Protests Continue Against Mystery Film; US Embassies On Alert

Protests continue in Egypt and now in Yemen against US embassies over the mysterious anti-Muslim film that set the actions of the past few days, including deadly attacks against the US mission in Libya that ended in the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, plus another 30 injuries to both American and Libyans.

The ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, was missing almost immediately after the start of an intense, four-hour firefight for control of the mission, and his body was not located until Wednesday morning at dawn, when he was found dead at a Benghazi hospital, American and Libyan officials said. It was the first time since 1979 that an American ambassador had died in a violent assault.

American and European officials said that while many details about the attack remained unclear, the assailants seemed organized, well trained and heavily armed, and they appeared to have at least some level of advance planning. But the officials cautioned that it was too soon to tell whether the attack was related to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Fighters involved in the assault, which was spearheaded by a Islamist brigade formed during last year’s uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, said in interviews during the battle that they were moved to attack the mission by anger over a 14-minute, American-made video that depicted the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, as a villainous, homosexual and child-molesting buffoon. Their attack followed by just a few hours the storming of the compound surrounding the United States Embassy in Cairo by an unarmed mob protesting the same video. On Wednesday, new crowds of protesters gathered outside the United States Embassies in Tunis and Cairo.

The wave of unrest set off by the video, posted online in the United States two months ago and dubbed into Arabic for the first time eight days ago, has further underscored the instability of the countries that cast off their longtime dictators in the Arab Spring revolts. It also cast doubt on the adequacy of security preparations at American diplomatic outposts in the volatile region.

Libya says that they've arrested several people in connection with the attacks, and the US has sent a Marine FAST team to Libya. The US has also sent two warships (one already on station) and a drone unit to gather intel and to go after those responsible.

The million dollar question remains who was behind the film, what were their goals and aims, and how exactly an obscure film (which is really just a bunch of badly overdubbed film clips) that appears to have been uploaded in July, saw less than a few thousand hits since, exploded into the nexus of an international conflagration of attacks against US embassies in concert with 9/11. It appears that the film was overdubbed with anti-Muslim sentiments only eight days ago. Even then, it received little attention.

I don't believe in coincidences. Nor do I believe what anyone involved the movie has had to say thus far - because much of what they've said can't be confirmed by anyone. Sam Bacile doesn't appear to have existed except as a pseudonym/agent provocateur and a guy who had apparently come forward to claim that he was Bacile has recanted. Morris Sedak is an agitator whose motives are to foment war back in Egypt. Steve Klein has ties to extremist groups, but his involvement is only tangential to the overall story. The references to Jewish donors/backers/Israel is a misdirection play to try and bring the usual assortment of anti Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment to a head and to inflame passions even further.

Is it possible that AQ or another terror group took advantage of the protests in Egypt to use similar protests in Libya to carry out the deadly attacks there? Possibly, and the US government is looking at that possibility quite seriously.

The situation in Egypt also appears to have taken on a life of its own, and there are reports of protests elsewhere, including Yemen. This isn't necessarily by coincidence either. Whoever spread the anti-Muslim overdubbed versions basically did their own Hitler's Downfall-style routine to rant against Islam. We need to know who was behind the overdub, and at the same time, do more to track down who was responsible for the Libya attack and provide increased protection to our other embassies and consulates.

The US has got debunk the nonsense online that rabble rousers and militant mullahs are spreading to those who are now protesting/rioting - mostly without even seeing the film clips at issue or knowing; that's what many of the Administration and embassy statements refer to - protecting rights of free speech and freedom of religion, but that the two have to coexist without engaging in violence. It's not easy since the mindset of those who would protest and engage in violence are primed to act, and it confirms the biases of both those militant Islamists and socons who think Islam is an enemy of civilization. Extremists on both sides are exploiting the situation to their own ends, and one has to wonder who benefits from this.

That's why I keep going back to Iran. Iran has the means and stands to benefit from sowing violence and discord across the region - to tie up US and rival interests while Iran continues on its aggressive path.

As far as its impact on the US presidential election, the response from GOPer Mitt Romney and his supporters seems to be that the Obama Administration policy resulted in creating the environment allowing the attacks, the foreign policy amounts to apologia, and the response was inattentive and scattershot. Still, the main difference between Romney's policies and those of the Administration are one of tone, since Obama has largely carried over Bush Administration policies, including on dealing with international terrorism, going after those responsible for attacks on US interests around the world, and

Fallout Continues From Attacks On US Embassies in Egypt; Libya and Death of Ambassador Stevens

The attacks against the US Embassy in Cairo and the US consulate in Bengazi Libya continue to resonate against the backdrop of domestic election politics in the US and the Obama Administration has to deal with the ongoing crisis that appears to be spreading to other countries as a result of protests against a film of bizarre provenance. Protests and riots are being reported in Tunisia as well against the publication of a film depicting Mohammad in derogatory fashion.

The origins of the film are still rather cryptic. Sam Bacile appears to have been involved in the film, and it was financed/promoted by one Morris Sedak and later promoted by pastor Terry Jones. Bacile's background will get scrutinized, but there's quite a few inconsistencies:

The bottom line is that we know very little about Sam Bacile, the man who produced the film. But The Wall Street Journal caught up with Bacile before he went into hiding.

According to the Journal, Bacile raised "$5 million from 100 Jewish donors" and he produced the film using 60 actors and 45 crew members.

Bacile told the Journal that he made the film to expose "Islam as a hateful religion."

"Islam is a cancer," he told the paper. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."

In another interview, Bacile told the Associated Press that he was a real estate developer and an Israeli Jew, but Israeli authorities told the wire service they have no records of him being a citizen.

Our library did not turn up any footprint for Bacile. They found no property, phone, licenses nor court records. And Bacile had not made news until today.

The term agent provocateur seems to be the best description. The video footage is amateurish and there's no indication that Bacile has any connection to the film industry whatsoever. There's no reference to him in imdb.com and we have only what he's said about his background to go on.

While the protesters in Egypt overran the embassy and briefly hoisted a protest flag, the situation in Libya may have been cover for a sophisticated terror operation against the embassy. The protests against the film there were a pretext for the attack.

Officials in Washington studying the events of the past 24 hours have focused on the differences between the protests on the American embassy in Cairo and the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, the Libyan city where Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and the other Americans were killed.

The protesters in Cairo appeared to be a genuinely spontaneous unarmed mob angered by an anti-Islam video produced in the United States. By contrast, it appeared the attackers in Benghazi were armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. 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.

President Obama strongly condemned the killings and ordered increased security at American diplomatic posts around the world. American defense officials said 50 Marines were en route to Libya to strengthen security at United States diplomatic facilities, and the State Department ordered all “nonemergency” personnel out of the country and warned Americans not to go there, suggesting that further attacks were possible.

The death of Mr. Stevens was the first of an American envoy abroad in more than two decades.

“These four Americans stood up for freedom and human dignity,” Mr. Obama said in a televised statement from the White House Rose Garden, where he stood with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Make no mistake: we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.”

Mr. Obama also offered praise for the Libyan government, noting that Libyan security forces fought back against the mob, helped protect American diplomats and took Mr. Stevens’s body to the hospital. “This attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya,” he said.

Libyan security forces were attempting to defend the US embassy but were overrun by the attacking terrorists. Secretary of State Clinton made clear that the attack was not by the Libyan government or the people but a small group determined to break US resolve in the region.

The mission that drew Chris and Sean and their colleagues to Libya is both noble and necessary, and we and the people of Libya honor their memory by carrying it forward. This is not easy. Today, many Americans are asking – indeed, I asked myself – how could this happen? How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction? This question reflects just how complicated and, at times, how confounding the world can be.

But we must be clear-eyed, even in our grief. This was an attack by a small and savage group – not the people or Government of Libya. Everywhere Chris and his team went in Libya, in a country scarred by war and tyranny, they were hailed as friends and partners. And when the attack came yesterday, Libyans stood and fought to defend our post. Some were wounded. Libyans carried Chris’ body to the hospital, and they helped rescue and lead other Americans to safety. And last night, when I spoke with the President of Libya, he strongly condemned the violence and pledged every effort to protect our people and pursue those responsible.

The friendship between our countries, borne out of shared struggle, will not be another casualty of this attack. A free and stable Libya is still in America’s interest and security, and we will not turn our back on that, nor will we rest until those responsible for these attacks are found and brought to justice. We are working closely with the Libyan authorities to move swiftly and surely. We are also working with partners around the world to safeguard other American embassies, consulates, and citizens.

There will be more time later to reflect, but today, we have work to do. There is no higher priority than protecting our men and women wherever they serve. We are working to determine the precise motivations and methods of those who carried out this assault. Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. America’s commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear – there is no justification for this, none. Violence like this is no way to honor religion or faith. And as long as there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting that the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement about the unspeakable idiot who produced the film that sparked the protests, riots, and which may have been used as cover for a terror attack that killed the US Ambassador to Libya. The NY Times reports:

Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said in a telephoned statement: “Nobody knows who he is. He is totally unknown in filmmaking circles in Israel. And anything he did — he is not doing it for Israel, or with Israel, or through Israel in any way.” Mr. Palmor also called the filmmaker “a complete loose cannon and an unspeakable idiot.”

Israel has further said that there's no evidence that Bacile is Israeli, and that he was acting on his own. At the same time Bacile was contacted from an undisclosed location and claims that the deaths of the Ambassador could be attributed the perpetrators and to lax security at the embassy and not his own actions. Really? That's what he's going to go with?

UPDATE:
The Atlantic sheds more light, and it appears that Bacile is a misdirection play.

UPDATE:
"Bacile" also claimed to be a California real estate developer, but there's no record of that either. He's not listed in any directories or incorporations or real estate deeds and is not licensed in California as a real estate broker.

There's also more information about another player in this, Morris Sedak. He is apparently the head of the National Coptic Assembly in the United States. He has no room for tolerance or coexistence with Muslims. He sees Egypt as being occupied by Muslims, and has used his position to shape Coptic Christian positions in Egypt and abroad.

Coptic Christians living abroad, many of whom are instrumental in developing public opinion, want little or nothing to do with inclusion and tolerance. Leading that charge are figures like Morris Sadek, the head of the National Coptic Assembly in the United States. He has on a number of occasions argued that Egypt is the national homeland of Copts and Muslims – the vast majority in the country – are an “occupying force.” It’s not difficult to see where mistrust can be manifested.

Likewise, there are radical conservative Muslim leaders, spouting nonsense against their Christian sisters and brothers from the pulpit. They tell their congregations of the threat the “infidel” has upon Islamic society in Egypt. No wonder Muslims have little desire to know and understand their Christian counterparts.

Despite that, Sedak sees himself as a human rights advocate, and while there have been numerous instances of Copts being persecuted, his solution doesn't appear to be any better. At the same time, Sedak's Egyptian citizenship was revoked last year by the Egyptian courts, claiming that he called for war against Egypt.

Then, there's a self-described consultant to the film, Steve Klein, who, according to the SPLC, has trained paramilitary militias and far right groups, including the Church of Kaweah.

Klein is a Marine veteran who served in the Vietnam War and is based in Hemet, Calif. He believes that his state is riddled with Muslim Brotherhood sleeper cells “who are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as they can,” according to an article in the Spring 2012 issue of the SPLC Intelligence Report.

Over the years, Klein has worked with a variety of far-right groups, including the Church at Kaweah, which the SPLC lists as a hate group. The Church of Kaweah is a secretive cohort of militant Christian fundamentalists in California who are preparing for war and who believe that churches should avoid government regulation and answer only to God. Kaweah has its own militia, headed by David “Dutch” Johnson (aka Dutch Joens), a longtime antigovernment veteran of the militia movement. Johnson looks forward to the battle that will begin when “Dictator Obongo” institutes martial law. He has called Mexicans savages “who can’t run their own government” and recommended sending guns to drug cartels to “decrease the excess population in Mexico so they don’t come north.”

Protesters Overrun US Embassy In Egypt Over Mysterious Movie

No one can actually verify what film the protesters are supposedly upset about which makes the protests against the US Embassy in Cairo all the more odd and disturbing. Reuters and USA Today can't seem to track down the film, but regardless of the facts and circumstances, a group of protesters set out to overrun the US Embassy in Cairo. They succeeded in taking down the US flag for a time and scrawling graffiti referring to not disgracing the name of the prophet Mohammad.

From Reuters:

"This movie must be banned immediately and an apology should be made ... This is a disgrace," said 19-year-old, Ismail Mahmoud, a member of the so-called "ultras" soccer supporters who played a big role in the uprising that brought down Hosni Mubarak last year.

Many Muslims consider any depiction of the Prophet to be offensive.

Mahmoud called on President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first civilian president and an Islamist, to take action. Many others were supporters of Islamist groups.

About 20 people stood on top of the embassy wall in central Cairo, where about 2,000 protesters had gathered.

"There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is Allah's messenger. We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Allah's messenger," they chanted, with many waving religious flags.

A U.S. embassy official had no immediate comment on the protesters' actions but the embassy had put out a statement earlier on Tuesday condemning those who hurt the religious feelings of Muslims or followers of any other religions.

"We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others," the U.S. embassy said in its statement.

One slogan scrawled on the walls of the embassy, a fortress-like structure that is near Tahrir Square where Egyptians revolted against Mubarak, said: "If your freedom of speech has no limits, may you accept our freedom of action."

An Egyptian state website carried a statement by Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church condemning what it said were moves by some Copts living abroad "to finance the production of a film insulting Prophet Mohammad".

About a 10th of Egypt's 83 million people are Christians.

It was not immediately clear which film angered protesters.

However, according to the website www.standupamerianow.org, the Christian Pastor Terry Jones, who angered Muslims by burning a copy of the Koran, was due to take part in an event on Tuesday called "International Judge Mohammad Day" in Florida in which it would symbolically put the Prophet on trial and play it out live over the Internet.

"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the U.S. embassy statement said, adding that it condemned the efforts by "misguided individuals" to hurt the feelings of Muslims.

What's interesting is that you've got hundreds of people protesting a film allegedly being made in the US but not a single person can actually cite the name of the film. Moreover, it appears that FARS (Iran) is pushing the claim that Egyptian Coptic Christians are behind the film and fanning sectarian violence that will inevitably result from such claims.

So, the only "film" that could even fit the profile is some Internet production by Terry Jones who's got quite the reputation for hating Islam and showing a tremendous amount of religious intolerance.

That might be what they're protesting, but as with most kinds of protests across the Arab world, all it takes is a rumor for things to take hold, and no amount of debunking will stop things.

What we do know is that Egypt has been hit by several waves of sectarian violence since the fall of Hosni Mubarak and Coptic Christians have been under assault from Islamists who are asserting themselves at the Coptic Christians' expense.

UPDATE:
According to twitter links to this website provided by NJDhockeyfan, the name of the film is Life of King of Islam but there's no reference in IMDB.com. It was supposedly done by Sam Basil (again no reference in imdb), but they refer to Terry Jones' actions. There's also a reference to Dutch involvement, but it's not clear what is being referenced.

UPDATE:
The Atlantic seems to have run down more details, though there's way too much speculation about who is behind the film, their intentions, and other salient details.

The movie is called Mohammed Nabi al-Muslimin, or Mohammed, Prophet of the Muslims. If you've never heard of it, that's because most of the few clips circulating online are dubbed in Arabic. The above clip, which is allegedly from the film (update: Kurt Werthmuller, a Coptic specialist at the Hudson Institute, says he's confirmed the clip's authenticity) is one of the only in English. That's also because it's allegedly produced by Florida Pastor Terry Jones (yes, the asshole who burnt the Koran despite Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' pleas) and two Egyptians living in the U.S., according to Egyptian press accounts. The Egyptians are allegedly Coptic, the Christian minority that makes up about a tenth of Egypt.

Obviously, there's a lot to this story that's still unclear. What we do know is that some members of Egypt's sometimes-raucous, often rumor-heavy media have been playing highly offensive clips from the highly offensive film, stressing its U.S. and Coptic connections. In the clip below, controversial TV host Sheikh Khaled Abdallah (known for such statements as "Iran is more dangerous to us than the Jews" and that Tehran had engineered a deadly soccer riot in Port Said) hypes the film as an American-Coptic plot and introduces what he says is its opening scene.

UPDATE:
A second American embassy has been besieged, this time in Libya. Libyan security forces have been fighting against unknown militias in the vicinity of the American embassy.

The AP reports that Morris Sadek is promoting the video on his website and on some television stations.

Morris Sadek, an Egyptian-born Christian in the United States known for his strongly anti-Islam views, said in an interview from Washington that he was promoting the video on his Web site and on certain television stations, which he did not identify.

He said the video “explains the problems of the Copts who suffer from Muslims,” for which he blamed the Koran.

For several days, the Egyptian news media have been reporting on the movie, playing excerpts and blaming Mr. Sadek for it, with ultraconservative clerics going on the air to denounce it.

Medhat Klada, a representative of Coptic Christian organizations in Europe, said Mr. Sadek’s views did not represent those of expatriate Copts.

“He is an extremist,” he said in an interview from Switzerland. “We refuse any attacks on religions because of a moral position.”

This has the feel of the cartoon jihad in the making - where more than 100 people were killed around the world, several embassies were ransacked and torched, and all because of the publication of cartoons in a Danish publication, Jyllands Posten.