Obama Speaks of Libya Attack at Rally in Las Vegas

September 12, 2012, 10:03 pm

By JIM RUTENBERG

LAS VEGAS â€" President Obama began what was supposed to be a boisterous campaign rally here Wednesday before his most ardent group of supporters with a somber remembrance of the four Americans who were killed at the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday.

Mr. Obama was met with deafening cheers and whistles when he took the lectern, meeting a crowd that was primed to give him the rally that was planned, with chants of “Four more years'' stopping him before he could begin his address.

He had to speak above shouts of “I love you'' to say, “We lost four Americans last night.” And with the crowd finally hushed, he asked to send “heartfelt prayers to their loved ones.''

< p>“We want to send a message all around the world,'' Mr. Obama said. “No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America.”

Mr. Obama reiterated his intention to punish those responsible, saying, “We will be relentless in our pursuit of those who attacked us yesterday.”

Before the address, Mr. Obama's aides traveling with him here told reporters that his remarks on the tragedy would not be a “typical contrasting speech,'' and as he spoke he left aside his earlier comments, made to CBS News, that Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, had a tendency to “shoot first and aim later.”

And then he went into his new, postconvention stump speech, saying “After all we've been through, does anybody actually believe rolling back regulations on Wall Street is actually going to help struggling small-business people he re in Las Vegas?” To cheers, he added, “We are not going back, we are going forward â€" we are going forward, Nevada â€" and that's why I'm running for a second term.''

With new chants of “Four more years,'' the rally reverted fully to form.

Mr. Obama risked political blow-back for moving forward with his rally here on what had become a day of national mourning, noting the first time an American ambassador had been killed in the line of duty in three decades.

But his aides noted that his vital security apparatus and personnel move with him when he takes flight on Air Force One, and Mr. Obama had determined that appearing here would not distract him from closely monitoring developments in Libya.

Unspoken was the importance Mr. Obama's campaign has placed on seeking to press any advantage he can from the modest lift he received in some polls after his convention last week. While Nevada has a relatively small number of Electoral College delegates, it and others of similar size will become vital to Mr. Romney's chances if, for instance, he cannot win in Ohio.

Mr. Romney won the primaries here in 2012 and 2008 and has an especially strong following among the large population of Mormons who live in Nevada. Mr. Obama, however, has been helped along here by his committed supporters in the black and Latino communities, both of which were heavily represented in the crowd of an estimated 8,000 people at Wednesday's rally.

And most polls here have shown Mr. Obama holding an edge in the state, although in many cases within the polls' margins of error.

While Mr. Obama was the obvious star attraction at the cavernous Cashman Center near downtown, the event seemed to be more about getting the attendees registered before the October deadline â€" after which they will have 10 days to do so in person only - and to the polls when early voting starts two weeks later.

Before Mr. Obama spoke to the enthusiastic c rowd he held a video teleconference with his volunteers across the country.

Clinton Sticks to Domestic Issues While Campaigning for Obama

September 12, 2012, 9:40 pm

By JACKIE CALMES

ORLANDO, Fla. - On a rare day when both parties were focused on foreign affairs after the explosion of anti-American tumult in North Africa, former President Bill Clinton stuck to domestic issues of the economy and middle-class struggles on Wednesday as he continued his roadshow to re-elect President Obama.

“I plead with you,” Mr. Clinton told an estimated 2,000 people who packed a hotel ballroom in this presidential battleground state, “get out there and talk to people â€" for shared prosperity over trickle down, for ‘we're all in this together' over ‘you're on your own,' for cooperation over conflict and for arithmetic over illusion.”

As applause and cheers built, Mr. Clinton added , “You need to re-elect President Barack Obama to do the job.”

Hundreds of people were in line more than four hours before Mr. Clinton took the stage in the early evening, and ultimately Obama campaign aides got the hotel to open the room's wall dividers to create more space.

