Attacks on Embassies were premeditated

Column One: The reign of imagination

By CAROLINE B. GLICK, JPOST

Did US Ambassador Christopher Stevens understand why he and his fellow Americans were being murdered? PHOTO: REUTERS As he suffocated to death at the US Consulate in Benghazi on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US, did US Ambassador Christopher Stevens understand why he and his fellow Americans were being murdered? From what we have learned of this man since he was killed, it is clear that he was extremely courageous. He stole into Benghazi in April 2011 on a cargo ship to serve as chief US liaison officer to the rebel forces fighting Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He did the business of the US government in makeshift offices and moved from safe house to safe house under what can only be considered dire conditions of combat.

But did he understand the forces he was unleashing? Stevens arrived in Benghazi at an early phase of US involvement in the rebellion against Gaddafi, a former US foe who had been neutered since 2004. But even then it was clear that the rebels with whom he worked included jihadist fighters associated with al-Qaida. Their significance became obvious when just after the regime fell in November 2011, rebel forces foisted the flag of al-Qaida over the courthouse in Benghazi.

Did Stevens understand what this meant? Perhaps he did. But his boss, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, certainly didn’t. Following Tuesday’s attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Clinton said, “Today, many Americans are asking – indeed, I asked myself – how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be.”

Clinton, the bewildered stewardess of US foreign policy, then proclaimed with utter certainty that there is nothing to be concerned about. “We must be clear-eyed, even in our grief. This was an attack by a small and savage group – not the people or government of Libya,” she said.

Of course, what she failed to mention was that after the rebels felled Gaddafi’s regime – with US support – they began imposing Islamic law over large swathes of the country.

Clinton was not the only senior US official who didn’t understand why Stevens and three other Americans were murdered or why the US Consulate in Benghazi was reduced to a smoldering ruin.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thinks that the party responsible for the Muslim violence against the US on the anniversary of September 11 is a kook in Florida who enjoys saying nasty things about Islam.

The day after the murderous assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi, and in the face of an ongoing mob assault on the US Embassy in Cairo, and on US embassies in Yemen and Tunis, Dempsey called Pastor Terry Jones in Florida and asked him to withdraw his support for a film that depicts Muhammad in a negative fashion.

Dempsey’s spokesman Col. Dave Lapan told Reuters, “In a brief call, Gen. Dempsey expressed his concerns over the nature of the film, the tensions it will inflame and the violence it will cause. He asked Mr. Jones to consider withdrawing his support for the film.”

Dempsey’s belief that a third-rate riff on Muhammad supported by a marginal figure in Florida is the cause of the terrorist attacks on US embassies is not simply shocking. It is devastating.

It means that the senior officer in the US military is of the opinion that the party to blame for the assaults on US government installations overseas was an American pastor. To prevent the recurrence of such incidents, freedom of speech must be constrained.

And Dempsey is not the only senior US military commander who harbors this delusion.

A similar response was voiced by Gen. George Casey, the US Army chief of staff, in the wake of the massacre of US forces at Ft. Hood in November 2009 by Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan. Hassan, who had been in contact with al-Qaida commander Anwar al-Awlaki and described himself as a “soldier of Islam,” was clearly acting out of Islamic jihadist motivations when he shot his fellow soldiers.

And yet, responding to the attack, Casey said that worse than the massacre itself – that is more sacred than the lives of his own soldiers – was the notion that “our diversity” should fall casualty to Hassan’s murderous attack. In his words, “Our diversity not only in our army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.”

A word about the much mentioned film about Muhammad is in order. The film was apparently released about a year ago. It received little notice until last month when a Salafi television station in Egypt broadcast it.

In light of the response, the purpose of the broadcast was self-evident. The broadcasters screened the film to incite anti-American violence.

Had they not been interested in attacking the US, they would not have screened the film.

They sought a pretext for attacking America. If the film had never been created, they would have found another – equally ridiculous – pretext.

And here we come to the nature of the attacks against America that occurred on the 11th anniversary of the September 11 jihadist attacks.

A cursory consideration of the events that took place – and are still taking place – makes clear that these were not acts of spontaneous rage about an amateur Internet movie. They were premeditated. In Egypt, the mob attack on the embassy followed the screening of the anti-Islam flick on jihadist television. It was led by Muhammad al-Zawahiri – the brother of al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The US’s first official response to the assault on its embassy in Cairo came in the form of a Twitter feed from the embassy apologizing to Muslims for the film.

The day before the attacks, al-Qaida released a video of Ayman al-Zawahiri in which he called for his co-religionists to attack the US in retribution for the killing – in June – of his second in command Abu Al Yahya al-Libi by a US drone in Pakistan.

Zawahiri specifically asked for the strongest act of retribution to be carried out in Libya.

