(Update: President Obama issued a statement Wednesday morning, shortly after 7 a.m., saying he has ordered “all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe.” Obama also condemned the violence in both Libya and Egypt: “I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi.” The four Americans “exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe,” he said.)
On Sept. 11, the day Americans remembered the 2001 terror attacks on U.S. soil, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement condemning “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.”
The statement — interpreted by many as an apology for Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Cairo — drew strong condemnation, but not from President Obama, who as of 6:45 Wednesday morning had said nothing publicly about the attack in Cairo — or the one in Libya, where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate.
“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,” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Tuesday in a statement.