While several attendees said they had come to see a repeat of Mr. Clinton's entertaining performance last week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., he gave a more meandering pep talk that was heavier with talk of his own philosophy and record as president and now as head of his own global foundation than it was with testimonials for Mr. Obama

And to the surprise of some reporters following Mr. Clinton's postconvention stumping, he said nothing about the violence in Egypt and Libya, on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, that killed the American ambassador and three other diplomats in Libya. The viole nce provoked a crisis for the Obama administration, including Mr. Clinton's wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and roiled the presidential contest as Mitt Romney quickly attacked the administration for its reaction and was criticized in turn for recklessly playing politics, including by some Republicans.

Instead, much as he had on Tuesday in Miami before 2,300 people, Mr. Clinton defended and promoted Mr. Obama's health care law, his initiatives to make college more affordable and his response to the economic crisis that Mr. Obama inherited in 2009 despite what Mr. Clinton characterized as constant obstructions from Republicans.

“Richard Nixon's too liberal for these people,” Mr. Clinton said to laughter and applause.

For those who had not heard his Charlotte address, Mr. Clinton said he wanted to repeat one message about the recession and continuing economic problems “because the whole election could come down to this.”

“It is my opinion,” he said, “that no president, not Barack Obama, not Bill Clinton, not anybody who served before us, nobody who ever had this job could have repaired that much damage to this economy in just three years.”

And citing the importance of Medicare to the many retirees in Florida, Mr. Clinton also took issue with Republicans' claims that Mr. Obama had cut benefits to people in the private Medicare Advantage program to pay for the health care law.

A record number of insurance companies and beneficiaries are now participating in the program and the cost of premiums is down, Mr. Clinton said. “So if the president was trying to wreck Medicare Advantage, he did a poor job of it because it's in the best shape it's ever been in.”

He assailed Mr. Romney's proposal for $5 trillion in additional income-tax cuts over the coming decade, saying, “I was always taught that when you're in a hole, the first rule is to quit digging.”

To offset th e cost of their tax cuts, Mr. Clinton said Republicans would cut tax breaks benefiting the middle class and spending for education and Medicaid. “Or they can do what they used to do,” he said, which is to cut taxes “and then forget about cutting spending and let the debt balloon.”

The Obama campaign is still working with Mr. Clinton to schedule additional campaign appearances and at least one more fund-raiser. One campaign official said the former president could be sent anywhere and appeal to both Democrats and independents. The campaign has also spent heavily to run an advertisement featuring Mr. Clinton in a number of battleground states.

Democrats Apologize for Image of Russian Ships at Convention

September 12, 2012, 6:29 pm

By SARAH WHEATON

On full display in all the pageantry of the Democratic National Convention as veterans gathered onstage last week was an odd backdrop: an image of the Russian naval fleet. And for this, convention planners have now apologized.

The image at the convention on its closing night was noticed by a reader of The Navy Times, who realized that the image projected on the screens in the background certainly did not look like the ships on which he â€" or his predecessors - had served.

Naval experts consulted by The Navy Times concluded that the image was a composite of mostly Soviet-era ships from the Black Sea Fleet, which towered above the retired admiral John B. Nathman as he delivered a tribute to vetera ns.

“Due to vendor error, incorrect images appeared briefly on screen behind 51 veterans during the convention and the D.N.C.C. apologizes for this mistake,” said an official with the Democratic National Convention Committee. The official continued that the “error should not distract from the words” of those who spoke about President Obama's record on veterans issues, noting that Mitt Romney did not mention service members in his speech.

Mr. Romney does, however, frequently mention Russia, calling it a “geopolitical adversary” of the United States.

An iPhone 5 Case Arrives Before the iPhone 5

September 12, 2012, 5:40 pm

By ROY FURCHGOTT

Before the announcement of the new iPhone 5 had been made, the first protective case for the 5 arrived on my desk. I also got a press release promising me antoehr case was about to arrive.

How is it possible to build a case for a phone wrapped in secrecy?

The iPhone and many iPhone accessories are manufactured in Shenzhen, China. “There has always been a bit of a rumor mill around the companies in Shenzhen,” said Tim Hickman, whose company Hard Candy Holdings makes both cases I mentioned, one under the Hard Candy brand and under the Gumdrop brand.