As for the attack in Libya, in an online posting the night before he was killed, US Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith warned of the impending strike. Smith wrote, “Assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures.”

The coordinated, premeditated nature of the attack was self-evident. The assailants were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. They knew the location of the secret safe house to which the US consular officials fled. They laid ambush to a Marine force sent to rescue the 37 Americans hiding at the safe house. And yet, Clinton and Dempsey either could not fathom why the attack occurred, or blamed an irrelevant pastor in Florida.

Like Dempsey, the US media were swift to focus the blame for the attacks on the film. The New York Times was quick to report – falsely – that the film’s creator was an Israeli Jew. It took an entire day for that bit of misinformation to be dispelled. But the campaign to blame the attacks on the movie creators continued.

By Wednesday afternoon the media shifted the focus of discussion on the still ongoing attacks from the film to an all-out assault on Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Romney became the target of media attention for his temerity in attacking as “disgraceful” the administration’s initial apologetic response to the attack on the embassies.

Following the September 11 attacks, the US Congress formed the bipartisan 9/11 Commission and charged it with determining the causes of the assault and recommending a course of action for the government to follow to prevent such attacks from happening again. It took the commission members nearly three years to finish their report. In the end, they claimed that the chief failure enabling the attacks was “one of imagination.”

Unfortunately for the US, the commissioners had things backwards. It wasn’t that imagination failed America before September 11. It was that imagination reigned in America. And it still does.

It’s just that the land of make-believe occupied by the US foreign policy elite has shifted.

Until September 11, 2001, the US foreign policy elite was of the opinion that the chief threat to US national security was the fact that the US was a “hyperpower.”

That is, the chief threat to the US was the US itself. After September 11, the US decided that the main threat to the US was “terror,” against which the US declared war. The perpetrators of terrorism were rarely mentioned, and when they were they were belittled as “marginal forces.”

Those forces, of course are anything but marginal.

The Islamic ideology of jihad is the predominant ideology in the Muslim world today.

The rallying cry of al-Qaida – the shehada – is the cry of Muslim faith. Jihadist Islam is the predominant form of Islam worshiped in mosques throughout the world. And the ideology of jihad is an ideology of war against the non-Islamic world led by the US.

Then-president George W. Bush and his administration imagined a world where the actual enemies of the US were marginal forces in Islam. They then determined – based on nothing – that the masses of the Muslim world from Gaza to Iraq to Afghanistan and beyond were simply Jeffersonian democrats living under the jackboot.

If freed from tyranny, they would become liberal democrats nearly indistinguishable from regular Americans.

With President Barack Obama’s inauguration, the imaginary world inhabited by the American foreign policy elite shifted again. Obama and his advisers agree that jihadist Islam is the predominant force in the Muslim world. But in their imaginary world, jihadist Islam is a good thing for America.

Hence, Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan is Obama’s closest confidante in the Middle East despite his transformation of Turkey from a pro- Western secular republic into a pro-Iranian Islamic republic in which secularists are jailed without trial for years on end.

Hence Israel – the first target of jihadist Islam’s bid for global supremacy – is strategic burden rather than an ally to the US.

Hence the US abandoned its most stalwart ally in the Arab world, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and supported the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in the most strategically vital state in the Arab world.

Hence it supported a Libyan rebel force penetrated by al-Qaida.

Hence it is setting the stage for the reinstitution of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

It is impossible to know the thoughts that crossed Stevens’ mind as he lay dying in Benghazi. But what is clear enough is that as long as imagination reigns supreme, freedom will be imperiled.

caroline@carolineglick.com

September 16, 2012 | 21 Comments »

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21 Comments / 21 Comments

  1. Wallace Brand Said:

    All the unindicted co-conspirators remain uninvestigated and unindicted.

    This is very dangerous. Are the Republicans saying they will pursue this or just Bachman and associates?????

  2. @ Bernard Ross:Aside from murdering Jews, the Muslim Brotherhood is planning to subvert the United States from within by stealth jihad. And the Department of Justice dropped any investigation of the conspiracy revealed in the Holyland Foundation Case showing that a conspiracy to engage in that jihad commenced in 1987 and that all the mainstream Muslim organizations in the US were particpants in it. All the unindicted co-conspirators remain uninvestigated and unindicted. The few in Congress, Michele Bachmann and her pals are the only ones who think the subversion should be looked into.
    @ Bernard Ross:

  3. @ Bernard Ross:
    The murderers of Gaddafi are the ones who now control Libya. Placed into power by US/NATO who waged war for months for the most barbaric, black-hating, infidel-hating Muslims.

