US envoy dies in Benghazi consulate attack

[Blubbartron]

I give that movie 5 stars on the C-Movie scale. Mostly just makes me curious how much of it comes verbatim from the qur'an. I know the bible has some seriously messed up shit in it, so I wouldn't be shocked if the qur'an talked about abusing the enslaving children of "infidels".

[Dimmauk]

not actually the full thing, but you get the idea

The Lead actor looks familiar. Why?

[Kuya]

I don't think what happened in Libya is exactly related to the movie. In other countries, what we've seen is simply the usual: angry protesters burning flags. This was an organized military attack on a US embassy, so i suspect some organized terrorist group is behind it, and if that's the case, they would have attacked with or without this film ever existing. Maybe they used the film as an opportunity to strike.

[Uzor]

I don't think what happened in Libya is exactly related to the movie. In other countries, what we've seen is simply the usual: angry protesters burning flags. This was an organized military attack on a US embassy, so i suspect some organized terrorist group is behind it, and if that's the case, they would have attacked with or without this film ever existing. Maybe they used the film as an opportunity to strike.

This is how I feel too. It's too much of a coincidence to be, well, a coincidence. I think it would have happened without the movie, and they just use the movie as a disguise and a way to incite anger in the rest of the Muslim world.

[Shuvo]

The actors didn't even know it was about Islam.. they said 'Master George' and the director just dubbed in Mohommed for every instance..... among other words.

Also, more people should be aware of this - 10 Libyans were killed or injured trying to defend the US ambassador.

[Plow]

The attack in Benghazi definitely appears to be either a pre-planned or simply opportunistic attack by an organized group.

Hearing hints at al Quaeda, but nobody's very confident at this point, of course.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Just because we have the right to do something doesn't mean we should.

Just because the right to make this movie is protected by fee speech (as it should be) doesn't make it any less irresponsible and stupid to make it. You have the right to skateboard while wearing a meat-suit with no helmet off jumps over your cousin's pond full of alligators. Doesn't make it a good idea.

Edit: I read the thread in poopdeck, so nvm.

But yeah, this whole thing smells organized to me. Rile people up with this movie, then use the ensuing protests to start a riot/launch your attack.

[Jer]

Edit: Thought better of it.

[Aevis]

as shuvo mentioned, the actors in the movie actually were told to be in a totally different movie called "desert warrior" and the producer re-dubed it: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/12/wo...iref=allsearch

speaking of the producer, "Sam Bacile"'s true identity has been discovered by AP: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19591039

[Dimmauk]

So the Jews didn't do this!

[dejet]

Just because we have the right to do something doesn't mean we should.

Just because the right to make this movie is protected by fee speech (as it should be) doesn't make it any less irresponsible and stupid to make it. You have the right to skateboard while wearing a meat-suit with no helmet off jumps over your cousin's pond full of alligators. Doesn't make it a good idea.

Edit: I read the thread in poopdeck, so nvm.

But yeah, this whole thing smells organized to me. Rile people up with this movie, then use the ensuing protests to start a riot/launch your attack.

So, a simple question to you. That movie is fine to be made right? Yes or no? If you say "yes but" that really means no. You defend the persons right or you do not. Its the same reason the fucked up KKK is still around. I think they should all burn but their right to say what they want I would defend without question.

This person going to whatever hell they have faith in should be all they need.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I meant exactly what I said. Nice try, though.

[dejet]

Thank you very much.

[Churchill]

Guys don't say or do stuff that will make people angry.

Also, where can I borrow 10k to replace my dick with a vagina.

[Renzokuken]

Also, where can I borrow 10k to replace my dick with a vagina.

Get arrested and then sue the government to pay for it!

On another note, I agree with the sentiment that this probably would have happened even without the movie.

Edit:

Guys don't say or do stuff that will make people angry.

Not sure if serious, but it is not only a protected right to be able to say things that make others angry, it is sometimes a necessary civic duty to do so.

[Kainos]

Just found out my dad served in Iraq with one of the guys that died (the eve online player). Crazy, such a small world.

[Uzor]

-In remarks stressing that the U.S. government had “absolutely nothing to do with” the anti-Islam film that has touched off violence in the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday sought to quash Arab concerns that the “disgusting and reprehensible” movie was somehow produced or condoned by American officials.

However, Clinton’s attempt to distance the U.S. from “Innocence of Muslims”--and, by extension, its felonious producer--may be complicated by the revelation that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula became a government informant after his 2009 arrest for bank fraud, The Smoking Gun has learned.

Though many key documents from the U.S. District Court case remain sealed, a June 2010 sentencing transcript provides an account of Nakoula’s cooperation with federal investigators in Los Angeles (and how his prison sentence was reduced as a result).

Nakoula, 55, was arrested in June 2009 for his role in a check-kiting ring that stole nearly $800,000 from six financial institutions by using stolen Social Security numbers and identities. Nakoula was named in a six-count felony indictment accusing him and unnamed “co-schemers” of perpetrating the bank fraud.