Mr. Hickman said that Shenzhen manufacturers routinely pass around design information, to the point where it no longer an open secret, but a s trategy to attract customers like Mr. Hickman. “The factories have gone from, ‘Shhh, hey buddy, look at what I have for you,' to making it part of their presentation,” he said.

Mr. Hickman said they his company doesn't pay for design information, or seek it out, but will examine what it is offered. “We've literally had the information e-mailed to use blindly from several factories, so that's where the data comes from.”

Still, being first to market still holds risks. Mr. Hickman said his company prepared cases based on rumors of a new iPhone last October. “It was a swing and a miss,” he said. “We spent the money to make all of the tooling, but didn't have the lead time to physically make cases.”

This time, though, he said his confidence level was higher. Partially because a factory with a good track record said it could make cases for the iPhone 5, but rather than show the plans to Mr. Hickman, it had him send designs that the factory would modify.

He lowered the risk this time by ordering the tooling and 5000 units of each case design, the  $45 Gumdrop Drop Tech Series and the $40 Hard Candy Shock Drop. He chose not to ship them from China until they were certain the cases would fit the new phone. “The product cost itself is not overly significant,” said Mr. Hickman. “The freight can be more than the iPhone case it itself.”

Some of the cases â€" 3000 of each were sold overseas, leaving 2,000 of each for the United States â€" will arrive here in about three days, and should start shipping to customers on September 21 or 22, said Mr. Hickman.

How well the cases fit the phone, I can't say. I have the case, but no phone.

Ryan Says Obama Leaks Led to Doctor\'s Sentence

September 12, 2012, 5:21 pm

By TRIP GABRIEL

ASHWAUBENON, Wis. - Representative Paul D. Ryan accused the White House on Wednesday of leaking information that led to a 33-year prison sentence for a Pakistani doctor who helped American intelligence locate Osama bin Laden.

Dr. Shakil Afridi was found guilty of treason in May by a tribal court following his arrest after the raid by Navy SEALs last year that killed Bin Laden. American officials, who said Dr. Afridi used the cover of a vaccination clinic to seek DNA samples from the Bin Laden family in Abbottabad, have insisted that Pakistani officials leaked his identity, not Americans. Nonetheless, Mr. Ryan laid the responsibility on the Obama administration.

“Let me be careful in my words but be really clear,'' Mr. Ryan said here in response to an audience question about Dr. Afridi during a town-hall-style event. “These leaks on national security coming from the White House undermine the men and women who put risks on their lives for us.''

Mitt Romney and other Republicans have accused the White House of leaking classified details about the Bin Laden raid to exploit it politically. Critics have called those accusations an attempt to diminish Mr. Obama's greatest foreign policy triumph.

“I suppose it could have served some short-term political gain, could have told some nice story,'' Mr. Ryan said. “But let's ask this question: If you're a doctor in Pakistan and the American government asks you to help in the future, what do you think you're going to do? How are we going to get people to help us in the war on terror if this is how we treat our allies in the war on terror?''

Mr. Ryan's response received a stan ding ovation and the longest applause of his hourlong appearance.

The British newspaper The Guardian broke the news of Dr. Afridi's help for the C.I.A. in July 2011, two months after Bin Laden was killed, with an article written from Pakistan. Its sources appear to have been largely, if not exclusively, Pakistani officials.

American officials did subsequently confirm some details about the operation, but some of them said specifically that they were speaking about the doctor's role to correct misinformation and make clear that he had not acted against Pakistani interests.

The Obama administration has prosecuted six cases of leaks of classified information to the news media, more than under all previous presidents combined. Nonetheless, conservatives continue to suggest that the leaks are intended to burnish the administration and that they endanger allies.

Scott Shane contributed reporting to this post from Washington.

