OFFENSIVE TO INFIDELS
Posted on 10/18/2012 12:44:38 PM PDT by ifinnegan
Mindless Violence in Response to a Video that is Offensive to Muslims
The statements of President Obama and his spokesman Jay Carney describing the Benghazi murders were clearly and repeatedly stated and are fully documented and archived.
The murders were described as “senseless violence” and “mindless violence” by President Obama and “in response to a video that is offensive to Muslims” by Secretary Carney.
On Sept. 12, 2012 President Obama stated, “We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence.”
On Sept. 14 Secretary Carney repeatedly described the murders as “response to a video, a film that we have judged to be reprehensible and disgusting.”
On Sept. 25 President Obama also characterized the murders in this same fashion in his speech at the UN, stating, “That is what we saw play out in the last two weeks, as a crude and disgusting video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world.” The President later continued, “There is no speech that justifies mindless violence. There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There’s no video that justifies an attack on an embassy.”
. . . . .
Below are larger excerpts from the 9/12/12 Rose Garden Speech; the 9/14/12 Carney Press conference and the 9/25/12 UN speech of President Obama.
Links to full text are provided.
9/12/12 Rose Garden
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/12/remarks-president-deaths-us-embassy-staff-libya
The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack.
. . .
Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.
9/14/12 Press Briefing
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 9/14/2012
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
11:42 A.M. EDT - 12:38 P.M. EDT
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/14/press-briefing-press-secretary-jay-carney-9142012
(excerpts)
Q Jay, as you know, the unrest in the Middle East is spreading to other embassies -- U.S. embassies. The President’s critics are saying this is an indictment of his handling of the Arab Spring, that this has given rise to further inflamed sentiment among Islamists. What’s his response to that?
We also need to understand that this is a fairly volatile situation and it is in response not to United States policy, not to obviously the administration, not to the American people. It is in response to a video, a film that we have judged to be reprehensible and disgusting. That in no way justifies any violent reaction to it, but this is not a case of protests directed at the United States writ large or at U.S. policy. This is in response to a video that is offensive to Muslims.
Again, this is not in any way justifying violence, and we’ve spoken very clearly out against that and condemned it. And the President is making sure in his conversations with leaders around the region that they are committed, as hosts to diplomatic facilities, to protect both personnel and buildings and other facilities that are part of the U.S. representation in those countries.
. . .
Q Wouldn’t it seem logical that the anniversary of 9/11 would be a time that you would want to have extra security around diplomats and military posts?
MR. CARNEY: Well, as you know, we are very vigilant around anniversaries like 9/11. The President is always briefed and brought up to speed on all the precautions being taken. But let’s be --
Q But saying you’re very vigilant and being very vigilant are different things.
MR. CARNEY: Jake, let’s be clear, these protests were in reaction to a video that had spread to the region --
Q At Benghazi? What happened at Benghazi --
MR. CARNEY: We certainly don't know. We don't know otherwise. We have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack. The unrest we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims find offensive. And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of, or to U.S. policy.
Q But the group around the Benghazi post was well armed. It was a well-coordinated attack. Do you think it was a spontaneous protest against a movie?
MR. CARNEY: Look, this is obviously under investigation, and I don’t have –
Q But your operating assumption is that that was in response to the video, in Benghazi? I just want to clear that up. That’s the framework? That’s the operating assumption?
MR. CARNEY: Look, it’s not an assumption --
Q Because there are administration officials who don’t -- who dispute that, who say that it looks like this was something other than a protest.
MR. CARNEY: I think there has been news reports on this, Jake, even in the press, which some of it has been speculative. What I’m telling you is this is under investigation. The unrest around the region has been in response to this video. We do not, at this moment, have information to suggest or to tell you that would indicate that any of this unrest was preplanned.
