Obama: No act of violence will shake U.S. resolve

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to supporters during a campaign stop on September 12, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Obama is focusing his speech on economic policies during his two days of campaign events in Nevada and Colorado.

/ Isaac Brekken/Getty Images

(CBS News) LAS VEGAS- At the end of what he called a "tough day," on which it was learned that four American personnel were killed in Libya, including the U.S. ambassador, President Obama used a campaign rally to talk tough, vowing to "bring their killers to justice." His audience of some 8,000 supporters gave him a thunderous cheer.

"And we want to send a message all around the world to anybody that would do us harm: No act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America," he declared.

Standing behind a lectern bearing the presidential seal instead of a campaign placard, Mr. Obama said the U.S. will not be deterred, because "the world needs us. We are the one indispensable power in the world."

He later said that the U.S. will be "relentless in our pursuit of those who attacked us yesterday."

Just before his rally, President Obama also cited the killings in Libya during an online conference call with campaign volunteers. He spoke of his visit to the State Department earlier in the day "to comfort some of the friends and coworkers of the folks who've fallen."

"Obviously our hearts are broken for their families, but I wanted to encourage those folks at the State Department to understand they're making a difference," Obama said.

He said the sacrifices that American troops and diplomats make are "obviously very different" from those of campaign volunteers, but, he said, "you guys are Americans who sense that you can do better than you're doing and you're willing to put it on the line."

Despite the grievous news from Libya that American Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other personnel were killed during an assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, President Obama went ahead with a two-day campaign swing to two key swing states: Nevada and Colorado.

Complete coverage: Campaign 2012

Defending the decision, Obama Campaign press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that it would not be "a day of politics as usual." She said President Obama's remarks at the rally would reflect "the tone" of what happened in Libya.

That was true of the top of Pres. Obama's remarks, but the rest of his speech at an exhibition hall well north of the Las Vegas strip, contained the familiar boilerplate that makes up his standard stump speech.

It included his charge that Mitt Romney would cut taxes for the very rich and end up having to raise taxes on the middle class. It's a charge Romney vehemently denies.

"I refuse to ask middle class families like yours to pay more, so millionaires and billionaires can pay less," said the president.

He also repeated his veiled reference to GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, saying that when we hear folks say this nation is in decline, "they are dead wrong."

He vowed that he "will never turn Medicare into a voucher," which he says the Romney/Ryan Administration would do. And he said "we'll keep the promise of Social Security," "not like turning it over to Wall Street like a stack of poker chips," using a metaphor befitting his presence in the gambling center of America.

This was President Obama's seventh visit this year to Nevada, a state with only 6 electoral votes, but a state he won in 2008 and wants to keep Mitt Romney from winning in November.

From Las Vegas, President Obama headed to another swing state this year that he won in 2008: Colorado. He has a campaign rally in Golden on Thursday morning before returning to Washington in the evening.

[Aerostar700]

GROSS INCOMPETENCE - EPIC FAIL !!!
According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no orders were given for diplomats to go on high alert and "lockdown", under which movement is severely restricted. For those of you who deny that fact, here are several sources who confirm that fact.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/09/14/did-u-s-know-about-embassy-attack-threat-in-advance/

http://wizbangblog.com/2012/09/13/bombshell-us-had-credible-warning-48-hours-before-benghazi-attack-but-did-nothing/

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/america_was_warned_of_libya_consulate_attack_and_did_nothing_uk_independent.html

http://www.timesofisrael.com/report-us-government-knew-of-possible-attacks-on-diplomatic-missions/

http://www.newser.com/story/154044/brit-paper-says-us-ignored-warnings-of-violence.html

Nothing like having an AMATEUR at the helm that feels that it is OK to skip his security briefings in order to make more time to campaign or play golf. Had Obama made it a point to take the daily security briefings every day, he probably would have learned of the threat of impending attack. Obama SAYS he READ the briefing? Can we believe him? And if he DID read them, as he claims, then WHY did he not take note of the danger and order steps that would mitigate that danger with an increased marine presence?

