Obama: Americans laid down lives 'in service to us all'
President Barack Obama speaks Friday at a ceremony in for the four Americans killed Tuesday in Benghazi.
September 14th, 2012
01:23 PM ET

Obama: Americans laid down lives 'in service to us all'

Editor's note: Several protests stemming at least in part from an anti-Islam film produced in the United States are unfolding outside U.S. embassies around the world. Friday's protests follow ones Tuesday at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, where attacks killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

In Tunisia, protesters have scaled a U.S. Embassy gate and set fire to cars on the property, a journalist there says. In Egypt, the influential Muslim Brotherhood canceled nationwide protests planned for Friday, but a running battle between police and protesters in Cairo continued into its fourth day.

Follow the live blog below for all of the developments around the world.

[Updated at 3:04 p.m. ET] A ceremony at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate has ended, and the caskets are being carried to hearses. See the 2:59 and 2:51 p.m. entries for remarks by President Barack Obama, who said the four laid down their lives "in service to us all."

[Updated at 2:59 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama, at a ceremony at Maryland's Joint Base Andrews for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, added:

"The United States of America will never retreat from the world. We will never stop working for the dignity and freedom that every (person) deserves. ... That’s the essence of American leadership. ... That was their work in Benghazi, and that is the work we will carry on."

At the beginning and toward the end of his remarks, Obama cited the Bible's John 15:13: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Obama said the four killed Americans laid down their lives "in service to us all."

"Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," Obama said.

[Updated at 2:51 p.m. ET] President Barack Obama, at a ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, is now eulogizing the four at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Ambassador Chris Stevens, Obama said, "was everything America could want in an ambassador."

"Four Americans, four patriots. They loved this country. They chose to serve it, and served it well," Obama said. "They had a mission they believed in. They knew the danger, and they accepted it. They didn't simply embrace the American ideal, they lived it; they embodied it. The courage, the hope, and yes, the idealism - that fundamental American belief that we could leave this world a little better than before."

Ex-SEALs, online gaming maven among Benghazi dead

[Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET] At a ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:

"Today we bring home four Americans who gave their lives for our country and our values. To the families of our fallen colleagues, I offer our most heartfelt condolences and deepest gratitude."

She saluted Sean Smith, a computer expert, as someone known as "an expert on technology by colleagues in Pretoria, Baghdad, Montreal and The Hague."

She hailed ex-Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods as someone who protected diplomatic personnel since 2010 "in dangerous posts" around the world.

"He had the hands of a healer as well as the arms of a warrior, earning distinction as a registered nurse and certified paramedic," Clinton said of Woods.

Clinton also hailed the other ex-Navy SEAL, Glen Doherty. "He, too, died as he lived, serving his country and protecting his colleagues."

Clinton said Stevens, as a diplomat, "won friends for the United States in far-flung places.” She thanked his parents, who were at the ceremony, for the "gift" that Stevens was.

The ceremony was at a hangar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

[Updated at 2:35 p.m. ET] The ceremony for the returned bodies of the four Americans killed at the Benghazi consulate has begun. A prayer is being offered. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak soon, followed by Obama.

[Updated at 2:31 p.m. ET] Marines at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland are removing from a plane the flag-draped caskets of four Americans killed in the consulate attack in Libya, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. The caskets will be placed at a hangar nearby, and President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will give remarks.

[Updated at 2:28 p.m. ET] We're awaiting a ceremony at which U.S. President Barack Obama will honor the arrival of the bodies of of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Penetta have entered the hangar where the ceremony will take place at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

[Updated at 2:22 p.m. ET] Marines will take the caskets off a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will give remarks. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will also be present, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

People are seated at a facility on the base. The caskets will flank the podium from which Obama and Clinton will speak.

[Updated at 1:41 p.m. ET] Three people were killed and 28 wounded during protests outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday, Tunisia state television reported.

[Updated at 1:23 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at this afternoon's "transfer of remains ceremony" marking the return of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya.

Obama and Clinton will deliver brief remarks at the 2:15 p.m. ET ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

[Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET] Here is video from today's protests in Khartoum, Sudan:

[Updated at 12:23 p.m. ET] Nigerian military and police fired shots to disperse a crowd of protesters in the city of Jos, an eyewitness said.

