Embassy protests - Middle East

[AGDee]

There are so many levels of issues here:

1) Freedom of Speech- for the film maker, for the demonstrators- are hate films ok? Would protests be ok without violence? Is this really about the film or is that an excuse to express their hatred of the US?

2) Government vs. citizens- Egyptian and Libyan governments have condemned the protests, provided security, Libya is a new democracy, protests are now happening in Yemen as well.

3) Significance of timing? - September 11th? In the middle of an election?

4) Politicizing the event-our presidential election- Someone from the Libyan embassy (employee) tweeted a statement before the protest became violent and Chris Stevens was killed, Romney criticized the Obama administration for being "soft" based on that tweeted statement, official statements from Obama and Hilary Clinton were stronger.

5) How do we respond? When it is a minority group of rebels and not a government supported action, how do we respond? This has been the challenge since the War on Terror began. And it's the biggest challenge we face, IMHO.