# Protesters storm US embasy...in Cairo?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420 "2012-09-11T18:53:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/101 "2012-09-12T19:39:13Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > In post #68, I meant that one could provoke violence _in Northern Ireland_ by merely marching through some neighborhoods. March down a predominantly African-American street anywhere in the United States and proclaim that you’re the Grand Wizard Of The KKK and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/102 "2012-09-12T19:53:48Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > The news/rumors keep coming in fast and furious. Now this: > > [**Muhammad Film Consultant: ‘Sam Bacile’ is Not Israeli, and _Not a Real Name_**](http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/muhammad-film-consultant-sam-bacile-is-not-israeli-and-not-a-real-name/262290/) > > Time to take everything with a huge grain of salt. Surely much more to come. [emphasis mine] So not only is this guy a [expletive deleted because this is GD], he’s also a coward. IF you’re going to put out [expletive deleted] like this the least you can do is stand up and own it, instead of hiding like a coward. That alone shows what kind of person this guy is. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/103 "2012-09-12T20:00:55Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > and the guy behind the movie was a Coptic Chrustian from Egypt. Man, Egyptian Copts that are still in Egypt must really love this guy right now. Nothing helps a persecuted minority in a majority Muslim country like having one of your co-religionists make a movie calling Mohammad a paedophilie. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/104 "2012-09-12T20:16:32Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The protest itself seems to have been triggered by the one in Egypt, which in turn was triggered by reporting there that Florida Evangelical Terry Jones was going to screen the anti-Muslim film on that day. Unless Terry Jones is an Al-Qaeda operative, the protest wasn’t pre-planned by anyone in Libya. Someone spread the word about gathering at the consulate in Benghazi. Someone also brought RPGs and guns (have you ever been walking around with a grenade launcher and stumbled onto a protest?) and perhaps had some knowledge of the layout of the embassy. And someone had to make the news of the film public and dub it into Arabic for YouTube consumption, although that does not all have to have been done by the same people. The U.S. government seems pretty sure at this point that the attack was planned. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/105 "2012-09-12T20:19:57Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Red, I know you have issues with me and a really odd hang-up regarding Zionism(note Zionism not Jews) but you might want to read your link before smearing Al-Jazeera with promoting anti-Semitic claptrap. > > Your link reports credible claims that Bacile was neither Israeli nor Jewish, but actually an American Christian and the guy behind the movie was a Coptic Chrustian from Egypt. Dude, it’s a straight link to the article and it simply repeats what Bacile _himself_ is claimed to have said. Don’t like that one? Well then, simply read **Inbred Mm domesticus** ’s link right before mine. No additional commentary on my end, so I have no idea why you bring up the Zionism claptrap; AFAICS, this is a fundie show – or not. Beyond that, try reading my [following post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15484279&postcount=93), which you might note, disclaims the prior one. So I’ll repeat, news & rumors are flowing fast and furious. Nothing conclusive that we know of. As for “issues” w/you…you are just bytes on a monitor. Hardly important in the larger scheme of things. Sorry to disappoint… ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/106 "2012-09-12T20:24:31Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > [emphasis mine] > > So not only is this guy a [expletive deleted because this is GD], he’s also a coward. IF you’re going to put out [expletive deleted] like this the least you can do is stand up and own it, instead of hiding like a coward. That alone shows what kind of person this guy is. While I agree with your sentiment if the article is verified, you’ll note that the author himself says: > [@](#): > > What are we to make of Steve Klein’s assertions? **I’m taking everything about this strange and horrible episod with a grain of salt** , though I will say that I haven’t seen any proof yet that Sam Bacile is an actual Israeli Jew, or that the name is anything other than a pseudonym. More to come, undoubtedly. I suggest we all do the same. The whole story is getting more and more bizarre. October surprise in Sept? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/107 "2012-09-12T20:33:21Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Red, I know you have issues with me and a really odd hang-up regarding Zionism(note Zionism not Jews) but you might want to read your link before smearing Al-Jazeera with promoting anti-Semitic claptrap. > > Your link reports credible claims that Bacile was neither Israeli nor Jewish, but actually an American Christian and the guy behind the movie was a Coptic Chrustian from Egypt. Retraction in order. The line, which once again, I pulled straight from the original article, is no longer there. It’s been edited out and now links to The Atlantic article I cited afterwards. Really weird – should have taken a screen cap. That said **Inbred’s** [**link**](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/09/12/161003427/what-we-know-about-sam-bacile-the-man-behind-the-muhammad-movie) _does_ explain the edit and includes the original claim. Trust that clears up the confusion on both ends. ETA: The WSJ _still_ has the claim up: [Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California.](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444017504577645681057498266.html) Bottom line? I think everyone’s on a fishing expedition at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/108 "2012-09-12T20:46:45Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > October surprise in Sept? Typically an October surprise is something done by one of the campaigns- although for sure not a lot of people knew this was coming. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/109 "2012-09-12T21:01:46Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > Bottom line? I think everyone’s on a fishing expedition at this point. No kidding. [Not only does Bacile probably not exist, the full movie might not either.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html?_r=2&hp) The simplest explanation to me is that the “consultant” Klein made the thing himself, but who the hell knows. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/110 "2012-09-12T21:02:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Typically an October surprise is something done by one of the campaigns- although for sure not a lot of people knew this was coming. Correct. Meant it as in your second interpretation not as something sinister between Parties. There’s a deer-caught-in-the-headlights side to all of this at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/111 "2012-09-12T21:07:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No kidding. [Not only does Bacile probably not exist, the full movie might not either.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html?_r=2&hp) The simplest explanation to me is that the “consultant” Klein made the thing himself, but who the hell knows. Holy shit! What a convoluted mess. :eek: Conspiracy theorists must be orgasmic. I, OTOH, have none to offer. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/112 "2012-09-12T21:12:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Which one? [At least one of the threats was substantiated](http://minnesotaindependent.com/4441/flowery-language-woman-tied-to-myers-death-threat-fired-from-florist-job). You said hundreds. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/113 "2012-09-12T21:17:40Z")
For 11 years we always qualify our tough talk with, “What I just said doesn’t apply to peaceful Muslims, only the bad people who did this.” I’m tired of hearing that. I agree with the sentiment, but why the need for the continued qualification? Also the peaceful Muslims are responsible for what happens in their communities. If one hundred Christians go to bed at night in small town Appalachia while their neighbors lynch a black man, it’s damn well their fault for not taking more of an interest in their community, seeking out those responsible, and taking steps to control lawlessness in their town. Where in the hell was the security at our consulate in LIBYA? I can’t walk into a federal courthouse with coins in my pocket, but Libyans can kill our ambassador? Blah! I’m so pissed right now… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/114 "2012-09-12T21:18:04Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > BTW, the “correct” response would be for the outraged religious dolts to make their own piece of crap video lampooning the shit out of Jesus & his followers. Hell, it’d take what? A couple of hours and a $300 minicam. > > Voila! Revenge. > > Imbeciles, the lot of them. they could just tape episodes of The Family guy, The Simpsons or Southpark for free. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/115 "2012-09-12T21:23:16Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Also the peaceful Muslims are responsible for what happens in their communities. If one hundred Christians go to bed at night in small town Appalachia while their neighbors lynch a black man, it’s damn well their fault for not taking more of an interest in their community, seeking out those responsible, and taking steps to control lawlessness in their town. How were they supposed to stop this exactly? There was a large protest, and a smaller group of people used it as cover to fire rocket launchers at the building. > [@](#): > > Where in the hell was the security at our consulate in LIBYA? Not prepared for this, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/116 "2012-09-12T21:25:25Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Similarly, while this movie, or several years ago some cartoons might have been the spark that caused the violence, it’s fair to say that they weren’t the principal cause, but the real cause was the recent history of the region. Well that’s certainly possible in Libya but in Egypt they plan on asking for [legal action](http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4280756,00.html) against the film maker. Sounds like they’re genuinely upset over something. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/117 "2012-09-12T21:26:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > How were they supposed to stop this exactly? There was a large protest, and a smaller group of people used it as cover to fire rocket launchers at the building. I know. I’m venting. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/118 "2012-09-12T21:29:43Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No kidding. [Not only does Bacile probably not exist, the full movie might not either.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/origins-of-provocative-video-shrouded.html?_r=2&hp) The simplest explanation to me is that the “consultant” Klein made the thing himself, but who the hell knows. I have to admit that Steve Klein is a rather odd name to go by for a Christian fundamentalist who hates Muslims who claims there are other Christian fundamentalists who are falsely claiming to be Jews. I also wonder whether he was a member of a “hunter-killer” group of Marines in Vietnam. So many things about this story have my bullshit detector pinging like crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/119 "2012-09-12T21:31:33Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I have to admit that Steve Klein is a rather odd name to go by for a Christian fundamentalist who hates Muslims who claims there are other Christian fundamentalists who are falsely claiming to be Jews. I know what you’re saying, but I also can’t think of a _normal_ name for a guy who is doing what you’re describing. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420/120 "2012-09-12T21:31:41Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > For 11 years we always qualify our tough talk with, “What I just said doesn’t apply to peaceful Muslims, only the bad people who did this.” > > I’m tired of hearing that. I agree with the sentiment, but why the need for the continued qualification? To counter the people who declare we should kill all the Muslims. And who have done so for a lot longer than 11 years. To quote from this very forum: > [@I pit the statement from the US Embassy in Cairo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-statement-from-the-us-embassy-in-cairo/634432/100): > > No, what gave rise to radical Islam is an entire population of extremely ignorant, uneducated people. Islam has produced garbage society and its people are garbage, they are ignorant and anti-education and this has caused a centuries long stagnation of all of their cultures. From the heights of the Ottoman Empire Islam has caused an intellectual and social decay that has made Muslim countries a backwards, barbaric, imbecilic laughing stock. Pathetic, grotesque, weak and stupid compared to even the most backward Western country. > > These people are little better than our animal forebears and should not be considered as rational humans. They were raised irrationally and think irrationally, and are incompatible with our modern world. They should be segregated from the modern world and punished at every turn. I’d start with destroying all their water and electric facilities, as they do not deserve the benefit of modern utilities. We can let all their well trained engineers and scientists rebuild them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protesters-storm-us-embasy-in-cairo/634420.md?page=7)