About 2,000 people protesting the anti-Islamic film gathered at a central mosque, and security forces intervened when the crowd started moving toward the city center.

[Updated at 12:15 p.m. ET] Some protesters who scaled the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, reached a garden outside the building but have not breached the building itself, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.

Also, the thick, black smoke that we previously reported was near the Embassy is coming from burning vehicles on the Embassy grounds, Mhirsi reported.

Earlier, he reported that protesters took down a U.S. flag from a pole at the Embassy and replaced it with a black flag. Police were firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse them. (See 10:20 and 10:42 a.m. entries.) Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, Mhirsi reported.

[Updated at 12:06 p.m. ET] Some Friday protests that hadn't yet been mentioned in this blog post:

- In Afghanistan, hundreds of demonstrators in the eastern Nangarhar province burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to America" and "We condemn the film." The demonstration lasted about an hour and ended peacefully, a local official said. The Afghan government has ordered an indefinite block of YouTube to prevent people there from watching the clips and staging violent protests.

- In Baghdad, Iraq, hundreds of followers of the radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chanted "No to America, no to Israel."

- In Jerusalem, Palestinians marched from the al-Aqsa mosque toward the U.S. Consulate, but were prevented from reaching the mission by Israeli riot forces.

- In Syria, hundreds gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Protesters waved placards that condemned the film and blamed the U.S. administration for allowing the production and broadcast of it, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

- In Iran, the Islamic Propagation Coordination Council called for nationwide rallies Friday to protest the film and what it is calling a U.S.-backed plot against Muslims, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

[Updated at 11:57 a.m. ET] An update on Friday's protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan: Journalist Isma'il Kushkush says no protesters have been able to get inside the compound, and that police and security forces appear to have the situation under control.

Small fires are burning nearby. Kushkush said he believes protesters set tires ablaze. For more on the Khartoum protests, including one at the German Embassy there, see the 9:54 and 8:42 a.m. entries.

[Updated at 11:52 a.m. ET] Ninety-three protesters have been arrested in Egypt since Thursday night, Egyptian Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa Mahmoud said. Forty-eight officers have been injured, he added.

[Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET] Protesters in southern India have been arrested on suspicion of throwing rocks at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, the city police commissioner said. As many as 200 protesters were demonstrating in front of the building, but the number arrested was not reported. There were no reported injuries.

[Updated at 10:57 a.m. ET] Video from Tunisia's capital shows thick, black smoke rising from an area near the U.S. Embassy. It's not clear what was on fire.

Protesters there had taken down a U.S. flag from the embassy property and replaced it with a black flag, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reported. Police fired tear gas at protesters as some of them climbed the property's walls.

[Updated at 10:42 a.m. ET] Protesters have taken down a U.S. flag from a pole at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and replaced it with a black flag, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.

Earlier, Mhirsi reported protesters were climbing the building's gates, and police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them. (See 10:20 a.m. entry.) Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, Mhirsi reported.

[Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET] A U.S. Marine Corps security team is being sent to help protect U.S. diplomatic installations in Yemen, including the Embassy in Saana, a senior U.S. official said, according to CNN's Barbara Starr.

Earlier today, Yemeni police opened fire to stop protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy in Saana, witnesses said (see 7:31 a.m. entry).

The protection team is similar to the team of 50 Marines that was sent earlier this this week to Tripoli, Libya, in the wake of the attack in Benghazi.

[Updated at 10:20 a.m. ET] Protesters are climbing the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, and police have fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reports.

Some protesters, who are about 20 meters outside the U.S. Embassy gates, are throwing rocks at the police, Mhirsi says. He says
that some protesters are waving black flags as they attempt to vandalize the gates.

[Updated at 10:15 a.m. ET] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to receive the remains of the U.S. diplomats killed in Libya at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 p.m. ET Friday.

[Updated at 10:13 a.m. ET] Add Tunisia to the list of Friday's protests. Hundreds of protesters have left Friday prayers and are heading to the U.S. Embassy in a neighborhood in Tunis, journalist Zeid Mhirsi reported. There is a strong Tunisian police presence in the area.

