USAToday: Days of planning and online promotion by hard-line Islamist leaders helped whip up the mobs that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Egypt and launched a deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya that killed an ambassador and three others.
Then came the kicker...
The protest was planned by Salafists well before news circulated of an objectionable video ridiculing Islam’s prophet, Mohammed, said Eric Trager, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was announced Aug. 30 by [Gamaa Islamiyya], a State Department-designated terrorist group, to protest the ongoing imprisonment of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
A.K.A. 'the blind sheikh'...Commentary Magazine expands...
Based on the report, it sounds like the anti-Islam YouTube video was a secondary issue — a way for Islamist leaders to stoke anger and draw more bodies out to the embassy protest. If the storming of the embassy was organized by Gamaa Islamiyya — as opposed to a spontaneous uprising — why hasn’t the State Department’s response reflected that? It’s hard to imagine they’re not aware of the group’s activities. In June, the State Department actually issued a visa to a member of Gamaa Islamiyya — again, this is a designated terrorist organization — and met with him in Washington, as part of a delegation of Egyptian leaders. During the meeting, he reportedly asked White House officials to release the blind sheik.
So on Monday, we began receiving potentially disastrous reports that this cowardly and apologetic administration is actually considering the blind sheik's release...after the election, of course...
TheBlaze: The U.S. State Department is actively considering negotiations with the Egyptian government for the transfer of custody of Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as “the Blind Sheikh,” for humanitarian and health reasons, a source close to the the Obama administration told TheBlaze.
The Department of Justice, however, told TheBlaze that Rahman is serving a life sentence and is not considered for possible “release.” Previous calls to the State Department were referred to the Department of Justice and so far, the State Department has neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Preposterous to even consider! I share the sentiment of these responses...
HillBuzz: "We used to KILL these terrorists. Now we give them back to the countries that produced them and will encourage them to kill more Americans. I just can’t take this anymore. Either we fight these bastards, or we are committing suicide."
theRightScoop: "What a stupid strategy that even defies common sense. Giving the Islamists what they want will just make us weaker in their eyes and won’t quell anything. It will only embolden them to do the same thing for the release of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and how many American lives would that cost us?"
When desperation supersedes rationale, well, I don't need to tell you where that leads...
