Obama’s Handling of Libyan Embassy Attacks Continues To Draw Controversy

Commentary | Americans are just as divided over their opinions about President Obama’s handling of the destruction of our Libyan Embassy as they are about the photograph of President Obama with his feet propped up on the Resolute Desk. His supporters only see a relaxed Obama, smiling in satisfaction over his victory in the 2008 elections.

His critics see an entirely different picture. They see a man who has no respect for one of the great symbols of our nation: the President’s desk in the Oval Office, a desk that does not belong to Obama but belongs to every single citizen of our great nation, bought and paid for with the blood of heroes, who fought and died in many wars to preserve our Democracy.

But the Resolute Desk is just a piece of furniture and Obama will only have four more years at most to put his feet on it. Americans are much more concerned about what they perceive to be the President’s utter unwillingness to speak the truth about who is to blame for the violence that left our Libyan Embassy a burnt out ruin and four of our diplomatic staff dead.

Obama’s reluctance to speak a word against radical Islam or condemn by name the Islamists dedicated to destroying Western Civilization didn’t start when he was elected to the office of President. We can refer back to his speech when he was a State Senator in Illinois as a prime example. After the devastating attack that killed over 3,000 human beings and destroyed the World Trade Center, this was the best Obama could muster:

“The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity….”

“We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle Eastern descent.”

The Obama of 2012 has not changed. During the attack on the United States Embassy in Cairo, the following statement was released:

“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. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. 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.”

After the despicable murders of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty during the attack on the United States Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, President Obama went before the United Nations General Assembly and spoke these words:

“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam… The events of the last two weeks speak to the need for all of us to address honestly the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy. Just as we cannot solve every problem in the world, the United States has not, and will not, seek to dictate the outcome of democratic transitions abroad, and we do not expect other nations to agree with us on every issue. Nor do we assume that the violence of the past weeks, or the hateful speech by some individuals, represents the views of the overwhelming majority of Muslims— any more than the views of the people who produced this video represent those of Americans.”

So once again, our nation is attacked by mobs of fanatics waving the black flag of triumphal Islam, screaming for the destruction of the “decadent West” and “the evil Zionist entity” (the Jewish nation of Israel), and our President refuses to clearly state the truth: that Islam has been co-opted by militant fanatics, led by dictatorial clerics and tyrants, who would impose their version of Islam on the entire human race, as clearly stated by the leader of the group that now rules the Arab world’s most populous nation, Egypt:

“The Imam [Banna] (founder of the Muslim Brotherhood) delineated transitional goals and detailed methods to achieve this greatest objective, starting by reforming the individual, followed by building the family, the society, the government, and then a rightly guided caliphate and finally mastership of the world.”

The stakes could not be higher, and the Islamists have made it clear that they wish to rule the human race, yet our President and his Administration continues to blame free speech and an incredibly bad YouTube video. The President’s own Press Secretary, Jay Carney, made this statement the day after the attack on the Libyan Embassy:

“The protests we’re seeing around the region are in reaction to this movie. They are not directly in reaction to any policy of the United States or the government of the United States or the people of the United States.”

Two days later, Carney continued to push the White House’s misleading message:

“Our belief based on the information we have is it was the video that caused the unrest in Cairo, and the video and the unrest in Cairo that helped — that precipitated some of the unrest in Benghazi and elsewhere.”

Even when Secretary of State Clinton was standing over the coffins of the four fallen Americans as their bodies arrived home for burial, she could not bring herself to name the perpetrators or the reasons for their violence. Instead, she made an impotent statement condemning religious hatred and once again blamed the anti-Muslim video:

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. America’s commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation, but let me be clear: there is no justification for this. None. Violence like this is no way to honor religion or faith. And as long gas there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.”

Mr. President, Secretary Clinton: the American people are not stupid, and the vast majority of us are loving, open minded people who will welcome anyone who treats us with respect. However, Americans do not pull punches or mince words when people seek to destroy our way of life or kill our citizens. It is not the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Christians, the Jews, the Sikhs, the Wiccans, or the Atheists who are screaming by the millions for the destruction of everything Americans hold dear. There is only one group that has declared war on everyone who doesn’t believe in what they claim is the truth, and that is radical Islam.

Americans expect our leaders to be straightforward and honest. We demand they speak truthfully about those who hate our country and set clearly defined red lines that must never be crossed. Misleading Americans by spreading a false narrative and worrying about hurting someone’s feelings when our diplomats are raped and killed should be a one way ticket to return to private life. Which is exactly what Mr.Obama deserves after the votes are counted in November: a quick move back to Chicago and a long, happy retirement.