The President of Libya, Mohammed Magarief, told Ann Curry on NBC News today that the anti-Islam film which sparked riots across the Middle East had, “nothing to do,” with the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11.
He said he had no doubt that the attack on the consulate was an act of terrorism from Al-Qaeda elements hiding in Libya, “it was a pre-planned act of terrorism directed against American citizens,” he said.
Magarief said that there was no way the video could have sparked the attack because the perpetrators waited so long and until such a significant date, Sept. 11, to carry it out.
He also said the skillfulness of the terrorists and the manner in which the attack was carried out leaves him with no other conclusion than that it was an act of terrorism. He did not retract his statement despite Curry reminding him that President Barack Obama had stopped short of calling the event a terrorist attack.
“It is for President Obama and Secretary Clinton to describe it the way they like and they feel,” he said. “They have their terminology, we have our terminology.”
Obama may have to answer some tough questions about the effectiveness of his terminology from here on out or he will be hard pressed to defend himself against Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the upcoming weeks.
Already Obama and Clinton have received negative feedback from their previous statements on the Libya attacks which were perceived as weak and pandering to terrorists because they made no mention of the possibility of terrorism.
As both presidential candidates strive in the upcoming weeks to convince America that they will be the more strong and fearless leader abroad, this latest Obama gaffe may come back to bit him.
