Reuters: US ambassador to Libya dead

[Ed Anger]

Holy crap. I haven't seen the god warrior in quite a while.

[The Minsky Moment]

The "God hates fags" Phelps idiocy is widely discussed around the world. The Jack Chick tracts that call the Pope an Antichrist are widely discussed around the world.

Under what circumstances would an American embassy be in a position to comment on this, though? 

For example, yes it is true that Fred Phelps does outrageously offensive things like picket funerals and claim that Obama is the Antichrist.  I suppose the White House could issue a press release expressing strong disagreement with the notion that the President is the Antichrist, but it shouldn't be difficult to grasp why they don't do that.  Nor would there be any reason for the US embassy in Warsaw (or anywhere else) to issue statements on that matter, or about Phelps' pickets of military funerals, or his backing of anti-gay ordinances in Topeka.  If the US had an embassy to Kansas, perhaps that might be different . . .

[Ed Anger]

If the US had an embassy to Kansas,

I've been reliably informed that Oklahoma is close to breaking away from the US.

[Phillip V]

Do we know cause of death, yet?

[Ed Anger]

http://theaviationist.com/2012/09/13/deployment-benghazi/

Supposedly 12+ Special Operations planes are crossing the Atlantic. I Spooky.

[katmai]

If the US had an embassy to Kansas,

I've been reliably informed that Oklahoma is close to breaking away from the US.

Only if they agree to take Texas.

[Valmy]

Only if they agree to take Texas.

What do you know about Texas?  You bailed on me everytime you threatened to visit.

But no the only thing worse than living in a country governed by Texans would be to throw Okies in there.

[katmai]

What do I know about Texas?!
Dude my family has lived in that damn infernal state for couple hundred years. From my dad through great-great grandfather were born in state, I finally broke that streak.

I don't go there for a reason, and it isn't unfamiliarity. 

[CountDeMoney]

The State crew on the ground in Cairo isn't as stupid as Mittens and derfetus want them to be.

While Egyptian protesters battled security forces outside the US embassy on Thursday morning, another standoff was taking place -- this time in cyberspace.

The Muslim Brotherhood's official English-language Twitter account @Ikwanweb reposted a message from the group's deputy head, Khairat El-Shater, saying he was "relieved none of @USembassycairo staff was hurt" and expressing his hope that US-Egypt relations could weather the events.

This reconciliatory tweet, however, was posted while the Brotherhood's Arabic-language Twitter account and its official website were both praising the protests -- staged against a US-made film judged defamatory towards Islam -- and calling for a million man march on Friday.

One Arabic language article on the Brotherhood's site sported the headline 'Egyptians rise to defend the Prophet'.

Noting the contradiction, the US Embassy in Cairo tweeted a tart response from its own account: "Thanks. By the way, have you checked out your own Arabic feeds? I hope you know we read those too."

Seemingly stung, the Brotherhood replied some 20 minutes later, saying  "we understand you're under a lot of stress, but it will be more helpful if you point out exactly the Arabic feed of concern."

They were just three tweets, but they provided a snapshot into the strains US-Egypt relations are under this week.

[Admiral Yi]

NPR reports that the producer of the video is a Copt living south of LA, who was pretending to be a Jew  Dude was jailed for $800,000 worth of fraud.

Copts in Egypt are fucked.

[Phillip V]

U.S. Marines in Cairo were not allowed to carry live ammunition (rumor)


"A stunning report released Wednesday night at the national security newsletter NightWatch says that U.S. Marines guarding the embassy in Cairo were not allowed to carry live ammunition, thereby limiting their ability to protect the facility when it came under attack.
...
U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson "did not permit US Marine guards to carry live ammunition, according to USMC blogs. Thus she neutralized any US military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy."


http://www.examiner.com/article/report-says-u-s-marines-cairo-not-allowed-to-carry-live-ammunition
http://nation.time.com/2012/09/13/whats-worse-no-marines-or-possibly-unarmed-marines/

U.S. officials, however, have not commented on the report, and Time magazine’s Battleland blog said that "senior U.S. officials late Wednesday declined to discuss in detail the security at either Cairo or Benghazi, so answers may be slow in coming.”


Battleland also said they could not find the blogs that former veteran Defense Intelligence Agency analyst John McCreary cited in his report.


"With or without a weapon, Marines are always armed,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said Thursday afternoon, according to an update at Battleland. “I’ve heard nothing to suggest they don’t have ammunition."


"The U.S. ambassador to any nation ultimately decides whether Marines are authorized to carry ammunition, according to a GOP national security adviser knowledgeable about American embassy protocols," Adam Kredo wrote at the Free Beacon.


“In the end, the ambassador of any country has the final call on what to do in a country,” the adviser told Kredo. “The buck stops with you. You make every decision.”


U.S. Marines are typically used to protect embassies and other facilities abroad, but Kredo wrote that that the Obama administration was apparently "relying on Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood-backed government to ensure American security, a move observers are questioning as violence in Cairo continues to rage."

[Phillip V]

NPR reports that the producer of the video is a Copt living south of LA, who was pretending to be a Jew  Dude was jailed for $800,000 worth of fraud.

Copts in Egypt are fucked.

Christians are already fucked throughout the Middle East. Extinguished from Iraq, they might also disappear from Syria.

[crazy canuck]

The "God hates fags" Phelps idiocy is widely discussed around the world. The Jack Chick tracts that call the Pope an Antichrist are widely discussed around the world. And so on and so forth. The only difference here is that noone was killed over this. I find it highly amusing/infuriating that you guys are unable to admit that the only difference here is not how offensive something is, or how widely reported it is, but that we are dealing with violent savages here.

The rest of us find it highly amusing (and we dont care enough to be frustrated) that you dont actually understand what the difference is between those things and this case.

But to help you here is a hint.  Nobody was blaming the US for those things.

Muslims are crazy, film of embassy burning at 23.

It's funny how their argument is essentially "The US have to apologise to the muslims because Muslims murdered the US ambassador. Other people US citizens offended did not murder the US ambassador so there is no need for an apology." It's mindboggling, really.

Who is making this argument Marti?

If you think that is what is being said you are missing the point entirely.

[MadImmortalMan]

Do we know cause of death, yet?

Radio said smoke inhalation.

[Valmy]

What do I know about Texas?!
Dude my family has lived in that damn infernal state for couple hundred years. From my dad through great-great grandfather were born in state, I finally broke that streak.

I don't go there for a reason, and it isn't unfamiliarity. 

Your hatred of your ancestral homeland fills me with sadness

I have nothing but the warmest of affection for Maryland no matter how white trash it may be