The fallout from an anti-Islam film made here in the United States continues, as anti-western protests sweep across the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa – including Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Iraq. More than a dozen nations have now seen protests against Western diplomatic buildings – including British and German embassies. Reuters is reporting this morning that an angry mob has breached the walls and rushed the American embassy in Tunisia – another nation that’s undergone revolution during the Arab Spring.
And while our nation tries to contain what could be a major foreign policy crisis, the Romney campaign continues to exploit it for political gain. Romney’s top foreign policy adviser, Richard Williamson, told the Washington Post, “There’s a pretty compelling story that if you had a President Romney, you’d be in a different situation…For the first time since Jimmy Carter, we’ve had an American ambassador assassinated.” He’s right – With a Romney presidency, we would be in a different situation - we’d likely be at war with a dozen other nations.
Romney has employed the same Neo-Cons who worked under the Bush Administration, which brought us two illegal wars and enflamed the Middle East. This is not about a movie. This is not about Islam. This is about a twisted foreign policy that has been pushed by the far right for decades – and perpetuated today – that America can bring democracy to the rest of the world down the barrel of a gun. It can’t – and we’re learning that harsh lesson now.
Anti-western blowback spreads across middle east
By louisehartmann