Um check your math. 50 Marines is not “hundreds”. And sure, locking the barn door after the horse has bolted is “presidential and statesmanlike”.
Embassies are statements of trust. Ambassadors know this, it is part of the deal. Security of some degree is permitted, of course, but no embassy has an armored division in its courtyard.
There is little to no chance we will ever actually get our hands on the perpetrators, it was a mob, and a mob has no identity. If we press them, the Libyans will likely round up some usual suspects, probably people they’d like to be rid of anyway. And some of them will be guilty.
Ambassador Steven almost certainly knew the risks he was taking. He did it anyway, rather like a soldier serves his country, but he doesn’t get to shoot back.
50 to 200 by the reporting on MSNBC. They said hundreds earlier, if it’s clarified in more detail, I’ll grant this nit.
You would rather that 200 marines be added to the security detail at every working embassy? Doesn’t that seem stupid to you?
You have nothing. You’re just stamping your feet at this point. Insisting that Obama bungled this doesn’t make it so. Face it, your guy Romney just shit himself and is proudly marching around in the sagging diaper.
Al Qaeda does have an identity. Since there’s reason to think they’re responsible for this anyway, I expect it’ll be visited on their heads.
Well, the mob doesn’t have an identity, but the guys firing RPGs probably do. So I don’t think its that inconceivable that the people actually responsible for the murder will be held responsible (in the footage I saw of the Egyptian riot, you could also see dozens of people taking pictures on celphones, if Libya was the same way I imagine there will be a decent amount of photographic evidence).
See above: take this to the Pit thread.
Bush’s fault, all of it. Missing around 60% of intelligence meetings - Bush’s fault. Under funding embassy security - Bush’s fault. Those pesky Letterman appearances - Bush’s fault. Campaigning and fund raising taking up too much time to visit other world leaders - Bush’s fault.
So you think Romney’s missteps are Bush’s fault?
That might be a little much.
I suspect you are being facetious.
BTW, not one person has blamed this on Bush even slightly. Nice try though.
Well, Romney has solidified his hold on the “Obama is a Kenyan Muslim Socialist” demographic. I hear that he was worried that these folks were beginning to slip away.
All true. Doesn’t make Obama look less weak and ineffectual when all he can do is issue statements in response, though.
What exactly do you mean by “do anything”? There really is nothing useful to be done about this save what Obama is already doing about it.
Not really; any bunch of malconents can declare itself to be “Al-Qaeda In Dumfukistan”. It’s not like they have a central organization with a staff of trademark lawyers on retainer or something.
Could you explain in detail what Obama could do that would make him seem competent in your eyes?
Specifics please.
Is there anyone in particular you would like us to kill? Be nice if you could be specific.
Temperament and timing matter to public perception. Romney should know that in the immediate wake of a tragedy overseas, the public and the press generally will coalesce in support of the president regardless of party, and to fight that consensus will be seen as churlish.
There are legitimate questions to be raised here, once some decent time has passed: Was there adequate intelligence and security for the consular staff? Has the US ultimately benefited from overthrowing Qaddafi, if Libya has devolved into a violent mess? What happened to the notion of restoring our standing in the Muslim world? But by jumping the gun, Romney made this into a matter of personal image that he likely can’t win.
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There really is nothing useful to be done about this save what Obama is already doing about it.
You do understand that, don’t you?
Yes, they can. And whoever in Libya was doing that is likely to wind up on the wrong end of a predator drone sooner rather than later.
Actually, that demographic is slipping away from him: