The Middle East Media Sampler 10/24/2012: History of US Failure To Defend Diplomats

From DG:

1) Not responding

Earlier this week Lee Smith wrote America's 40 year embassy crisis. Ben Affleck's movie "Argo" about the Iranian takeover of the American embassy in Tehran prompted the article. In short, American diplomatic personnel have often been targets of hostile elements and America - under both Democratic and Republican presidents - has failed to respond. Here are a few examples from Smith's list:

"Key" To Stability In The Middle East Was Not Mentioned During Debate -- With Good Reason

Foreign Policy asks: Which country was mentioned most at the foreign-policy debate?

It then goes on to answer it's own question -- but see if you can spot the omission from the debate: who used to be touted as central to stability in the Middle East, but was not mentioned even once:

The Middle East Sampler 10/22/2012: Reporter Succeeds In Benghazi Where FBI Fails?

From DG:

1) Benghazi

In his initial reporting of the attack on the American consulate, David Kirkpatrick reported in Anger Over a Film Fuels Anti-American Attacks in Libya and Egypt:

Protesters angry over an amateurish American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, killing a State Department officer, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the fortified walls of the United States Embassy here. 

The United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. An American staff member was killed there, Libyan officials said. 

On the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the assaults were a violent reminder that the changes sweeping the region have hardly dispelled the rage against the United States that still smolders in pockets around the Arab world.

The next day he (and Steven Lee Meyers) followed up in Libya Attack brings challenges for the U.S.:

Third Debate: Romney vs Obama -- Not With A Bang, But With A Whimper

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission

Romney Stumbles on Foreign Policy

by Daniel Pipes
October 22, 2012
updated Oct 23, 2012
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2012/10/romney-stumbles-on-foreign-policy  

The final presidential debate focused disproportionately on the Middle East. Four of the six segments were on the Middle East, just two on other topics (one about the U.S. role in the world, the other about China). Egypt was mentioned 11 times, Libya 12 times, Iraq 22 times, Pakistan 25 times, Syria 28 times, Afghanistan 30 times, Israel 34 times, and Iran 47 times. In contrast, the European crisis got no mention, nor did India, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, or Australia.

Barack Obama has a weak record in the Middle East, but one would not learn this from the debate, where Mitt Romney praised Obama's achievements ("It's wonderful that Libya seems to be making some progress"), agreed with Obama more than he disagreed, and rarely pointed out his failings. Presumably, Romney took this mild approach to establish his likeability, competence, and suitability to serve as commander-in-chief.

Mike Ramirez Cartoon: Obama And The Video Claim

Mike Ramirez, Investors Business Daily -- on the 'consistency' of the Obama administration's story on the Benghazi terrorist attack:

The Inconsistencies In Obama's Story About Benghazi That Must Be Answered

Regarding Obama's claim to have already acknowledged that Benghazi was a terrorist attack the next day, Alana Goodman writes about Obama and the “T” Word.

Specifically, she quotes Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy who found a statement by Obama on September 13 while campaigning in Colorado. Obama again used the phrase "acts of terror" -- and there it is clear Obama is referring to Benghazi:

So what I want all of you to know is that we are going to bring those who killed our fellow Americans to justice. I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished.

The interesting thing is that this does not get Obama off the hook.

Video: Who Won Last Night's Debate? It All Comes Down To The Undecided Voters

The polls generally seem to say that Obama won last night's debate, though not nearly as decisively as Romney trounced him in the first debate.

If you then go to the analysis of the conservative pundits, you find that while he nailed Obama on the economy, Romney missed an opportunity to make the point on Libya.

Maybe so, but thanks to the interference of Candy Crowley in backing up Obama on his erroneous claim of stating early on that the attack in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, the issue is still on the front burner -- and not as a purely partisan political attack.

Bottom line, Democratic and Republican voters remain where they've been all along, and Independents remain tilted towards Romney.

And that leaves the undecided voters.

Obama Did NOT Tell Us It Was A TERRORIST Attack In Benghazi -- And Why It Matters

Daniel Pipes may very well have pinpointed the key the second debate between Romney and Obama:

Obama got away with saying that he had characterized the attack on the Benghazi consulate as a terrorist incident because the moderator confirmed his point; in fact he misrepresented the facts when he said

"The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that … this was an act of terror."

In Debate, Obama Lets On That Americans Really Do Belong To The Government

"All those things are designed to make sure that the American people, their genius, their grit, their determination, is -- is channeled and  -- and they have an opportunity to succeed. And everybody’s getting a fair shot. And everybody’s getting a fair share -- everybody’s doing a fair share, and everybody’s playing by the same rules."
Obama, in first presidential debate in Denver, 10/3/2012

Barry Rubin sees something revealing in this particular comment Obama made in the course of his first presidential debate with Romney and that Obama's Debate Slip Tells More About His Real View than Anything Else He's Said As President

The Danger of Romney Winning The First Presidential Debate Against Obama

I remember the first debate between Reagan and Mondale in 1984 -- Reagan did so poorly that questions were raised about his age. Everyone waited for the second debate to see if it was over for Reagan, if he really would lose the election based on the debates.

Of course, as it turned out, Reagan did very well in that second debate and went on to win the election.

Whether or not you believe that the debates really can have any effect on an election -- then or now -- the question is whether in the second debate Obama can recover from what most agree was loss; perhaps a loss on a par with Reagan.

On the other hand, maybe the pressure is not on Obama at all.