According to vast sections of the right, including Team Romney, it wasn't the over the top troll effort posted to Youtube that ignited the attacks on American diplomats in the Middle East and North Africa. No, it was "the weakness":
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Republican challenger Mitt Romney sought to portray President Barack Obama as weak on foreign policy Wednesday after violent attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East.
If only we'd elect some manly, virile men like Ryan and Romney, nobody would dare mess with us!
Let's see how that worked out with the last administration:
June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.
February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.
February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.
July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent, Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.
December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.
March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate directly targeted by the assailants.
September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.
January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.
July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.
March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls' school instead.
September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen attacked
Wow, the Bush administration must have been the most incredibly weak team on foreign policy since Vichy France.
But that was Bush's team. What about Romney's team:
Out of Romney's 24 special advisors on foreign policy, 17 served in the Bush-Cheney administration. If Romney were to win, it's likely that many of these people would serve in his administration in some capacity -- a frightening prospect given the legacy of this particular group. The last time they were in government, it was disastrous.
Oh.
But I'm sure if we elect those virile tough strong Republican heroes of the motherland, then when we can offend Muslims with impunity.
(Yes, its real.)
10:39 AM PT: Excellent point raised in the comments. How many attacks on our embassies occurred during the tenure of Saint Reagan (hallowed be Ronnie's name):
April 18 1983 Beirut Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy 63 killed
December 12 1983 Kuwait City al-Dawa truck bomb outside embassy 6 killed.
September 20 1984 Beirut Hezbollah truck bomb outside embassy 24 killed
November 1984 Bogotá Car bomb outside Embassy planted by drug cartel 1 killed
February 1986 Lisbon Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside Embassy
May 14 1986 Jakarta Japanese Red Army mortar barrage none
June 9 1987 Rome Japanese Red Army mortar barrage
That's 94 dead.