Hard-line Muslims known as Salafists were among the demonstrators, who were in pickup trucks and on foot.

[Updated at 9:54 a.m. ET] Ron Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, said that because Friday is a non-work day, most of the staff and Embassy personnel are not there as protesters gather outside the building. As far as security goes, Marines are assigned there, and local police officers were sent there earlier Friday as a precautionary measure, Hawkins said.

Earlier Friday, a fire was set at the vacated German Embassy as protesters gathered there. The protest at the U.S. building so has been peaceful, journalist Isma'il Kamal Kushkush said (see 8:42 a.m. entry).

[Updated at 9:31 a.m. ET] More information from Khartoum, Sudan: Protesters have gathered outside the U.S. Embassy there, a journalist at the scene said. The demonstration is peaceful so far.

Earlier today, protesters in Khartoum set the German Embassy on fire and also rallied outside the nearby UK Embassy (see 8:42 a.m. entry). The German Embassy was vacated before the protests.

[Updated at 9:24 a.m. ET] Lebanon has joined the list of Friday protests. One person was killed by police in Tripoli, Lebanon, after a group of armed men stormed a KFC restaurant amid protests in the city, Lebanese security forces told CNN.

About 40 armed men were spotted among 3,000 protesters, officials said.

Gen. Bassam Ayoubi, of the Lebanese internal security forces, said a group of armed men stormed the KFC and asked people to leave. Ayoubi said that the armed men then set the KFC on fire, at which time police arrived and began to fire at the armed men, killing at least one of them. Twenty-five were injured, he said, but it wasn't clear which of the injured were on which side.

[Updated at 9:09 a.m. ET] The German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, was vacated before the protest that reportedly has set the building on fire, the German Foreign Ministry said.

The German Foreign Ministry also said that the Sudanese ambassador to Germany has been called in to the German
Foreign Ministry in Berlin to discuss the situation in Khartoum.

Journalist Isma'il Kamal Kushkush told CNN about 30 minutes ago that the German Embassy in Khartoum was on fire after protests against the online anti-Islam video.

[Updated at 9 a.m. ET] An update on protests in Egypt, while we await more information about the burning German Embassy in Sudan:

Fifteen protesters have been injured in Egypt on Friday, according to Dr. Mohamed Sultan, a health ministry spokesman. Most of the injuries were related to inhaling tear gas or getting it into their eyes.

Two hundred twenty-four people have been injured this week in protests in Cairo, 11 of whom have been hospitalized, Sultan said.

On Friday, officers armed with shields and batons, backed by an armored personnel carrier, rushed a group of several hundred protesters shortly after dawn to quell a violent demonstration that had raged through the night in Cairo. After the rush, a smaller number of demonstrators regrouped near the U.S. Embassy across from police lines, and stones and tear-gas canisters once again crossed in the air. Police fired rubber bullets at protesters. The army began constructing a wall of concrete blocks about 10 feet high across the road leading to the embassy.

Hours later, in the afternoon, youths climbed the newly built wall and threw rocks at police, according to eyewitnesses. Security forces fired tear gas and used water cannons to hold off the rioters. But 100 to 200 hundred meters away in Tahrir Square, a few thousand protesters congregated peacefully.

[Updated at 8:42 a.m. ET] The German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan was on fire Friday after protests against the online anti-Islam video, a journalist on the scene, Isma'il Kamal Kushkush, said. No embassy personnel were believed to be inside.

The UK Foreign Office also says protesters were demonstrating Friday outside its embassy, next to the German Embassy, in Khartoum.

[Updated at 8:35 a.m. ET] U.S. embassies aren't the only Western diplomatic posts facing protests on Friday. Protests have been reported outside the UK and German embassies in Khartoum, Sudan.

UK Foreign Office Spokesperson Mandy Heffield confirmed there is an ongoing demonstration outside the British Embassy in Khartoum. Sudanese police are on the scene, Heffield said.

Earlier, a journalist on the scene said thousands of protesters had marched on the German Embassy in Khartoum, and that a few protesters jumped onto the embassy grounds and pulled down the German flag. Riot police fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back, the journalist said.

[Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET] Thousands of protesters marched on the German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, on Friday, as protests against a short online film mocking the Prophet Mohammed swept across the Muslim world, a journalist on the scene said.

A few demonstrators were able to jump into the embassy grounds and pull down the German flag, Isma'il Kamal Kushkush said. Riot police fired tear gas, causing the protesters to pull back. The German Embassy is next to the British Embassy, which did not seem to be the focus of the demonstration.

[Updated at 7:40 a.m. ET] Afghanistan saw its first anti-American protest over the film Friday, as hundreds of demonstrators burned a U.S. flag and chanted "Death to America" and "We condemn the film."

The demonstration in Nangarhar province lasted about an hour and ended peacefully, said Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of the eastern province.

[Posted 7:31 a.m. ET] Yemeni police opened fire Friday to stop protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, witnesses told CNN.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood canceled nationwide demonstrations Friday, except for one in Cairo's Tahrir Square against the controversial film about the Prophet Mohammed, the group said in a Twitter message.

Post by: ,
Filed under: Egypt • Lebanon • Libya • Sudan • Tunisia
soundoff (3,687 Responses)
  1. Tim Lucas

    People who are slamming religion in general: Do you remember Christians vandalizing and destroying things when Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' came out, or episodes of family guy ridiculing the character of Jesus? Think twice before making sweeping statements!

    September 14, 2012 at 11:12 am | Report abuse |
    • NoTheism

      Tim, that only proves that there is fair justification for 'slamming' religion in general.
      I am not sure what your point is

      September 14, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
    • willy

      I can't remember how many died in those uprisings.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:17 am | Report abuse |
    • jsad

      Agreed..best comment here so far

      September 14, 2012 at 11:18 am | Report abuse |
    • david

      No. Way before my time, but I'd be willing to bet they didn't burn down restaurants, raid embassies, and kill ambassadors.

      Regardless, what a few Christians did 30 some years ago doesn't give these people a free pass to use violence now.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:26 am | Report abuse |
    • Cleanup Philly

      Uh, NO, I don't remember Christians burning things or killing people or tearing up the British Embassy over the Life of Brian, but if there was ever a more perfect movie for today, it's that one.

      Let's dub that in Arabic and show it in the Muslim world. I'm in. Maybe certain Mahomatan people will realize that they are humor-challenged.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:41 am | Report abuse |
  2. Greggers

    Wow, who knew they had a Hardees in Tripoli? Something tells me the commercials there aren't nearly as entertaining.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:12 am | Report abuse |
    • david

      Oh yea. having been to lebanon, I'd never seen so many KFCs and Duncan Donuts in all my life

      September 14, 2012 at 11:19 am | Report abuse |
  3. Brenda

    What does this film maker have to do with KFC? Nothing. This is just crazy.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:12 am | Report abuse |
    • Brenda

      These Islamic extremists don't even know who their enemy truly is. Do they think the film maker cares about this person's KFC?

      September 14, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
  4. SAS6907

    WAKE UP! This has nothing to do with a film or anyones feeling about muslims.

    THIS IS ALL ABOUT WORLD TAKE OVER and they are doing exactly what their Koran teaches them.
    They will not stop until they convert or kill everyone else, or die themselves.

    Do not be fooled.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:13 am | Report abuse |
    • Jason

      You, sir, have been fooled.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:22 am | Report abuse |
    • Joe Sensor

      My recommendation is for our government to stop appologizing for freedom and start protecting our people and property.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:24 am | Report abuse |
    • Wes Scott

      Joe sensor, you are building and tearing down a straw man. Nobody has apologized for free speech, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to protect our embassies and property in FOREIGN countries unless we mobilize MILLIONS of American soldiers all over the world. That is called "occupation", and it usually infuriates people in whose countries our soldiers are stationed. besides, are YOU going to pay the cost to deploy that many people and equipment? If not, then your statement is inane.

      Saying that the Obama administration has been apologizing is just a lie, but RepubliKKKans never bother with the truth when it comes to denigrating their political opponents, so what's new?

