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The Spectacle Blog
Josh Rogin reports out the background on the US Embassy in Cairo’s moment of shame:
One staffer at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was responsible for the statement and tweets Tuesday that have become grist for the presidential campaign, and that staffer ignored explicit State Department instructions not to issue the statement, one U.S. official close to the issue told The Cable…
President Obama commented on the controversy in an interview to be aired Wednesday evening on 60 Minutes.
“In an effort to cool the situation down, it didn’t come from me, it didn’t come from Secretary Clinton. It came from people on the ground who are potentially in danger,” Obama said. “And my tendency is to cut folks a little bit of slack when they’re in that circumstance, rather than try to question their judgment from the comfort of a campaign office.”
But Obama’s remarks belie the enormous frustration of top officials at the State Department and White House with the actions of the man behind the statement, Cairo senior public affairs officer Larry Schwartz, who wrote the release and oversees the embassy’s Twitter feed, according to a detailed account of the Tuesday’s events…
Before issuing the press release, Schwartz cleared it with just one person senior to himself, Deputy Chief of Mission Marc Sievers, who was the acting charge d’affairs at the embassy on Tuesday because Ambassador Anne Patterson was in Washington at the time, the official said.
Schwartz sent the statement to the State Department in Washington before publishing and the State Department directed him not to post it without changes, but Schwartz posted it anyway.
“The statement was not cleared with anyone in Washington. It was sent as ‘This is what we are putting out,’” the official said. “We replied and said this was not a good statement and that it needed major revisions. The next email we received from Embassy Cairo was ‘We just put this out.’”…
Despite being aware of Washington’s objections, the embassy continued to defend the statement for several hours, fueling the controversy over it, a decision the official again attributed to Schwartz.
“Not only did they push out the statement but they continued to engage on Twitter and retweet it,” the official said. “[Schwartz] would have been the one directing folks to engage on Twitter on this.”
Is Obama’s response really going to be “cut folks a little bit of slack?” So far, yes:
Despite his disregard of Washington’s instructions and his actions throughout the day Tuesday, Schwartz has not yet been disciplined in any way and is still the lead public affairs officer at the embassy.
“He remains at post at the same capacity as he was,” the official said.
That’s simply not acceptable. If issuing and repeatedly defending an unauthorized statement in the name of the United States government that condemns “those who abuse the universal right of free speech” isn’t enough to get a diplomat in trouble, what exactly would be? This was a statement that went well beyond distancing the embassy from a YouTube video that caused offense; it was an attack on First Amendment principles. The potential danger on the ground (which, remember, became more acute after the statement was issued) is no excuse.
If is the Obama administration is at all serious about defending American values, Larry Schwartz must be fired.
View all comments (32) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by John Tabin
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Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 8:56AM
So that we all understand, Obama is responsible for the shot(s) fired by a petty officer or chief petty officer in Seal Team Six, but not for a State Department senior public affairs officer's statements.
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 11:52AM
no, actually, i read somewhere that ObaMao ran bin Laden over in a Chevy Volt
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 3:55PM
You may be correct, since it has been reported that the Obama administration does not allow troops overseas to carry live ammunition.
Bob K| 9.13.12 @ 9:03AM
I hear Obama has a sign on his desk in the oval office that says: "The Buck Doesn't Stop Here Anymore!"
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 9:09AM
When Truman got credit for that statement originally, a dollar was still worth something. Perhaps the instrument of currency should be updated to reflect current value, to the effect of "The million dollar bearer bond stops here".
fmm| 9.13.12 @ 9:05AM
He responded in the vein of this administration's policies, so this is simply a reminder that all of these lackeys need to be fired when the administration changes in November.
Rufus Putnum| 9.13.12 @ 9:11AM
"In an effort to cool the situation down, it didn't come from me, it didn't come from Secretary Clinton. It came from people on the ground who are potentially in danger," Obama said. "And my tendency is to cut folks a little bit of slack when they're in that circumstance, rather than try to question their judgment from the comfort of a campaign office."
Or Air Force One. I wish the president felt the same way about the Soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan. His rules of engagement; are exactly the same.
Jaset| 9.13.12 @ 9:49AM
Where are you? Afghanistan? No. You're in your cushy chair dojg nothing but spit loser right wing lines.
You people know NOTHING about foreign policy or service. I guarantee you the people in the embassies around the world see you as the biggest danger to their safety.
You are nothing. You are creeps and cowards. Never done anything for this country. Nothing.
Mike G| 9.13.12 @ 10:15AM
"You people know NOTHING about foreign policy or service. I guarantee you the people in the embassies around the world see you as the biggest danger to their safety."
If that's the way they feel, they're free to find other employment. I can attest to the fact that there is nothing more unfulfilling than being in a job where you're not appreciated.
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 11:53AM
...provided they can get home without being killed by the 'appeased hordes'....
Jaset| 9.13.12 @ 9:46AM
Embassy,workers around the world are being shot at and their lives and lives of their families are being threatened and all Repulicans do is criticize their press releases. Republicans who have never fought, never served a day outside their offices, never put their life on the line. These people are true cowards. They are the least equipped to handle a crisis because they are so out if touch with the stakes and the sacrifices of those being targeted,
It's like a game to these creeps. Why don't any one of you that do nothing with your lives but sputter hate from your caves leave the safety of your basement and gomserve somewhere other than your pantry.
ncatty| 9.13.12 @ 9:49AM
Take that Strawman!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 9:58AM
I am the first commenter on this thread. I have more than 30 years of service between the Marine Corps and law enforcement. I have served overseas, I've carried the bodies of American dead; I've been shot at, feloniously assaulted and injured in the line of duty and brought in a cop killer alive (okay, I have some regrets on the last one). I continue to serve (though I am a lot slower these days), and I'll be at work after I finish the dishes in my pantry. (Note to any reader: please accept my apologies for starting so many consecutive sentences with "I". It sounds too much like Obama.)