What is true about Libya is that -- well, a couple of things. One, is it’s one of the more pro-American countries in the region. Two, it is a very new government; it is a country that has just come out of a revolution and a lot of turmoil, and there are certainly a lot of armed groups. So the fact that there are weapons in the region and the new government is not -- is still building up its capacities in terms of security and its ability to ensure the security of facilities, is not necessarily reflective of anything except for the remarkable transformation that’s been going on in the region.
Q Jay, my last question. It was said that what happened on 9/11 was a failure of imagination, failure of American policymakers and counterterrorism officials to anticipate the kind of attack that could have taken place. This would seem to be the exact opposite. Was this a failure by the Obama administration? Did the President and his administration mess up in any way?
MR. CARNEY: Jake, again, what we have seen is unrest around the region in response to a video that Muslims find offensive, many Muslims find offensive. We have seen incidents like this in the past, in reaction to other actions -- cartoons and other actions that have been taken, that have been -- have led to protests and violence in the region. And we have managed those situations, and we are working to ensure that our diplomatic personnel and our diplomatic facilities are secure as we deal with the response to this video, which we believe is offensive and disgusting.
Q So that’s a no? Entirely the fault of the filmmaker?
MR. CARNEY: Again, I don’t think -- I think you have to understand what is happening currently in the region and what it is a response to. This is not -- this has been in –
Q I don’t think I need to understand that. I think the people who protect the embassies need to understand it.
MR. CARNEY: The cause of the unrest was a video, and that continues today, as you know, as we anticipated. And it may continue for some time. We are working with governments around the region to remind them of their responsibilities to provide security to diplomatic personnel and facilities, and we are ensuring that more resources are put in place to protect our embassies and consulates and our personnel in these parts of the world where unrest is occurring.
Q Thank you.
Q You’ve mentioned a number of times now that this was in response to a video or a film. Would you not agree, though, that it’s moved beyond that? That some are stirring violence by focusing on U.S. policy, or targeting the U.S. in general? That it’s no longer just about the film?
MR. CARNEY: Well, the reason why there is unrest is because of the film; this is in response to the film. I don’t doubt --
Q Well, that’s what sparked it. You think that’s what sparked it.
MR. CARNEY: We do think that’s what sparked it.
Q Right. But it’s moved beyond that, hasn’t it?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I don’t -- we obviously are not polling protesters to find out what their motivations are. There is no question that there’s anti-American sentiment in various countries around the Middle East; that’s not a discovery I think we’ve made today. What is the case is that the protesters in these countries are not representative of the broader sentiment in those countries, at least in the sense that -- sentiment that would say that the reaction, the proper reaction to a film that is offensive is violence. As I said yesterday, that’s not in keeping with Islam, and it’s certainly something that we do not accept. And we have made clear to leaders in the region that they need to make clear that it is not an acceptable reaction to a film, however offensive it might be.
Again, this is not a film that the United States government had anything to do with. We reject its message and its contents. We find it both disgusting and reprehensible. America has a history of religious tolerance and respect for religious beliefs, and that history goes back to our nation’s founding. But there is absolutely -- as I’ve said, absolutely no justification at all for responding to this movie with violence, and we are making -- we are working, rather, to make sure that Muslims around the globe hear that message.
. . .
Q Okay. And if I could just follow up on -- you earlier said the cause of the unrest was a video, then you repeated something similar later on. And I just want to be clear, that's true of Benghazi and Cairo?
MR. CARNEY: I’m saying that that -- the incident in Benghazi, as well as elsewhere, that these are all being investigated. What I’m saying is that we have no evidence at this time to suggest otherwise that there was a preplanned or ulterior instigation behind that unrest.
. . .