Elizabeth Warren Softens Her Image in New Ad

September 12, 2012, 5:23 pm

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Elizabeth Warren's campaign released a new television commercial on Wednesday, just as some of her supporters have expressed unhappiness with her ad campaign.

The new ad partially addresses concerns that top Massachusetts Democrats, including former Gov. Michael Dukakis, have raised. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that her campaign is under pressure to change the ads to soften her image and focus more on Senator Scott P. Brown, her Republican opponent.

The concerns are that her ads have been too generic and not grounded enough in Massachusetts, and that the issues she raises in them, like the gross domestic product of China, have not been relevant to voters' lives. There have also bee n worries that Ms. Warren comes across as a scold when she speaks directly into the camera, while Mr. Brown's ads show him driving around in his truck, appearing folksy and down-to-earth.

Ms. Warren has been critical of Mr. Brown for what she views as his tendency to avoid the issues.

But in this newest ad, she is shown in a decidedly softer light. She does not speak into the camera and she does not discuss issues. Instead, ordinary people testify on her behalf that she is fighting for those who find “the system rigged against them.” As they speak, soft music rises and the screen fills with images of a smiling Ms. Warren greeting voters, hugging them, listening to them and holding their hands.

The ad could have been shot anywhere, until you hear the distinct Boston accents of the people speaking on her behalf.

“Elizabeth Warren is on the people's side,” says one woman.

“I think she's someone who will actually stick up for the middle cl ass,” says a man.

The ad does not mention Mr. Brown. So far, both candidates have kept their ads positive and upbeat, and in that sense, this one is no different.

Follow Katharine Q. Seelye on Twitter at @kseelye.

Despite Libyan Crisis, Obama Campaign Plans to Stay on Schedule

September 12, 2012, 3:44 pm

By JIM RUTENBERG

LAS VEGAS â€" President Obama may be consumed with an international crisis, but the campaign goes on as planned, at least at this point. The president is still scheduled to start a Western campaign swing Wednesday night, with a rally here in Las Vegas and another in Colorado on Thursday.

Mr. Obama's aides indicated that he would have reconsidered his trip had the violence in Libya and Egypt spilled into a second day in a major way. But with any follow-up protests remaining relatively modest, the president will monitor events from Air Force One as he makes his way here, aides said.

Mr. Obama and his team have learned from experience that the political costs of campaigning amid crises can be minimal . It was almost exactly four years ago when Senator John McCain suspended his campaign at the height of the financial crisis to help shape the bank bailout, and called upon then-Senator Obama to join him by postponing their first debate.

Mr. Obama declined, saying he could have input from the road, but “it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once.'' And Congressional Democrats accused Mr. McCain of engaging in a political stunt that threatened to disrupt their negotiations. The debate went on as planned.

Leaving the White House in the aftermath of a crisis may be still less politically risky in this case, given that Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, injected the crisis into campaign terms by immediately criticizing the administration's handling of it. Mr. Obama has yet to directly respond to him.

His next opportunity to do so will come when he speaks here at around 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

Even as Mr. Obama' s campaign was processing the developments in Benghazi, Libya, it was also moving ahead early Wednesday with the release of a new advertisement attacking Mr. Romney on taxes. Running here in Nevada, in Iowa, in Virginia and in Ohio, the ad accuses Mr. Romney of having a secret plan that would slash taxes for millionaires and raise them for the middle class.

The Romney campaign says that he has no such plans to do so and that studies that have come to similar conclusions have been based on flawed assumptions on specifics Mr. Romney has yet to give, as Annie Lowrey and David Kocieniewski of the The Times reported this week.

Farmers Rally Near Capitol, Urging Passage of Stalled Agriculture Bill

September 12, 2012, 2:35 pm

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

A few hundred farmers gathered near the United States Capitol on Wednesday to press for the passage of the stalled farm bill, and they were greeted by an unusually bipartisan slate of lawmakers who are also agitating for action.

“American wants us to work together to get it done for rural America,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan and the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to the cheers of scores of farmers. Ms. Stabenow's enthusiasm was equaled by a Republican senator, Jerry Moran of Kansas, who chided members of his own party in the House for refusing to bring their own committee's farm bill to the floor. “Don't sit on the sidelines waiting for something to happen !” Mr. Moran implored.

