President Obama offered a statement but took no questions in his Rose Garden appearance Wednesday. Instead of taking direct questions from the Washington press corps, he jetted off to a Vegas fundraiser and then sat for an interview with Spanish-language channel Telemundo.
Spanish-speakers who watch Telemundo were evidently more important to the president than, well, the rest of America.
In the interview, Obama admits that Egypt is lost to the United States.
President Barack Obama says the U.S. would not consider Egypt an ally, “but we don’t consider them an enemy.”
Obama said in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo that Egypt is a “new government that is trying to find its way.” And he warned that if the Egyptian government takes actions showing “they’re not taking responsibility,” then it would “be a real big problem.”
Say what you will about Hosni Mubarak, at least we knew he was a US ally.
Obama called up the leaders of Libya and Egypt, and from the “new” Egypt he probably got a lecture on blasphemy. Morsi is continuing to drive that point in his public statements to the people of Egypt.
“All of us Egyptians reject any form of attack or insult to the Prophet,” Mursi said, while offering his condolences over the killing of the U.S. ambassador and diplomats in Libya.
Mursi said he had spoken to U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday. “I affirmed to him the need for deterrent legal measures against those who want to damage relations between peoples, and particularly between the people of Egypt and the people of America,” he said.
In another statement, Mursi said he expects “assurances from the U.S. government to prevent any infringement on the sacred.”
Ordinarily, the response to such request would be “Sorry, not gonna happen.” But on Wednesday the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs called up fringe Pastor Terry Jones and urged him to stop supporting the film that is being blamed for the riots. Secretary of State Clinton just offered another robotic statement on the attacks, and referenced the movie numerous times.
The administration continues failing to forcefully stand up for our values and it continues to fail to point out to the world that the film is at most a pretext. The attacks in Libya and Cairo were pre-planned, with the follow-ons either part of that plan or spontaneous reactions as word of the previous attacks spreads. The Obama administration is failing to point out that we were attacked on 9-11 and that we reserve the right to respond in a time and manner of our choosing.
Right, they’re going to fly drones over Libya. Why weren’t we already doing that?
The administration, despite its decision to send the Marines to secure an unsecured compound in Benghazi and despite the decision to send a few warships to the coast of Libya, is projecting weakness by the bucketfull. The administration is encouraging more attacks, and today it is getting them.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member