      September 14, 2012 at 11:56 am | Report abuse |
  5. Joe from CT, not Lieberman

    Someone needs to remind the Editors that Libya and Egypt are IN Africa, so the violence has not spread TO Africa, it has spread to other countries in Africa! That is why they are supposed to proofread these headlines before posting them.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:13 am | Report abuse |
  6. cheapseats2

    Now they've done it. They had to torch a KFC and Hardees. That'll bring a swift and sure response from the U.S. Time to get the U.N. involved so they can pass a resolution and send in observers to watch the uprising ignore them.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
  7. willy

    I saw part of the "movie" on youtube. It isn't believable and is at best a grade C film. I never would have seen it except for all this violence so they are promoting the film themselves. It is like a person saying something bad about Islam at home in a back room where no one is around. If they riot for this then they need no reason at all. They are press hounds.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
  8. Blaine

    Keep blaming the film for this, it's stupid. They would have found something else to riot about. The movie was just a convenient answer. If it was all about the movie then why are Sudanese attacking the German Embassy? They had nothing to do with it.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
  9. Alicia

    After reading some of these racist and deplorable comments is it really any surprise that these people hate us?
    Yeah, we're all SUPA KEWL AMERICANS OMG ~*~*~*~*~ but have some respect. This entire situation is terrifying and it's really not a joke what-so-ever. This is why positive relationships with other nations is so important. IT CAN'T ALWAYS BE ABOUT AMERICA. Sorry to burst the patriotic bubble this country seems to be living in.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
    • Wes Scott

      Alicia, get a clue! Being nice to these people has never helped anything. If you want to get to the root of the problem, then you have to go back about 5,000 years to a fight between the Tribe of Benjamin and the other eleven tribes of israel over a se xual assault committed by two men who were then guests at the home of Benjamin. Benjamin refused to turn the men over to a mob because Jewish law prevented him from doing so, and the other eleven tribes went to war against the tribe of Benjamin. THAT is the source point of Middle Eastern conflict, and it is as strong today as ever because nobody over there can get over what happened 5 millenia ago.

      Then, you need to look back to the period between 1095 and 1207 A.D. – the Crusades – for a more recent view of why Arabs AND Israelis hate the US. You can thank the Holy Roman Church for THAT fiasco! They tried to exterminate every Arab and Jew (who are actually all the same people – sons of Abraham) in the name of Christianity.

      The Arabs hate us for kowtowing to Israel. Arabs and Israelis hate us for kowtowing to the Catholic Church. In the end, it is just one more compelling reason why ALL religion should be banished from the planet and anybody who insists on promoting religion should be eliminated. Religion breeds unadulterated hatred against the "non-believers."

      Crying "Can't we all just get along?" does not work in the Middle East. The only thing they understand is violent death and the hope of obtaining 72 virgins in heaven. The jig is up – they ain't getting 72 virgins. They are getting one 72 year old virgin!

      September 14, 2012 at 11:35 am | Report abuse |
  10. darrenhankins

    This film was by a conservative group trying to cause trouble for the Obama administration.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
    • Obama Is Useless

      The republicans do not have to make Obama look bad. he is doing fine all by himself.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:28 am | Report abuse |
    • Just a guy

      In the words of the great Happy Gilmore, "Talk about your all-time backfires, eh?"

      September 14, 2012 at 11:44 am | Report abuse |
    • Wes Scott

      The film was by a Coptic (Christian) Egyptian, not a "group trying to make Obama look bad", and regardless of how bad Obama looks he is far better than the fascists like McCain/Palin or Romney/Ryan.

      September 14, 2012 at 12:17 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Tomas

    Why Germany? The German leaders are part of the NATO group most of the world sees as terrorists. Nothing to do with race here. People are fed up, and anything will get them react and express their unhappiness about what NATO has done and is doing to the world. Abusing people rights and lives through wars and internal meddling of other nations affairs only creates disunity within community of nations. Again, I could be wrong. People want peace, national dignity, religious tolerance and more. Let's respect other ppl values, and learn how to get things or deals without wars and bullying. Peace and Love!!

    September 14, 2012 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
    • Joe Sensor

      So lets respect other peoples values, even if they abuse human rights????