Over the summer, the Senate passed a bipartisan five-year farm bill, and the House Agriculture Committee came up with a similar bill, with deeper cuts to farm and nutrition programs.

But House leaders declined to take up their own committee's measure, citing a lack of votes, nor did they bring the Senate version to the floor, perhaps fearing passage largely with Democrats and Republicans from states that have large farm communities.

Just before recess in August, the House pressed through a short-term $383 million package of loans and grants for livestock producers and a limited number of farmers. Senate leaders declined to take action on that measure because they said it was too limited, a view shared by many farmers.

Should the current law expire at the end of the month without action - something Democrats say they prefer over the one-year extension for which some Republicans are now clamoring - the Farm Bill would revert to the 1949 version of the law.

Conservatives in both chambers dislike the farm bill generally, and would like to see it cut back much further than House or Senate committee members propose.

Many Democrats dislike the $16 billion in cuts to nutrition programs in the House bill, and some also dislike the Senate bill, which cuts less deeply in its changes to the nutrition programs.

“Agriculture has always been bipartisan,” Ms. Stabenow said. “But the extreme element of the House doesn't believe,” in a farm bill at all, she said. While some Democrats “don't want reforms,” she added, “The anti-reformers are hiding behind the extreme elements.”

Just outside the Capitol on Wednesday, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation held a modest rally to press for the approval of a bill. “They should just get it done,” said Lynn Belitz, a farmer from Nebraska who attended.

Some Democra ts are now trying to pressure House leadership to allow a vote through something called a “discharge petition” which, if signed by 218 members would force a floor vote.

“I'll sign it as soon as it's available,” said Representative Kristi Noem, a freshman Republican from South Dakota. When it was pointed out to her that this would likely greatly upset her party's leaders, she replied: “I take my orders from my district.”

Book Suggests Roots of Romney\'s Sentiments on Crisis

September 12, 2012, 1:31 pm

By MICHAEL BARBARO

To understand why Mitt Romney was so quick to condemn President Obama for “sympathizing with those who waged the attacks” in Libya, some clues can be found in Mr. Romney's 325-page political manifesto, “No Apology,” whose very title encapsulates his approach to such moments.

In the book, published almost three years ago, Mr. Romney, the Republican nominee, repeatedly returns to the same conclusion: President Obama is overly sensitive to the grievances of America's enemies, especially in the Muslim world.

For Mr. Romney, Mr. Obama's very first overseas trip represented a moment of treachery, because the new president expressed reservations about American conduct abroad under President Geo rge W. Bush. Mr. Romney called it “Obama's American Apology Tour,” even though the president at no time apologized for America. (The title of Mr. Romney's book is a play on that idea.)

“Never before in American history has its president gone before so many foreign audiences to apologize for so many American misdeeds, both real and imagined,” Mr. Romney wrote. “It is his way of signaling to foreign countries and foreign leaders that their dislike for America is something he understands and that is, at least in part, understandable. There are anti-American fires burning all across the globe; President Obama's words are like kindling to them.”

This argument underpins an even more expansive theory, promoted by several of Mr. Romney's foreign policy advisers, that has guided his thinking: that under Mr. Obama, America has sought to build relationships with countries (like Iran and Russia) that pose a threat to the United State s, while forsaking trusted allies (Israel and Poland).

Mr. Romney addressed this in “No Apology,” writing that “if President Obama has won the praise of America's enemies, he has too often turned his back on America's allies.” A case in point, Mr. Romney writes, was Mr. Obama's decision to “shelve President Bush's plan to build a missile-defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic in order to “reset” our relations with Russia.

It is unknown, at the moment, whether Mr. Romney understood the full scale of the violence against American diplomats and staff members in Libya when he issued his statement Tuesday night calling Mr. Obama's reaction “a disgrace,” a critique that has led to accusations by Democrats that he was politicizing an unfolding crisis overseas with American lives at stake.

