Benghazi Attackers Struck Against U.N. Ideals, Obama Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 – The assault on the U.S. Consulate earlier this month in Benghazi, Libya, was an attack not only on America, but also on the ideals of the United Nations, President Barack Obama said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly today.

The attack that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, was an assault on “the notion that people can resolve their differences peacefully, that diplomacy can take the place of war, and that in an interdependent world, all of us have a stake in working towards greater opportunity and security for our citizens,” the president said.

Nations must be serious about the assault on those ideals and must go to the root causes that extremists use to incite populations, Obama said. “If we are serious about those ideals,” he told the General Assembly, “we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis, because we face a choice between the forces that would drive us apart, and the hopes we hold in common.”

Leaders, the president said, must decide that violence and intolerance have no place in the United Nations.

America has supported the forces of change sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, Obama said. “We were inspired by the Tunisian protests that toppled a dictator, because we recognized our own beliefs in the aspirations of men and women who took to the streets,” he said. “We insisted on change in Egypt, because our support for democracy put us on the side of the people.”

The United States supported leadership transition in Yemen and intervened in Libya alongside a broad coalition “because we had the ability to stop the slaughter of innocents, and because we believed that the aspirations of the people were more powerful than a tyrant,” he said.

Obama also restated the U.S. position that the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad must end.

“We have taken these positions because we believe that freedom and self-determination are not unique to one culture,” he said. Freedom is a universal value, the president added.

The events of the past two weeks -- in which extremists have used an Internet video that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad to spur anti-American demonstrations -- speak to the need for nations to address the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy, Obama said. The United States will not dictate the outcome of democratic transitions, the president said, nor does America expect every nation to agree with U.S. positions.

“However, I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism,” he said. “It is time to marginalize those who -- even when not resorting to violence -- use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel, as a central principle of politics. For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence.”

Obama reiterated that the United States will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. “America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so,” he said. “But that time is not unlimited.”

A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained, Obama said. “It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of [Persian] Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy,” he added.

Iranian possession of nuclear weapons would spur an arms race in the region and unravel the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Obama said.

“That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable,” he added. “And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

ISAF Officials: Reports on Partnering Change ‘Not Accurate’

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – Recent media coverage regarding a change in the International Security Assistance Force model for assisting Afghanistan’s security forces “is not accurate,” ISAF officials said today in a statement released from the command’s headquarters in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Officials said ISAF “remains absolutely committed” to partnering with, training, advising and assisting Afghanistan’s national security forces.

“The ISAF [security force assistance] model is focused at the battalion level and above, with exceptions approved by senior commanders,” the statement said, adding that partnering occurs at all levels, from platoon to corps.

“This has not changed,” the statement said.

In response to elevated threat levels resulting from the “Innocence of Muslims” YouTube video, “ISAF has taken some prudent, but temporary, measures to reduce our profile and vulnerability to civil disturbances or insider attacks,” the statement said.

This means that in some local instances, operational tempo has been reduced, or force protection has been increased, officials explained.

“These actions balance the tension of the recent video with force protection, while maintaining the momentum of the campaign,” the statement said. “We've done this before in other high-tension periods, and it's worked well. Under this guidance, and as conditions change, we will continue to adapt the force posture and force protection.”

The security force assistance model is integral to the success of Afghanistan’s national security forces, and ISAF will return to normal operations as soon as conditions warrant, the statement said.

Dempsey: U.S. Must Remain Engaged with Muslim World

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT  – The recent anti-American demonstrations that have occurred in many Muslim countries “demands for us to be more engaged, not less engaged,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today during an aircraft flight from Sibiu, Romania, to Ankara, Turkey.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said the situation is the most complex he has seen since becoming chairman.

In Libya, a coordinated attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi resulted in the deaths of four Americans including the U.S. ambassador to the country. There have been anti-American demonstrations in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Pakistan and many others.

While the spark that ignited the demonstrations was a crude video that denigrated Islam, there are several factors that have contributed to rage against the United States, the chairman said.

The chairman wants to learn from the situation. “At some level, I think what we are seeing are societies that have been suppressed,” he said. “They have not had anything like freedom of speech or even the ability to congregate.”

