Stevens, writ large.

Obama's Middle East Policies Have Failed

At Der Spiegel, "The World from Berlin: 'Obama's Middle East Policy Is in Ruins'" (via Memeorandum):

US embassies in the Muslim world were on high alert Friday following days of violent protests against an anti-Islam film. Germany, too, closed several embassies in fear of attacks. Some German commentators argue that the violence shows that Obama's Middle East policies have failed.

The conservative Die Welt writes:

"US President Barack Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins. Like no president before him, he tried to win over the Arab world. After some initial hesitation, he came out clearly on the side of the democratic revolutions. … In this context, he must accept the fact that he has snubbed old close allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian military. And now parts of the freed societies are turning against the country which helped bring them into being. Anti-Americanism in the Arab world has even increased to levels greater than in the Bush era. It's a bitter outcome for Obama."

"Obama was naive to believe that one only needed to adopt a new tone and show more respect in order to dispel deep-seated reservations about the free world. In practice, the policies of the Obama administration in the region were not as naive as they may have seemed at times, and the Americans have always been much more involved in the Middle East than the passive Europeans. But Washington has provided the image of a distracted superpower in the process of decline to the societies there. This image of weakness is being exploited by Salafists and al-Qaida, who are active in North Africa from Somalia to Mali."

"One thing is clear: If jihadists believe they can attack American installations and kill an ambassador on the anniversary of Sept. 11, then America's deterrent power has declined considerably. For a superpower, it is not enough just to want to be loved. You have to scare the bad guys to keep them in check."

Read it all.

More at Memeorandum. And Maggie's Notebook, "German Die Welt: For SuperPower – Not Enough to Want to be Loved: US Image of Weakness Exploited by Salafists al-Qaeda."

PHOTO CREDIT: Atlas Shrugs, "MIDDLE EAST ISLAMIC PROTESTS AGAINST FREEDOM EXPECTED TO EXPLODE TOMORROW AFTER FRIDAY PRAYERS 'DEMONSTRATIONS OF MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS' 'OUR FIRST DEMAND IS TO BURN THE EMBASSY AND EXPEL THE AMBASSADOR'."

Blood Stains: Pictures From Benghazi Consulate Indicate Horror of Final Moments Before Death (PHOTOS)

At London's Daily Mail, "Bloody hand prints, stolen documents and shocking security failings: Harrowing pictures inside crumbling U.S. consulate in Benghazi after attacks that left ambassador and three others dead." And, "Safe house where Ambassador died had no Marine guard and his body was missing for five hours: Full scale of chaos surrounding Libyan killings revealed." (Photos at the links.)

And at Gateway Pundit, "Bloody Hand Prints at Consulate Reveal Americans Were Dragged From Building Before Their Death." (Via Gateway Pundit.)

Katherine Heigl Steps Out in Plunging Black Dress for Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Gala

She's a sweetie.

At London's Daily Mail, "Taking the plunge: Katherine Heigl shows off her considerable assets in a VERY low cut dress as she attends charity event."

Islam's Black Flag Flies Over U.S. Embassy in Egypt

From Raymond Ibrahim, at FrontPage Magazine:

The United States embassy of Egypt is under siege. According to Fox News:

“Mainly ultraconservative Islamist protesters climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Egypt’s capital Tuesday and brought down the flag, replacing it with a black flag with an Islamic inscription to protest a video attacking Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo …. Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, went into the courtyard and took down the flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart. The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith on it, ‘There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.’ The flag, similar to the banner used by al-Qaida, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region…. By evening, the protest grew with thousands standing outside the embassy, chanting ‘Islamic, Islamic. The right of our prophet will not die.’ A group of women in black veils and robes that left only their eyes exposed chanted, ‘Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone.’”

Some clarifications for context: Islam’s black flag with the shehada and sword inscription is not an al-Qaeda banner but rather Islam’s most ancient banner, popularized by the Abbasid caliphs in the 800s. In other words, these protesters were not imitating al-Qaeda; rather they—and al-Qaeda—are imitating Islam’s heritage, replete with jihad against the infidel. Same with the phrase “worshippers of the cross”—Islam’s ancient appellation for the hated Christians.

The reason behind this latest rampage is Muslim outrage over the appearance of a film deemed offensive about the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Apparently it depicts him inciting jihads, deceiving people, and exercising his libido—not unlike what is recorded in Islam’s own authoritative biographies and hadiths of the prophet. It is not exactly clear who made the video, though Egyptian expatriates and Copts are being accused, possibly in conjunction with Pastor Terry Jones. In other words, the reason for this latest bit of Muslim outrage is once again the issue of free speech—in the same camp of Danish Muhammad cartoons, burned Korans, and any number of other freedoms of expression exercised by non-Muslims, and even Muslims.