But what is clear is that the sentiment and thinking behind Mr. Romney's statement has deep and strong roots.

The Early Word: Defense

September 12, 2012, 6:00 am

By JADA F. SMITH

Today's Times

• Mitt Romney delivered a speech to members of the National Guard in Nevada on Tuesday, trying to move the discussion of his military and foreign policy credentials beyond the critiques of his convention speech and toward the threat of automatic cuts to the Pentagon budget, Ashley Parker reports.

• For the first time since the inception of public campaign financing, the presidential candidates of both the Republican and Democratic Parties are declining the funds and betting that they can raise far more money on their own, Nicholas Confessore and Ashley Parker found. The result: wooing fund-raisers cuts into the time for wooing voters.

• Former President Bill Clinton continued his Obama surrogacy tour in Miami on Tuesday, lavishing special attention on two issues with appeal in a state with many students and older voters: education loans and health care, Mark Landler writes.

• Though Moody's Investor Service warned that it would downgrade the federal government's debt if there was no solution to the “fiscal cliff,” Congressional leaders are refusing to make any quick deals toward resolving the looming disaster, Jonathan Weisman reports. If no agreement is reached by year's end, economists say the impasse will surely send the nation back into recession.

Around the Web

• Remember when the General Services Administration held an $823,000 Las Vegas conference featuring a mind-reader, a clown and artisanal cheese plates? The House does. Lawmakers approved a bill on Tuesday that caps federal agency spending on conferences and limits the number of people who can attend, The Hill reports.

• Candidates have started casting their mothers for starring roles in their campaign ads, Politico reports.

Happenings in Washington

• Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his wife, Jill, will have a reception for Jewish community leaders at the Naval Observatory.

• Congressional leaders will give Arnold Palmer the Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions to the game of golf.

Obama Condemns Attack That Kills Ambassador to Libya

September 12, 2012, 8:04 am

By PETER BAKER and SARAH WHEATON

An attack that killed the American ambassador to Libya on Tuesday night has brought foreign policy to the forefront of the presidential race, puncturing the solemn unity seen on the campaign trail one day earlier as both candidates observed the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, President Obama called the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which led to the death of J. Christopher Stevens, the ambassador, and three other Americans “outrageous.” The attack apparently began as a reaction by an angry mob to a YouTube video denouncing Islam's founding prophet.

“While the United States rejects efforts to d enigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants,” Mr. Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

The news of the ambassador's death emerged on Wednesday after violence spilled over the American Consulate in Benghazi and demonstrators stormed the American Embassy in Cairo. The responses issued by the rival presidential campaigns demonstrate the difficulty candidates face while dealing with the continued volatility of the Middle East, especially after Arab Spring toppled governments across the region.

Mr. Obama said that he has “directed my administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.”

In his statement, Mr. Obama added a personal testimonial to Mr. Stevens.

“Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States,” he said. “Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya's transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice.”

On Tuesday night, as more information about protests in Cairo and the deaths in Libya was released, Mr. Romney's campaign called the Obama administration's response to them “disgraceful.”

“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American Consulate worker in Benghazi,” Mr. Romney said in a statement. “It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

Mr. Romney was making an apparent reference to a statement released by the American E mbassy in Cairo condemning the trailer for the video, made by an Israeli-American. The statement, which rejects “efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims,” was released before the protests started in an effort to cool tensions.

Mr. Romney's statement, sent to reporters late Tuesday evening, was originally meant to be embargoed until midnight, but the campaign lifted the prohibition just before 10:30 p.m.
The Obama campaign responded by condemning Mr. Romney's timing.

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” said Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman, early Wednesday morning.

The campaigns' exchanges took place before it was known that Mr. Stevens was among the dead.

On Wednesday Mr. Romney continued to take aim at the Obama administration's handling of unfolding developments in the Mideast, accusing the administration of a “severe miscalculation” and calling its handling of the matter “akin to an apology.” He also defended his own actions after coming under fire from Democrats for politicizing the issue.

