Statement by the President on the terrorist attacks in Egypt and Nigeria

[Tx4obama]

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 01, 2011

Statement by the President on the terrorist attacks in Egypt and Nigeria

I strongly condemn the separate and outrageous terrorist bombing attacks in Egypt and Nigeria. The attack on a church in Alexandria, Egypt caused 21 reported deaths and dozens of injured from both the Christian and Muslim communities. The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshipers, and have no respect for human life and dignity. They must be brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act. We are continuing to gather information regarding this terrible event, and are prepared to offer any necessary assistance to the Government of Egypt in responding to it.

The attack near an army barracks in Abuja also reportedly killed more than 20 people and wounded many more. Killing innocent civilians who were simply gathering – like so many people around the world – to celebrate the beginning of a New Year further demonstrates the bankrupt vision of those who carry out these attacks, and we are similarly prepared to offer assistance to the Government of Nigeria as it works to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The United States extends its deepest condolences to the families of those killed and to the wounded in both of these attacks, and we stand with the Nigerian and Egyptian people at this difficult time.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/01/statement-president-terrorist-attacks-egypt-and-nigeria

[Hannah Bell]

1. he should make a statement for his own drone attacks.

[ClayZ]

2. I agree, Look in the mirror Mr. President!

[jaxx]

3. What does that have to do with Egypt and Nigeria?

Nothing.

[Hannah Bell]

5. It has everything to do with hypocritical statements made by government actors doing exactly the

same thing they bemoan, however.

[jaxx]

6. That was a statement by the President.

Not some government actor, which is demeaning to start with. A war zone is not the same as city streets in a non-war zone.

[Hannah Bell]

7. the president *is* a government actor; i was using "actor" in the sense of one who takes action,

not movie stars.

sorry, but we're bombing people in war zones & non-war zones both. and a lot of the "war zones" are only so because we've labeled them as such & turned them into such.

his statement is hypocritical. he's bombing people in multiple countries without declaration of war. like his predecessor.

unless we recently declared war on pakistan, yemen, somalia?

and, oh, i thought bush2 declared victory in iraq years ago?

hard to read such self-righteous bs without puking.

but the fundies will eat it up.

[jaxx]

9. Such venom against the USA.

It comes through loud and clear.

[Hannah Bell]

10. lol. it must be hard to talk with all that straw in your mouth.

[Igel]

11. Intent matters.

In a sense shooting the person who's got a knife at your little girl's neck and shooting the "ferner" for daring to look with admiration at the feminine attributes of a woman of your ethnicity and religion are different: Shooting to protect the innocent from imminent harm and xenophobia mingled with race-hatred properly are different kinds of things and should be treated differently.

On the other hand, since both yield a corpse using the same means they're equivalent acts, aren't they? What differs are details of context and intent. Intent matters. This is an obvious example but this holds true right down to whether you make eye contact or say "Hi" versus "Oh, it's you."

One's hypocrisy depends not on the value system of the person observing and judging but on the value system of the one being accused and the intent behind his actions and words.

I don't think Obama's a hypocrite wrt to the drone attacks and the condemnation of the anti-Xian and anti-government bombings. I think in these matters he's being consistent with his own beliefs and his own statements as he understands them. I think he's acting in accord with his words and intents.

He just isn't being consistent with the moral framework you've unilaterally decided to impose on him for whatever reasons you've had in doing so. Your condemnation of the President is fatuous. First you have to try to understand what he means and what he intends. Outrage and condemnation are easy. Understanding? There's the tricky bit, but in this case I think he's been fairly clear and consisten if you take him at face value and accept that what he knows and learns and believes is probably at odds with what you know, learned, and believe. It's a narrow little sliver of action and morality and that makes it quite manageable.

I think he has been inconsistent with the obvious meaning of some of his speeches. I suspect that in most cases he's still not hypocritical. In some cases he has little choice; pragmatism is different from hypocrisy and often after running into reality he's altered his rhetoric in appropriate manners. In other cases I suspect he's chosen his words carefully, lawyer- and politician-like, saying words that could be interpreted in a variety of ways but intending one thing at variance with what he knows the most common interpretation would be. This is disengenous, but still not hypocritical. Yet in a 3rd set of cases what he said can only be interpreted at odds with what he seems to accept as appropriate and good behavior; in this he may be hypocritical, if we accept that he was telling the truth about his beliefs and hasn't changed his views. Evidence should be provided if this is the case.

You may properly infer that I take charges of hypocrisy and lying as serious allegations of actual moral defect, not terms to be bandied about lightly as some do to show solidarity or emotional stance.

[Cali_Democrat]

8. You read my mind

I just don't get Obama sometimes. IMO, deep down, he opposes the drone attacks, but he still "supports" them publicly.

Dude needs to get his shit together and become forceful, stop listening to morons around him.

So disappointing....

[Tx4obama]

4. Worshippers back in Egyptian church hit in attack

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Christians are back praying in a church targeted a day earlier by an apparent suicide bomber in an attack that killed 21 and wounded 97.

Dozens attended Sunday Mass at the Saints Church in Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria while riot police backed by armored vehicles were deployed outside.

The attack Saturday was the worst violence against Egypt's Christian minority in a decade. It sparked clashes between Christians who say the government hasn't done enough to protect them and riot police.

SNIP

The Alexandria governor accused al-Qaida, pointing to the terror network's branch in Iraq, which has attacked Christians there and threatened Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christian community.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110102/ml-egypt-church-attack/