The U.S.’s formal response to this terror campaign against its embassy and the desecration of the American flag has, once again, been to lay the blame on free speech...

Continue reading.

And Caroline Glick updates the background on the so-called spontaneous outrage over the anti-Islam video, "Attacks on U.S. Embassies Were Not About a Movie":

The attack in Libya was well planned and executed. It wasn’t about a spontaneous protest against some ridiculous internet movie of Muhammad. The assailants came armed to the teeth, with among other things, RPG 7s. They knew that the US Ambassador was in Benghazi rather than Tripoli. They knew how to track his movements, and were able to strike against him after he and his colleagues left the consulate building and tried to flee in a car. As Israel Channel 2′s Arab Affairs Correspondent Ehud Yaari noted this evening, you don’t often see well trained terrorists participating in protests of movies.

Then there is the attack in Cairo. They were led by Mohammad Zawahiri – Ayman Zawahiri’s brother. According the Thomas Josclyn in the Weekly Standard, the US media has been idiotically presenting him as some sort of moderate despite the fact that in an interview with Al Jazeerah he said said, “We in al Qaeda…”

Egypt’s US supported Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi recently released Zawahiri from Egyptian prison. The same Barack Obama who has no time in his schedule to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu next week in New York, is scheduled to meet Morsi.

The Egyptian government has not condemned the attack on the US Embassy in Cairo. But Morsi is demanding that the US government prosecute the film’s creator.

You may be wondering how some movie no one’s heard of has caused such a hullabaloo. Well, as it turns out, the film was screened on an Egyptian Salafist television channel. Obviously the Salafists — many of whom, like Zawahiri were released from prison by Morsi, wanted to stir up anti-US violence on the eve of 9/11. So if the film is responsible for the violence, a finger needs to be pointed to its chief distributor — Al Qaida’s Egyptian friends and members.

With these facts in hand, it is clear that the attempts to present these acts of war against the US as the consequence of some stupid nothing movie are obscene attempts to deflect the blame for these unwarranted attacks onto their victims and away from their perpetrators.

Erin Andrews and the Hottest Sportscasters

At Bleacher Report.

Bank Robbery Suspects Toss Cash From SUV During Chase

At LAT, "Robbery suspects toss cash into air during pursuit":

Even in the land of police chases, it was a wild ride.

A pair of bank robbery suspects Wednesday led cops on a bizarre, dangerous pursuit, hurling fistfuls of stolen cash from their car in a failed getaway bid that sent hundreds of people scrambling into the path of oncoming police cars as they lunged after the flying bills.

Although it was almost certainly a self-serving gambit meant to slow their pursuers, the robbery suspects' decision to share the loot in such brazen fashion made them instant heroes to many in the impoverished South L.A. neighborhoods where the chase came to an end.

PHOTOS: Bank robbery suspects toss money
"It's our neighborhood stimulus package!" laughed Diane Dorsey, who watched the bedlam unfold from her front yard at the corner of Kansas and Vernon avenues.

"Kids were smiling like it was Christmas," added a neighbor, who gave only his first name, Desean.

More than a few compared the suspects to a certain folk outlaw known for robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Los Angeles Police spokesman Cmdr. Andy Smith tried to knock down such talk. "Robin Hood is not how I would describe these guys," he said. "It's just the worst side of human nature."

The made-for-Hollywood chase began 40 miles to the north in Santa Clarita...

Continue reading.

U.S. Denies Warnings on Embassy Attacks

From John Hinderaker, at Power Line, "A NON-DENIAL DENIAL FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION":

The Obama administration is denying the Independent’s report that it had warnings of possible attacks on diplomatic installations in the Middle East, but failed to act. Steve and I both wrote about the Independent story. Now Politico reports that the Obama administration indignantly denies the Independent report.

Only, if you look more closely, it isn’t much of a denial. Here is what the administration says about the claim that it had warnings of possible attacks:

Shawn Turner, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, emailed: “This is absolutely wrong. We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.”

Of course, the Independent story didn’t say that the Obama administration had “actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.” It said that “the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted,” but did nothing to step up security. The administration’s denial does not contradict the Independent’s statement, and the fact that the denial is phrased so narrowly suggests that the Independent’s report is, in fact, accurate.