Denied bail, Nakoula, a married father of three, was locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in L.A. when he began cooperating with Justice Department lawyers and federal agents. During a series of debriefing sessions, Nakoula provided investigators with a detailed account of the fraud operation and fingered the man who allegedly headed the operation, according to comments made by his lawyer at sentencing.

Nakoula identified the ring’s leader as Eiad Salameh, a notorious fraudster who has been tracked for more than a decade by state and federal investigators. In his debriefings, Nakoula said he was recruited as a “runner” by Salameh, who pocketed the majority of money generated by the bank swindles, according to James Henderson, Nakoula’s attorney.

As a result of Nakoula’s cooperation, Henderson told Judge Christina Snyder, “We all know what's gonna happen. Salameh is gonna get arrested some day and based on the debriefing information turned over, he is gonna enter a guilty plea or if he doesn’t, then Mr. Nakoula is gonna be called on to testify at trial.”

It is unclear whether Salameh, whose whereabouts are unknown, has been charged in connection with the bank fraud. Salameh was named in a 2006 federal criminal complaint charging him with felony fraud. That complaint--filed under one of Salameh’s many aliases--was dismissed last year by federal prosecutors. A court docket shows that no filings were made after the initial complaint, likely indicating that Salameh was never apprehended.

With an Arabic interpreter standing by, Nakoula told Snyder about his decision to inform. He explained, “I decided to cooperate with the government to retrieve some of these mistakes or damage happened. I want to cooperate with the government that they can catch with this other criminals who is their involvement.”

In return for Nakoula’s cooperation, prosecutors provided Snyder with a letter noting that his substantial assistance to authorities warranted a sentence reduction.

Along with citing the government missive--known as a 5K1 letter--Henderson told Snyder that Nakoula’s kin would suffer financially during his imprisonment since he was he family’s sole breadwinner. Henderson also reported that Nakoula suffered from various maladies, including Hepatitis C, a “serious diabetes problem,” and “prostate issues” for which he had undergone surgery. “He is on ten medications at this point,” added Henderson.

Nakoula’s involvement in the fraud, Henderson stated, was caused by his need to support his family, including his elderly father. “At the time he did this, he was out of work in the gas station industry, which is what he's really familiar in this country,” said Henderson, adding, “and he was working swap meets for a few dollars every weekend trying to support his family.”

Snyder eventually ordered Nakoula to serve 21 months in prison to be followed by six months in a federal halfway house. The sentence was about a year less than the punishment sought in separate submissions by probation officials and federal prosecutors.

Before Snyder announced her sentence, Henderson referred to a character letter written by a friend of Nakoula’s who offered to provide work for the convicted felon. The friend, the lawyer said, reported that he attended church with Nakoula, whom he described as “a God-fearing man.” (8 pages)

Fun, so he's a known criminal.

So the police got him for intent to manifacturing methamphetamine, bank fraud, and part of his parole conditions was that he wasn't allowed to use a computer or aliases, both of which he's done.

He'd have a lot of fun in jail, being a snitch and all.

[Kuya]

The main square in Libya's second city, Benghazi, is hosting rival demonstrations by citizens opposed to the control of militias, and by hardline Salafi protesters, with tensions still running high after an attack on the US consulate last week.

Around 30,000 pro-peace Libyans marched through the eastern port on Friday in an unprecedented effort to demand the disbanding of powerful armed gangs, in the wake of the assault that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
The giant crowd poured into Al-Kish Square square in front of the main camp of Ansar Sharia in the city, unfurling a long Libyan flag and chanting, "With our lives and souls, we redeem you, Benghazi".

At the same time, inside the square, which was a key battleground in the uprising that overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi last year, around 3,000 supporters of the ultraconservative Salafist group also gathered.

Waving black Islamic flags, they chanted against a US-made film that mocks Islam and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by a French satirical weekly.

They gathered to pressure the national congress to pass legislation criminalising militias and codifying the law on bearing arms, organisers said.

They were also demanding the withdrawal of all armed groups from state buildings and institutions and full support for measures to revitalise the police and army.

Protesters mourned the killing of the US envoy, waving signs that read, "The ambassador was Libya's friend" and "Libya lost a friend".

Organiser Mohammed Abujanah told AFP that Benghazi's chronic insecurity stems from the failure to disband the brigades of ex-rebels who fought in the uprising.

"We are saving Benghazi from insecurity," he said, saying the authorities were wrong to integrate the brigades into the security forces as intact units rather than disbanding them and selecting competent individuals from them.
The protest is also to reject extremism, which Abujanah described as "part of the brigades problem" and as a sign to the international community that Benghazi still needs its presence and moral support.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...314438851.html

[BaneTheBrawler]

Pretty neat.

[Xno Kappa]

Good to see. Libya seems to be the only country genuinely trying to disapprove extremism.