EA Video Analysis: How to Use American Deaths to Win a Presidential Election

See also US Politics Video: The 2nd Obama-Romney Debate

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As details emerge of the death of four Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, in an attack on 11 September on the American Consulate in Benghazi, six minutes on why Mitt Romney's focus on the issue is political manipulation rather than a contribution to "security" and US foreign policy....

Video and Transcript: President Obama's Speech to the UN

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The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied. Let us condemn incitement against Sufi Muslims, and Shiite pilgrims. It is time to heed the words of Gandhi: “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.” Together, we must work towards a world where we are strengthened by our differences, and not defined by them. That is what America embodies, and that is the vision we will support.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dying Amid the Diversion of the Mohammad Film

Shelling of al-Qusayr in Homs Province in Syria this morning

See also Syria Feature: The Insurgents Test Self-Government
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Regime "Fully Purges Aleppo District From Terrorists"....Again

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2030 GMT: Syria. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has told a Parliamentary committee that any intervention can only take place with Washington's participation.

While Hague said military action could not be ruled out, he said he saw “major disadvantages” and continued, "It would require intervention on a vastly greater scale than was the case in Libya, with no prospect at the moment of agreement at the U.N. Security Council, and would require the full involvement of the United States."

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Regime "Fully Purges Aleppo District From Terrorists"....Again

Claimed footage of Libyans taking US Ambassador Chris Stevens --- unconscious or dead --- from a building in Benghazi on Tuesday night (see 0520 GMT)

See also Syria Feature: The Darayya "Massacre" and a Regime's "Slow, Steady Killing Strategy"
Syria Feature: "Insurgents Subjecting Detainees to Ill-Treatment, Torture, and Execution"
Iran Analysis: Tehran Hurts Itself With Muddled Messages on Syria
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Embassy Attacks Recede, While 164 Die Across Syria on Saturday

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2106 GMT: Lebanon. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, has told a rally of tens of thousands protesting the US movie denigrating the Prophet Mohammad, “America must understand that releasing the entire film will have dangerous, very dangerous repercussions around the world.

The rally was in the Dahiyeh district of south Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. Nasrallah said to the crowd that Western arguments over freedom of speech were “hypocrisy, deception, and double standards”. He called for “an international resolution criminalizing the defamation of heavenly religions".

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Libya Opinion: The Lesson of Ambassador Stevens' Last Act --- "The Gravest Mistake Would Be to Write Off Libya" (Chorin)

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President Obama pays tribute to US Ambassador Chris Stevens

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Ambassador Stevens knew Libya, and he believed that it could become one of the first full success stories of the Arab Spring — that Islamic radicalism there could be nipped in the bud if Western governments acted decisively to put the country on a path to stability and social progress.

Now, his death may derail the very processes he championed.

The gravest mistake would be for the United States to write off Libya as an irredeemable terrorist haven, or for politicians in Washington to regret having intervened in support of Libya’s rebels. Libya is still far better off today than it was under Qaddafi.

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Libya Analysis: Questions --- and Fears --- After the Attacks in Benghazi

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Most importantly, we do not know --- but I fear --- what comes next. In his White House statement on Wednesday, President Obama was careful to point to the majority of Libyans --- Libyans who had fought alongside the besieged Americans, Libyans who had rescued Stevens and took him to hospital, Libyans who tried to save his life --- as people who had overthrown a dictatoral regime and were trying to build their country. 

But this, as well as the emphasis of Obama and Clinton on respect for all religions --- religions tarnished and undermined in the name of religion by extremists and schemers in the US and in Libya --- appears to have been put on the margins this morning. Instead, the headline is "Obama Vows Justice for Libya Killers".

That way, a year after Libyans gathered to celebrate the fall of Muammar Qaddafi and to hope for a country beyond violence and the authoritarian, does not lead to reconciliation and progress. That way leads to force to meet force, to death to counter death. That way does not lead to security but to insecurity.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The UN Tries Again With Assad

1618 GMT: Bahrain EA's John Horne reports:

A group of Human Rights organisations have written to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton "asking her to suspend all US military aid to the government of Bahrain because of its human rights violations".

The letter brings attention to the US Leahy Law (Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act) which states that:

No assistance shall be furnished under this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.

The NGO's cite a series of reports which they argue constitute "credible information", adding that "attacks by the police and other security forces on unarmed, non-violent, pro-democracy activists rise to the level of 'gross human rights violations,' particularly so when the attacks resulted in death.

The letter continues:

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Libya Live Coverage: American Ambassador Among 4 Killed in Attack on US Consulate

2011 GMT: With all the talk of the attack on the embassy, nearly forgotten is the fact that Libya also elected a new Prime Minister today. Though there were rumors of a recount, according to Al Arabiya the decision has been made:

#BreakingNews: Libyan parliament chooses Mustafa Abu Shakour as the country's new PM: correspondent

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 12, 2012

Mustafa Abu Shagur is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, and was a former adviser to the National Transitional Council. It appears Shagur has beat the former head of the NTC, Mahmoud Jibril, and 8 others, but only beat Jabril by 2 votes.

Consider this an unofficial result.

1950 GMT: It's been interesting to watch protests develop today in Libya. Not only are protesters still very angry about the video that sparked this, many have also expressed their condolences for the loss of life and have condemned the actions of those who attacked the US embassy. The Guardian points us towards two examples, a tweet and a Facebook page (with some spelling issues):

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Not So Fast

2100 GMT: Tonight's take-away from the 40-nation gathering in London to discuss Libya is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's indication that arms supplies to the opposition may be under consideration: "It is our interpretation that [United Nations resolution] 1973 [authorising the no-fly one and measures to protect civilians] amended or overrode the absolute prohibition of arms to anyone in Libya so that there could be legitimate transfer of arms if a country were to choose to do that. We have not made that decision at this time."

2025 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman quotes an eyewitness that residents of Brega are fleeing east after the Libyan army regained control of Ras Lanuf, the next town to the west, tonight.

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