RTWT.

The Independent's piece is here: "Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination — Exclusive: America 'was warned of embassy attack but did nothing'."

Ambassador Christopher Stevens Obituary

At the New York Times, "For Veteran Envoy, Return to Libya Was Full of Hope."

I just shake my head at the loss. He was a diplomat's diplomat.

And see yesterday's report at the Wall Street Journal, "Libya Attack Sparks Crisis: U.S. Sends Marines After Ambassador, Three Other Americans Killed; 'We Couldn't Stop Them'."

Chicago Teachers' Union's Occupy Che Protest

Via My Pet Jawa:

The editors at the New York Times, shilling for the White House, aren't pleased: "Chicago Teachers' Folly."

9/11/12 — The Day the Roof Fell In

From Walter Russell Mead, at Via Meadia:

Sometimes trouble blows up out of a clear blue sky. That’s what happened to the White House yesterday.

Coming out of the Democratic Convention, despite an uninspiring speech, President Obama had a united party and a comfortable bounce. While the economy was no great shakes, the President’s stewardship of foreign affairs helped give his administration an air of competence and professionalism. At a time when war-weary and terror-wary Americans, buffeted by storms at home and upheavals abroad, want nothing more than a quiet life, “no drama” Obama was ready to campaign as a safe and experienced steward of the national interest against a gaffe-prone challenger.

But that was before 9/11/12, the day the roof fell in. The Chicago teacher strike raised doubts about the President’s domestic leadership, the publication of Bob Woodward’s new book raised questions about his economic management and political skills, and 11 years to the day after the 9/11 attack, radical America-hating Islamists stormed the U.S. embassies in Cairo and Benghazi, assassinated the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others even as U.S. and Israeli relations sank to another low point.

Continue reading.

Michelle Malkin Slams Obama Administration's Dhimmitude

Man, she fired up and on fire!

And at Michelle's blog, "Egyptian faux-rage, deadly American dhimmitude, and the return of Islamic Rage Boy; Update: US Ambassador to Libya, Foreign Service officer, two Marines dead."

What a disgusting and disastrous, but wholly predictable, way to end this day. As you may have heard, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo chose the 11th anniversary of 9/11 to apologize for “hurt Muslim feelings” as radical Egyptian clerics stoked faux-rage over an obscure documentary attacking Islamic extremism. The Obama administration’s mortifying apology, of course, did not mollify the Muslim agitators. Appeasement has never mollified the practitioners of the Religion of Perpetual Outrage.

Naturally, the Muslim mob stormed the Embassy compound, anyway — and the pretextual violence spread to Libya, where an American State Department worker was killed today*

(UPDATE: FOUR killed, including the US Ambassador to Libya and Foreign Service information officer Sean Smith, along with TWO U.S. MARINES). The feckless State Department has deleted its groveling tweet and the White House is in pathetic damage control mode.

How Obama Radicalized the Middle East: Favored Islamists Over Secularists – The Timeline

At Maggie's Notebook: "The Creeping Obama Legacy of Islamization."

Where Were the Marines?

From Michael Patrick Leahy, at Big Government:

Early reports of the militant attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed our Ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans offer a confusing picture of the facts surrounding these murders.

CBS News is reporting that Ambassador Stevens suffocated to death while two Marines and an embassy staffer were shot to death. CBS also reported that more Marines were being sent to Libya. But these reports raise more questions than they answer...

Continue reading. And see Allahpundit, at Hot Air, "Report: U.S. consulate in Benghazi had no Marine protection."

PREVIOUSLY: "Body of Ambassador Chris Stevens Dragged Through Streets of Benghazi."

Mitt Romney Press Conference on Attacks on U.S. Mission in Libya

The GOP candidate made more news than the president, taking questions when the commander-in-chief wouldn't.

PREVIOUSLY: "JournoList Press Corps Interrogates Mitt Romney While Obama Administration's Foreign Policy Goes Down in Flames."

Lacey Banghard Topless Zoo Photo Outtakes September 2012

What a lady.

At Egotastic, "Humpday Huzzah! Lacey Banghard Topless Outtakes Bring Out Her Inner Animal."

Arab Spring Rage

Via Theo Spark:

About the Presidential Horse Race...

This ---> "OMG, Romney’s back, SURGE, Comeback Kid, clutching victory from jaws of defeat, nothing to fear but fear itself, it ain’t over ’till it’s over, I can see U.S. hockey victory over Obama from my poll, U.S.A.! U.S.A.! …"

Word.