      September 14, 2012 at 11:22 am | Report abuse |
  12. Wes Scott

    I am proud to be an environment-loving, tree-hugging liberal, and I have a plan for dealing with the animosity toward the US in Muslim countries:

    (1) Close all embassies and bring our foreign service people home;
    (2) Sever diplomatic ties will all Muslim countries;
    (3) Cease all foreign aid to Muslim countries;
    (4) Tell the leaders of Muslim countries not to call us when they encounter natural disasters;
    (5) Tell the leaders of Muslim countries not to call us when riots and civil wars break out in their countries;
    (6) Tell them that we will send our sympathies and condolescences when they have problems, but not money or people;
    (7) Tell them to turn to their Muslim "brothers" for the assistance they need during periods of famine;
    (8) End all imports of Middle Eastern oil – we don't need it anyway since we are producing more than we use here;
    (9) Tell them that there is a long line of people who hate us, so take a number and wait in line.
    (10) Wait until things get so bad that they come grovelling at our feet begging us to help them, and then "Just say NO!"
    (11) Tell them to ask Allah for help to resolve all their problems!

    Is this harsh? You bet it is, but it is probably the only thing short of turning the entire Middle East (Israel included) to glass, which might not be a bad idea in the end.

    September 14, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
    • Jason

      That will never happen. First, the US government does not own the oil production in the US. If we ban imports of foreign oil, then US-based multinational corporations will jack up oil prices.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:20 am | Report abuse |
    • Wes Scott

      Jason, even a stopped watch is correct twice a day. We could take a lesson from countries like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – it is time to nationalize ALL energy on the grounds that the minerals are owned by the American people, NOT a few corporations, and the minerals are a vital national security interest. It is time we stop allowing our energy needs to be dictated by multinational corporations whose interest is NOT the well-being of our citizens. There is historic proof that nationalization works.

      Mexico, China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq, and many other countries all have national energy ownership. They occasionally partner with multinational corporations, but the multinationals do not call the shots or control the operations. We had Saudi Arabia by the short hairs with ARAMCO, but then they figured out what we were doing to them and then everything changed.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:44 am | Report abuse |
    • Joe Edwards

      Wes, you are misinformed. I live in a gas (natural) producing area. Most properties mineral rights were purchased by large companies long ago. Most people only own the surface rights. Some owners lease the mineral rights back to these companies in exchange for a small percentage of the production.

      September 14, 2012 at 3:04 pm | Report abuse |
  13. coolbreeze

    What does the Colonel Sanders say about his KFC's being in flames? CNN let's get his input!

    September 14, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
  14. Obama_Dogeater

    Obozo's bowing and apologizing to intolerant Muslim nations is really paying off, isn't it?

    September 14, 2012 at 11:15 am | Report abuse |
    • American

      It is a great film and tells the truth about this so called religion.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:18 am | Report abuse |
    • Joe Sensor

      How clueless is the Obama administration. My recommendation would be to stop appologizing for freedom and start protecting the american people and american embasies in these countries.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:19 am | Report abuse |
    • JM

      Oh yes, he's totally responsible for the irrational response to this video from Muslims across the world.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:22 am | Report abuse |
    • GvilleT

      Exactly when has Obama bowed down to these people after these bombings? Would love to hear specifics. All I've heard is that the Marines have been sent and that two destroyers have bben sent with missile launching capabilities.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:23 am | Report abuse |
    • Milkman

      Stay away from my TACO BELL!

      September 14, 2012 at 11:25 am | Report abuse |
    • Just a guy

      If sending warships is what Republicans call "bowing and apologizing," then I genuinely fear what they might call an appropriate response.

      September 14, 2012 at 11:36 am | Report abuse |
    • Wes Scott

      Well, one thing is for sure – the lies of the Obama haters is certainly not paying off for them. Obama defeated McPalin by over 10 million votes, and I predict he will defeat Romney/Ryan by at least 15 million votes. No intelligent, logical person wants to go back to the failed policies of the Cheney/Bush Administration!

      September 14, 2012 at 12:23 pm | Report abuse |
  15. peter

    huh...they have hardees not carls jr....like alabama

    September 14, 2012 at 11:16 am | Report abuse |
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