And as it turns out, the few US Marines who were there were not even allowed to carry live ammo!

http://freebeacon.com/reports-marines-not-permitted-live-ammo/

http://www.examiner.com/article/military-analyst-state-department-clinton-to-blame-for-deaths-libya

http://www.examiner.com/article/marines-defending-u-s-embassy-cairo-not-allowed-live-ammunition

Obama asked our brave men and women to step into the eye of the storm, then as some type of twisted social experiment, he asks them to do so with toy guns. I wonder if, as the President travels abroad, he asks the Secret Service to leave their bullets at home? If you recall, our border patrols officers are asked in many cases to defend themselves with guns that shoot BEAN BAGS.

This is INCOMPETENCE ! PURE & SIMPLE !!

[Lucas4440]

That's right Obama, try and clean up the mess you made in meddling in Libya and Egypts affairs.

Obama and the mainstream media are trying to play up this attack as a result of the film about Islam instead of the well orchestrated attack by al Qaeda or other terrorist insurgents with the blessings of the anti-American Muslim brotherhood that came in after Obama and NATO got rid of Qadahfi.

This never would have happened if the Obama had not been meddling in their affairs trying to force a failed Arab Spring and Democracy.


The politically correct media also tries to white wash the truth about Islam as does Obama, Hillary and the Democrats.
They should just refrain from saying anything instead of perpetuating this lie as well.

Obama and the mainstream media are trying to play up this attack as a result of the film about Islam instead of the well orchestrated attack by al Qaeda or other terrorist insurgents with the blessings of the anti-American Muslim brotherhood that came in after Obama and NATO got rid of Qadahfi.

[Lucas4440]

Obama and the mainstream media are trying to play up this attack as a result of the film about Islam instead of the well orchestrated attack by al Qaeda or other terrorist insurgents with the blessings of the anti-American Muslim brotherhood that came in after Obama and NATO got rid of Qadahfi.

This never would have happened if the Obama had not been meddling in their affairs trying to force a failed Arab Spring and Democracy.

[takacrat]

What a Hero that Obama is! I feel so safe that he has this whole mess that Bush did in Labia, Egypt, Syria? Plus the war of 1812, Bush really messed up there!

[walkthetalk]

President Obama, Is Peace Loving man and has told us mamy times, how he hates Violins in any form.

[AnnArbor2]

We have to ask ourselves, "What would Debbie Wasserman Schultz do?" Biden? Pelosi? Reid? Schumer? The answer is "almost as much as Obama".

Their rhetoric and lies are only surpassed by Obama that can maintain an aggressive fund raising and golf schedule at the same time. No time for intelligence briefings, though.

This is a dry run for the militants to deface Obama before the assault on Israel. Obama is devoid of respect domestically and abroad.

I will not limit that they caught Obama unprepared and uninformed, Obama is working very hard to keep America unprepared and uninformed.

Romney's position is fine for voting intents, but Romney does not presently have the authority to act. Those with currently authority are incompetent.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

These people are out of their f-n minds - They're seriously f-t up in the head.

We really need to start increasing the safe harvesting, production and distribution of our own natural energy here in the USA, rather than paying for fuel from countries where they hate us. Let's keep that money and those jobs here in the US.

Drilling here at home might not be the whole answer, but it's certainly a good place to start.

[sjc_1]

Policy is one thing, the for profit private sector is another. We seem to think our national objectives will be meet through corporate ambitions for profit, they won't.

[forumcomments]

I don't understand why we allowed Libyian police to secure a US embassy?

[sjc_1]

By treaty embassies belong to the country they represent. They are allowed to have internal security but the external security is from the host country.

[tsigili]

The rhetoric doesn't work on this, Mr. President. Americans are being killed, for nothing, by savagely criminal Islamists, who kill just for sake of killing.

[sjc_1]

Watch PBS News Hour, every week we see lots of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, some as young as 20 years old. Those are suppose to be normal, week after week for years, but we lose a few here and suddenly it is WWIII.

[zenia5]

The following is an excerpt from an AP article I read this morning. It sums up just how out of touch and inexperienced Romney really is:

"Some Republicans with experience in national security matters questioned the GOP candidate's handling of the events and top Republican leaders in Congress did not echo Romney's remarks. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama "correctly tightened the security overseas." Asked about Romney's remarks, he declined to answer and walked toward his office in the Capitol.

Romney's account didn't mesh completely with events in Cairo."