Q Jay, one last question -- while we were sitting here -- Secretary Panetta and the Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee. And the senators came out and said their indication was that this, or the attack on Benghazi was a terrorist attack organized and carried out by terrorists, that it was premeditated, a calculated act of terror. Levin said -- Senator Levin -- I think it was a planned, premeditated attack. The kind of equipment that they had used was evidence it was a planned, premeditated attack. Is there anything more you can -- now that the administration is briefing senators on this, is there anything more you can tell us?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I think we wait to hear from administration officials. Again, it's actively under investigation, both the Benghazi attack and incidents elsewhere. And my point was that we don't have and did not have concrete evidence to suggest that this was not in reaction to the film. But we’re obviously investigating the matter, and I’ll certainly -- I’m sure both the Department of Defense and the White House and other places will have more to say about that as more information becomes available.
UN 9/25/12
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly
Remarks by the President to the UN General Assembly
. . .
That is what we saw play out in the last two weeks, as a crude and disgusting video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world. Now, I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.
It is an insult not only to Muslims, but to America as well -- for as the city outside these walls makes clear, we are a country that has welcomed people of every race and every faith. We are home to Muslims who worship across our country. We not only respect the freedom of religion, we have laws that protect individuals from being harmed because of how they look or what they believe. We understand why people take offense to this video because millions of our citizens are among them.
. . .
And on this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence. There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There’s no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. There’s no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan.
It is a long excerpt but worth the read.
Obama continues these claims 11 days later at the UN.
It is not hard to know the facts and it was not described as terrorism but senseless violence due only to the video.
Au Contraire Mr. Carney. This makes perfect sense to the Jihadists.
Muslim violence isn’t senseless or mindless.
Muslim violence is highly targeted at forcing Westerners to conform to Islam.
That’s as mindful and full of Islamic sensibility as you can get.
Glenn Beck was all over this the other day.. He said terror attacks are not ‘senseless violence’. They PLAN their attacks and know exactly what they’re doing and why.
That was the plan. Hostage-taking that went awry. 0bama stuck with the ‘anti-Islam movie’ narrative, however. I guess he figured he’d fulfill part of the mission. He couldn’t fix the killing part.
There is no excuse for allowing islam or muslims. None whatsoever.
I look forward to the day when my grandchildren are in the back yard playing “Cowboys and Muslims.”
I have yet to be convinced on the hostage taking. I think the expectation was that Obama's rebels armed to the teeth were going to move on to Syria. I think he got caught with his pants down in Libya. He advertised that video over and over and over again as if he wanted worldwide Muslim outrage. When did Obama know who exactly that film maker was? Seems really strange that nothing else has been leaked or reported on exactly who that film maker is.
I have not seen this video, but I have one question - Was the audio in English or Arabic?
If the audio was in English, HOW could the whole Arab speaking world even KNOW that the video was offensive?
Producer Of Anti-Islam Film Was Fed Snitch
Why is the Coptic Christian filmmaker partners in crime with Coptic Christian hater?
Muhammad Movie Trailer video 13:51
Clips from the film were first aired on Egyptian TV just 3-4 days before Sept. 11th by a hardline 'tele-Islamist.'
Exactly. The video is a made up story.
This post was to document that what Obama said at the debate and Crowley “confirmed” was not true in any way shape or form.
The White House did not characterize these murders as a terrorist attack. It was described as a reaction to an insulting video. Jay Carney goes on in great detail making this claim and denying there was any pre-planned terrorist activity, even when directly asked, on Sept 14.
Obama continued with this story until at least the 25th of September and ascribed the same motives and reason for the murders at his UN speech.
It was a cover story to indicate it was not a preplanned terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11.
It was meant to lie to the American public about what happened and why and to use the murders as fodder for the tolerance agenda.
The administration definitely feels that any terrorist attack is bad for their election chances and it was in their interests to make up a story to deny there was a terrorist attack on the 911 anniversary.
And now, when that lie can no longer hold up at all Obama is denying they ever told the story and are claiming they always said it was a terrorist attack.
You did an excellent job of that too. Bookmarked in fact. I agree with your conclusions.
Welcome to Free Republic BTW.
Bump for topicality.
Obama blamed insults to Islam on the first day.
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