Security forces in these countries are for the first time under civilian rule, and are less likely to intervene unless directed by political leaders, the chairman said.

And, he said, there are often power struggles within the countries.

“Some of those groups are truly anti-American and radical and violent,” Dempsey said. “Certainly you have these groups that are anti-American, who are extreme, who are competing for power in the country.”

These extremist groups often did not accumulate the number of votes they’d thought they would get in free elections, Dempsey said. Such groups that experienced failure at the ballot box, he added, could “now try to gain some traction around the idea of being anti-American in order to gain influence for themselves. These groups are trying to manipulate the population.”

Now is not the time for the United States to withdraw from these countries, the chairman said.

“It demands for us to be more engaged, not less engaged,” he said, “so that we can counter that message of extremism that is being propagated by these violent, extreme organizations.”

DOD Sends Marine Team to U.S. Embassy in Yemen

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 – A Marine Corps fleet antiterrorism security team, called a “FAST team” is now on the ground in Yemen to help with security at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

This is the second FAST team, consisting of about 50 Marines, authorized by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to bolster security at U.S. diplomatic installations in the past two days.   The move comes a day after protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital.

The first team was sent to Libya after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four State Department employees, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens.

The FAST platoon was dispatched, Little told reporters here, “partly in response to events over the past two days at our embassy in Yemen, but it’s also in part a precautionary measure.”

Protests began earlier this week in Libya and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo over what was reportedly an American-produced film posted on the Internet considered insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.   Since then, there have been reports of protests in other countries in the Middle East, including at the U.S. embassy in Tunisia and the German Embassy in Sudan.

Travel alerts posted on the State Department website are advising Americans to exercise caution because of possible demonstrations elsewhere, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia.

About ongoing protests in Cairo at the U.S. Embassy there, Little said “the situation hasn’t to this point necessitated a change in security posture. Naturally, we stand ready to support our State Department colleagues if a request for additional military support comes through.”

In Afghanistan, protests so far have been peaceful, he said.

“We’re gratified based on what we know now,” Little said, “that religious leaders have appealed for nonviolent protests … so for at the moment we have not seen outbursts of violence against our diplomatic installations or military bases in Afghanistan.”

In Libya, he added, “we are continuing to investigate what happened and DOD will do its part, working with our partners across the government, to determine what happened and, if asked, support the president’s call to deliver justice.”

He said the department is in communication with State Department colleagues to discuss military support to embassy and consulate security around the world, but that it is premature to reach final conclusions about the recent violence against U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya, Cairo and elsewhere or about who is responsible.

“I really am asking respectfully for a little bit of patience as we work through this,” Little said. “It’s important to get this answer absolutely correct, and that is the goal of this government -- to make sure that when a call is made that it’s accurate and complete.”

Pentagon Deploys Security Team to Libya

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has authorized deployment of a Marine Corps fleet antiterrorism security team to Libya to protect U.S. citizens there and to secure the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

During a Pentagon news conference, Little said Panetta strongly condemns the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in the Middle East.

“The secretary extends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the entire State Department family,” Little said. “The department has been working with the White House and State Department to provide resources to support the security of U.S. personnel and facilities in Libya.”

Little said the Defense Department supported the evacuation of American personnel and casualties out of Libya and is supporting the repatriation of the remains of the four State Department personnel, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who were killed in the attack late Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey also have worked over the past 48 hours with combatant commanders throughout the region to conduct reviews of their force postures, he said. They also are working “to ensure that we have the flexibility to respond to requests for assistance or orders as directed by the president of the United States,” he added.

Little said the focus of the Defense Department is now on supporting whole-of-government efforts to provide security to American personnel in Libya and elsewhere, working closely with the State Department, “and then supporting any efforts that we may be called upon to assist in the effort to, as the president said, ‘deliver justice.’”

“The FBI and Department of Justice have opened an investigation into this tragic event,” Little said. “Obviously, we will cooperate fully if called upon to support their investigation.

“Rest assured that this department is going to work very closely with our interagency partners to help investigate [and], if we're called upon, to assist,” he continued. “And we will play our part in getting to the root of what happened.”