  4. I cant help but think that chaos, and segmentation, in the lands of the enemies is a good thing. Also, the break up of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,etc. plus hopefully Iran, Egypt, etc. can be positive. The status quo was at its end and not of value to continue. If they are broken up, and continue killing each other, they will be less likely to be able to kill Jews. Not to mention that for some there will be great profits(not me). There is no need to seek any consolidation of powers for anyone, just continuing turmoil. The question is how can it be made to continue and how to avoid the collateral damage?

  5. Further, one thing is certain the Obama administration has been greatly humiliated and their stance in ridicule. There is little they can say or do to reverse their current image in this event. Reminds me of Carter before he was thrown out. Also, reminds me of the seeming hostage release to Reagan and the Iran Contra deal. Where is it all leading and why?

  6. Has anyone considered the possibility that the murder of Stevens was a revenge for the murder of ghadaffi? This is something a son might think of to avenge his father, especially a muslim son. Ghadaffi was greatly humiliated and desecrated; anger must be there. There are many other possibilities also: who gains from this? Were the riots used as a cover or were they the precipitating cause?

  7. WND.COM: Muslim cleric Abu Islam burns Holy Bible
    Tells cheering crowd: ‘Next time I will urinate on it’

    (CONTINENTAL NEWS) Muslim cleric Abu Islam Burns the Holy Bible in front of thousands of Muslims at protest outside the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, 9/11. His action was met with applause and anti-Christian cheers from the demonstrators.

    According to Mary Abdelmassih in a story carried by the Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org), the cleric, before leaving the demonstration and getting into his car, told the crowds “next time I will urinate on it.”…
    http://www.wnd.com/2012/09/muslim-cleric-abu-islam-burns-holy-bible/?cat_orig=faith

    Quran-obedient Muslims constantly reveal their rabid HATE for G-d and their rabid HATE for G-d’s eternal, HOLY Laws given to His faithful Jewish, Hebrew servant, Moses, in the Bible:

    YOU SHALL NOT MURDER

    The Quran calls for the massive breaking of G-d’s Laws.

    Who will not fear the Mighty, One Great G-d of the Universe, the Magnificent and Awesome Creator? Who will dare to make WAR on G-d and G-d’s Holy Laws?

    Psalm 47:2 For the L-rd Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth.

  8. When will millions upon millions of us take to the streets declaring we will no longer accept the rapes, atrocities and barbaric mass murders of our precious non-Muslim brothers and sisters?

    To the hundreds of millions of my precious non-Muslim brothers and sisters barbarically murdered by Quran-obedient Muslims, rest in eternal peace.

  9. Infidel-haters, Islam-adoring Western leaders are condemning a film instead of condemning the mass violence of Muslims in many countries. The killings and barbaric murder of the U.S. ambassador. The Muslim violence has expanded into Australia where OUR policemen have been severely beaten by Muslim immigrants and OUR policemen are carried injured and bleeding to the hospital.

    Eternal shame on our Western leaders who make it appear that it is ACCEPTABLE to wage violent jihad on our people for a movie.

    This despicable behavior by our Western leaders who continuously bow down and submit to Islam, massively encourages Muslims to increase their violence and murders against our people. What a horrible betrayal by Western leaders of non-Muslim innocents!

    We are in desperate need of patriotic Western leaders who believe that non-Muslims should be protected! Who believe in freedom and human rights for non-Muslims! Western leaders and Quran-obedient Muslims have teamed up against us!

    We are in a desperate battle for our freedom, safety and human rights. For our beautiful and extremely MERCIFUL civilization. It is a battle we dare not lose or the darkest period the world has ever known will descend upon us!

  10. Libya’s Gaddafi was fighting AGAINST AL-QAEDA. US, France and NATO
    united with Al-Qaeda and other barbaric terrorists and waged war for
    many months to defeat Libya and Gaddafi and place excessively cruel
    Muslim terrorists into power.

    The US/NATO war enabled and empowered the ANTI-Gaddafi Muslims to
    perpetrate horrific atrocities and genocide of blacks in Libya. Blacks
    were safe under Gaddafi. Obama, Clinton and our supposedly civilized
    Western leaders were silent about the atrocities and genocide.
    SILENCE IS CONSENT. US/NATO created hell on earth in Libya.

    America is reaping the harvest of horrors they sowed in Libya.
    Gaddafi was hunted down by a US/NATO aircraft enabling his violent
    beating and savage sexual attack by ANTI-Gaddafi Muslims. The exact same thing that was done to U.S. ambassador, Christoper Stevens. Stevens supported the jihadis who barbarically murdered him.

    This is what happens when you COOPERATE with, and EMPOWER EVIL.

    The West must stop empowering barbaric Muslims! Stop supporting global jihad!
    The West must stop waging wars for totalitarian, colonizing Islam!
    Our world is being placed in great danger and and our beautiful and extremely MERCIFUL civilization is in great danger of being destroyed by Western leaders!

