Obama: Just a Little Respect Overseas Please

James Taranto roundly scolds Obama for more of his eff-ups.

At the U.S. Embassy in Cairo yesterday, what "appeared to be a genuinely spontaneous unarmed mob angered by an anti-Islam video said to have been produced in the United States," according to the New York Times, gathered to protest. According to a timeline prepared by Slate's Dave Weigel, the embassy responded by issuing an apologetic statement:

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.

The embassy reiterated the message in a series of tweets, some of which, TalkingPointsMemo.com reports, have since been deleted. The mob was not appeased. "Despite that overture," as Weigel puts it--one might wonder if it was because of it--the mob stormed the embassy, an act "culminating in the raising of a black-and-white flag that resembles the icon of al-Qaida."

Last week John Kerry said: "Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago." According to the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram, the Cairo mob answered that taunt with the chant: "Obama, Obama there are still a billion Osamas."

That's no doubt a gross exaggeration, but there were enough "Osamas" to launch a fatal attack today on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. "It appeared the attackers in Benghazi were armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades," the Times reports. "Intelligence reports are inconclusive at this point, officials said, but indications suggest the possibility that an organized group had either been waiting for an opportunity to exploit like the protests over the video or perhaps even generated the protests as a cover for their attack."

Not pleased with its own apology, the Obamaites answered with [!]

The Obama administration quickly apologized for the Cairo apology: "The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government," an unnamed official told Politico. Mitt Romney also denounced the embassy's apology and criticized the administration for sending "mixed messages." The Hill quotes him at a press conference today: "It's never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and defend our values."

Read the whole article at the link to discover new levels of wrong-footed imbecility at the heart of Owebama & his minions.