And we'll be seeing more developments in public opinion. I think Team Romney's finding its stride with the adminstration FUBAR fiasco in the Middle East.

JournoList Press Corps Interrogates Mitt Romney While Obama Administration's Foreign Policy Goes Down in Flames

The Democrat-Media-Complex and allied establishment foreign policy "experts" have successfully turned one of the biggest foreign policy fiascos of this administration into a referendum on Mitt Romney's fitness to serve.

Huh, what?

You read that right. Here's AoSHQ on Twitter:

Now, as The Foreign Policy President's (TM) foreign policy bears bloody fruit, the press wants to know why Romney brought us to this pass.

— (he said ironically) (@AceofSpadesHQ) September 12, 2012

And see Twitchy, "Ace of Spades, NRO destroy ‘real journalists’ covering for Obama at Romney foreign policy presser."

Also from Katrina Trinko at National Review, "The Insane MSM Questions Romney Faced at Presser."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Romney Offends the Pundits":

Tuesday's assaults on the U.S. Embassies in Benghazi and Cairo have injected foreign policy into the Presidential campaign, but suddenly the parsons of the press corps are offended by the debate. They're upset that Mitt Romney had the gall to criticize the State Department for a statement that the White House itself disavowed.

We're referring to the statement issued Tuesday under the headline "U.S. Embassy Condemns Religious Incitement." The statement came in response to Muslim protests against a 13-minute anti-Islamic video making the rounds on YouTube.

In response to anger in Egypt at the video, the Embassy in Cairo issued its statement saying that "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." It added that, "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."...

Mr. Romney reacted late Tuesday with his own statement: "I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. 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." He followed Wednesday with a press conference reinforcing his criticisms of the Administration's "mixed signals" on "our values."

The Obama Presidential campaign jumped on the remarks Wednesday as inappropriate, yet a "senior Administration official" had told the website Politico later on Tuesday night that "The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government." So the White House can walk away from its own diplomats, but Mr. Romney can't criticize them?...

The broader point is that the attacks on the embassies do raise questions about how America has fared in the world in the last four years. (See above.) Throughout his candidacy, Mr. Romney has supported the necessity of America's global leadership, sometimes against the wishes of Republican voters. His comments this week are consistent with that worldview, which is also consistent with that of every recent conservative President.

His political faux pax was to offend a pundit class that wants to cede the foreign policy debate to Mr. Obama without thinking seriously about the trouble for America that is building in the world.

BONUS: At the Lonely Conservative, "Video: Mitt Romney Statement on Embassy Attacks in Egypt and Libya – Updated" (via Memeorandum). Also at Weekly Standard, "Press Coordinates Question to Ask Romney," and NewsBusters, "Video: CBS and NPR Reporter Plot to Insure Romney's Asked If He Regrets Obama Critique."

Body of Ambassador Chris Stevens Dragged Through Streets of Benghazi

While depraved progressives are attacking Mitt Romney for criticizing the White House, reports indicate the Ambassador Stevens' dead body was dragged through the streets, in a burst of jihad-driven anti-Americanism — and also in what's reminiscent of the downing of the Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu in 1993, when the bodies of U.S. forces were dragged through the streets by Somali mobs.

The Gateway Pundit reports, "ISLAMISTS DRAG DEAD BODY OF US AMBASSADOR THROUGH THE STREETS OF BENGHAZI! (Updated) …Another Photo!"

Legacy media sources aren't reporting on this atrocity. The New York Times barely mentions the debauchery, "One photograph showed a man closely resembling Mr. Stevens apparently unconscious, his face seeming to be smudged with smoke and his eyes closed." A Google search turns up almost nothing specific, although International Business Times has this, "Libya Prophet Attack: Picture Shows US Ambassador Christopher Stevens Carried through Benghazi Streets [GRAPHIC IMAGE]." Following the link takes us to the Italian website, Corrierre della Sera, and its piece, "The final attempt to save the Ambassador Stevens."

IBD and other reports continue to suggest that "protesters" were attempting to transport Stevens to a hospital, but clearly a mob is parading the body around in frenzy of victory. Check that Gateway Pundit link, and also Atlas Shrugs, "LIBYA DECLARES WAR ON US: U.S. AMBASSADOR TO LIBYA, 3 OTHERS, KILLED IN ATTACK."

And at Israel Matzav, "It's come to this: Libyan 'protesters' dragged dead body of US ambasador through the streets of Benghazi."