  11. @ Bernard Ross:
    Chaos and violence in Israel may be one of their goals. They’ve been trying to get the PA Arabs to rise up against their government. Anything to get an ‘Arab spring’ going in Israel too.

    We should stay alert for more US measures to limit freedom of speech and to ban public criticism of Islam. The US government asked Google to consider removing the offending video. They know they don’t have the right to demand it, but there are means of persuasion.

    Right now the picture is rather muddled. There are too many characters in this game, and it will take time to sort things out and find out how they’re all connected. We need to keep our eyes on Breibart, Debbie Schlussel, and on Israpundit contributors of course, as well as other politically-incorrect sources on the web.

  12. Canadian Otter Said:

    Aside from the murder of Jews, what else is in their agenda?

    WAR! It is convenient to send young, angry, consuming, protesting, muslims to war against an enemy of any kind. The Jews are the target that gets the most hatred and motivation to slaughter for the muslims, therefore the most motivation to leave and die. I would look to the Sinai as the main theater for war and dead bodies. Too many mouths to feed. Winning is not necessary to them. Think of the iran iraq war where a million died.

  13. More incitement follows libel against Jews.

    Further to my post #5 on this page, here is an article with the latest on how Muslim media are whipping up fury against Jews, based on a libel perpetrated by some Christians involved in the Mohammed movie.

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4281867,00.html

    ~~~~~~~~~

    Although not directly related, there have been several instances lately of Jews accused of anti-Arab acts in Israel, including vandalism. Police – who are very good at arresting Jews for minor transgressions or any word that may offend Arab sensibilities (they have even arrested elderly rabbis for very mild statements) – have so far found no evidence of Jewish involvement.

    http://www.jewishpress.com/news/religious-secular-in-israel/police-release-all-jewish-boys-accused-of-firebombing-arab-cab-no-charges-filed/2012/08/31/

    Some people are trying to frame Jews. Something is in the air, some dark intent to unleash Muslim violence against Jews in Israel. Aside from the murder of Jews, what else is in their agenda?

  14. @ Bernard Ross:
    Then there’s the question plaguing an idiot like myself (the world is full of people like us) as to how can a small bunch of salafist bedouin gangsters (I believe it was in the low hundreds) overrun and destroy a compound in the Sinai, containing around 1500 military “peacekeepers,” who are now apparently hiding from the salafists?

    If I were a betting person, I would bet that this situation will turn into the “mother of all hostage situations”.

  15. Clinton said, “Today, many Americans are asking – indeed, I asked myself – how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be.”

    And yet idiots like myself, with no expert credentials, with no access to intelligence briefings, were able to predict these outcomes because this is exactly how it has previously played out. EG carter, shah, ayatollah, riots, hostages, failed hostage rescue, reagan, iran contra. I wait now for the hostage crisis which perhaps was already meant to happen in libya or egypt. Is it not strange, this apparent “ignorance” on behalf of our leaders? The intention to support and install the MB is so pronounced and resolute and yet they didnt see this coming? Perhaps all sides are on marionette strings. We know these are a set up but who set it up and why? Guards withdrawn(ran off), marines unarmed, election coming up like in ’79, its hard for idiots like me to figure out.

  16. SPINELESS JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS!

    Simon Wiesenthal Center “concerned” about the libel that blames Jews as being involved in the Muhammad movie project. “Deeply worried” too. “We need media to ensure that this film does not become another blood libel against world Jewry,” it said. Sure, they will certainly ensure that.

    Anti-Defamation League also “concerned”. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160032

    There is no talk of organizing their own investigation and preparing to sue those directly involved in this slander. They are being cautions, just as cautious as when dealing with the Palestinian Authority’s own daily barrage of anti-Semitic incitement on PA-TV and in speeches by PA officials and clerics.

    None of the horror of what happened at the US embassy in Libya appears to have given these Jewish organizations more than “concern”…We are dealing with murderous demented Muslim mobs, and with Christian groups that want to get Jews massacred by Muslims. Isn’t that enough to give these Jewish organizations a little more than “concern”???

  17. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t the US Consulate in Benghazi only recently set up to assist the “rebels” overthrow Gadaffi.

    There is a certain irony here as the “Democracy Hungry Rebels” tore into the temporary consulate set up by the Obama administration to liaise with the rebels, set it on fire and dragged the body of the ambassador who had helped their rebellion succeed, through the streets while posing for snapshots with his corpse.

    According to a Lebanese report, the US Ambassador raped before he was murdered.
    http://www.inquisitr.com/330504/ambassador-steven

    Unless we do something about militant Islam and it’s inability to live with the rest of humanity…..we are all going to be buggered like Ambassador Stevens.

    It is not just Israel’s and America’s problem