Having established those credentials, are my comments above more accurate or less accurate?
grant1863| 9.13.12 @ 10:56AM
Sorry some of us have to earn the money to pay taxes to pay for our embassies and their personnel. Perhaps if the President had better policies so many of the workers wouldn't be in danger. At least the Romans were feared if not respected.
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 11:56AM
thanks, Jaset...as i look back on my time in the Army, i thank GOD i didn't have to do anything as dangerous as sit on my arse in an air-conditioned office and send out asinine tweets...of course, had i done so without those tweets being cleared by my superiors before sending, i'd have ended up in Leavenworth
Kingofthenet| 9.13.12 @ 10:57AM
What's wrong with the message he wrote? Trying to show a little respect for others religion and calm a situation is a crime? Distancing OFFICIAL American policy from instigators bent on starting conflict is frowned upon?
lsudolemite| 9.13.12 @ 11:55AM
And here the Muslim world has traditionally responded so positively to empathetic capitulation and slavish apologies. What could have possibly gone wrong?
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 12:25PM
ahhhh...but according to ObaMao, his tweets WEREN'T official American policy
John Navratil| 9.13.12 @ 3:18PM
Kingofthenet,
It characterized the film makers as misguided. That may by your opinion, it may be mine, but it is not the province of the U.S. to pass judgement on the legal activities of its citizens (or anyone).
It was an apology (a condemnation is apologizing for someone else's behaviour) for the film makers. The U.S. should not apologize for a private citizens legal activities, especially when such activities are constitutionally protected.
It referred to the abuse of freedom of speech. Our Constitution does not specify which speech it to be free specifically so that speech may be used to criticize the government. Some speech is prohibited (slander, defamation, shouting fire in a crowded theater), but the making of a film is not and, in any case, the government knows well the rules on prior restraint.
It was useless and projected weakness in a world which respect the "strong horse."
Paul McGrath| 9.13.12 @ 11:21AM
On September 1, 2012, under the blog post titled, "Michelle Malkin is a Racist Like Me," by Quin Hillyer, Kingofthenet wrote this:
Kingofthenet| 9.1.12 @ 1:38PM
Michelle practices YELLOW Journalism, I would say the SLANT to her work is obvious. I would not pay even 5 dollar, for her 'work' because it never leaves me with a HAPPY ENDING.
Kingofthenet| 9.13.12 @ 11:54AM
You Neocons should like up 'Sarcasm' ...and 'Stalking'
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 12:24PM
thanks for illustrating a great truth:
if you want to piss off a conservative, all you have to do is misquote him
if you want to piss off a liberal, all you have to do is quote him
Paul McGrath| 9.13.12 @ 1:49PM
Sorry King, your comment was not sarcasm. You are not illustrating any point except for the fact that you are a racist. You are trying to slur one who you disagree with by describing her racial characteristics. It is ugly and it is pathetic, and every single time I see your moniker on here, I am going to post your comment again. I didn't say it, you did.
I have a personal stake in this. I am married to an Asian girl.
Nick| 9.13.12 @ 1:55PM
Good job, Mr. McGrath. I support you 100%.
I, too, am sick of all these racist liberals who post here.
Paul McGrath| 9.13.12 @ 3:48PM
Thank you Nick. You and Spike 59 are kick ass.
By the way, how do you get italics in here? Is it a cut and paste job?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 3:57PM
...and get Nick to give up how he can bold post certain words, too...
Nick| 9.13.12 @ 6:01PM
Thanks, again, Mr. McGrath.
Since it's you and Mr. Constantine, I'll try to explain this.
No, it's not cut & paste, it's HTML tags.
For the word (or words) you want to have in italics (or bold) you just type a "less than" sign, then an "i" (for italics) or a "b" (for bold), then a ">". You can't have a space between the ">" and the first letter.
After you write whatever you want highlighted, you must close the tag. To do this, just type a "less than" sign, then a "/", then an "i" or "b", then a ">".
Here's how it would look, just ignore the "*":
"less than" sign*i*>KooK is a racist.*"less than" sign*/*i*>
It would look this: KooK is a racist.
I can't type the "less than" sign, because the browser thinks that it is the start of a tag.
I hope that was comprehensible. If not let me know. Or, just google HTML tags.
Take care.
p.s. If you want a word in both italics and bold, you must have the "bold" tag inside the "italics" tag, or, vice versa. You start the "italics" tag, then start the "bold" tag, then type your words, then close the "bold" tag, then close the "italics" tag. No spaces between the two tags.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 10:10PM
>b>AMAZING/b>
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 10:13PM
My second try was flagged as spam/
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.13.12 @ 10:13PM
Got it now/
Nick| 9.13.12 @ 11:37PM
Maybe this will be clearer, Mr. Constantine:
Opening tag: Less than sign, the letter "i", greater than sign
Word or phrase
Closing tag: Less than sign, backslash "/", the letter "i", greater than sign