Many Republicans Join Democrats in Denouncing Attack in Libya

September 12, 2012, 10:44 am

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

After an initial burst of criticism, most Republicans in Washington - even some of President Obama's fiercest critics - joined Democrats in denouncing the violent attacks on American Embassies in Egypt and Libya while refraining from criticizing the Obama administration's response.

A parade of Senate Republicans came to the chamber floor Wednesday or issued statements projecting unity after a mob killed J. Christopher Stevens, the ambassador to Libya, and three others in Benghazi, Libya, Tuesday night.

“Yesterday we commemorated the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, and today we are reminded that brave Americans serve us every day at the risk of their own lives. We honor the Americ ans we lost in Libya, and we will stand united in our response,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the chamber's Republican leader. “Among the things we can all agree on in Washington is that attacks on the U.S. and its representatives will be met with resolve, and that America's presence and defense of our national interests across the globe will not be deterred by the acts of violent extremists.”

Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina said: “I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the violent, destructive, and cowardly attacks on United States Embassies and personnel in Libya and Egypt. These actions, which cost the lives of American personnel serving our nation abroad including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were not protests; they were attacks. I call on the governments of Libya and Egypt to live up to their responsibilities as host countries, to condemn these attacks, and do all in their power to bring those responsible to justice.”

Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire said, “This violent attack and the events in Cairo serve as a grim reminder that the U.S. and our allies must remain vigilant as we seek to promote the cause of liberty against the forces of violence and extremism.”

As those statements came out, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, stood by his criticism that a statement from the American Embassy in Cairo condemning the intolerance of an anti-Muslim Internet video was tantamount to “an apology for American values.”

Romney Criticizes Obama on Handling of Embassy Attacks

September 12, 2012, 11:07 am

By ASHLEY PARKER

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Mitt Romney on Wednesday took aim at the Obama administration's handling of unfolding developments in the Mideast, including the death of an American ambassador in Benghazi, Libya, accusing the administration of a “severe miscalculation” and calling its handling of the matter “akin to an apology.” He also defended his own actions after coming under fire from Democrats for politicizing the issue.

The crisis emerged as a test of Mr. Romney's handling of a fast-breaking international crisis. Mr. Romney had pledged not to criticize President Obama on Tuesday, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, but by Tuesday evening, his campaign had reversed course, releasing early a statement that had been embargoed until midnight that criticized the president's handling of violence at the American Embassies in Egypt and Libya.

“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi,” Mr. Romney said in a statement that went out just before 10:30 p.m. “It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

Mr. Romney's comments were referring to a statement released by the American Embassy in Cairo that condemned an American-made Web film denouncing Islam - the catalyst for the protests and violence in Cairo. However, the embassy's statement was released in an effort to head off the violence, not after the attacks, as Mr. Romney's statement implied. (Though the embassy staff in Cairo later said on Twit ter that their original statement “still stands” - a Tweet they then tried to delete - the Obama administration disavowed the embassy's statement).

Mr. Romney's statement, which also came out before news that J. Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador to Libya, had been killed in the attacks, quickly came under fire from Democrats, who accused him of politicizing the violence in the Middle East at a particularly delicate time.

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, in an e-mail statement.

The crisis comes as Mr. Romney has been on the defensive on the foreign policy front, as his campaign has been struggling to respond to criticism from Democrats and even some on the right for failing to mention, during his address at his party's na tional convention in Tampa, Fla., the war in Afghanistan or to thank American troops abroad.

On Wednesday, Mr. Romney canceled a campaign event so he could address the crisis.

“I think it's a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values, that instead when our grounds are being attacked and being breached, that the first response of the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation,” Mr. Romney said at the Wednesday morning press conference. “An apology for America's values is never the right course.”

Asked if politics should come to a halt in the wake of the deaths of four Americans, Mr. Romney replied: “We have a campaign for presidency of the United States and are speaking about the different courses we would each take with regards to the challenges that the world faces.”

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