Don't forget Native Americans.

To be clear, my historical references were invoked to a) demonstrate a pattern of less than positive interaction towards Arab sovereignty that continues to the present day and b) answer to the claim that it was "jihadists" who started an unprovoked inexplicable fight against Americans in 1979.

There is no need to apologize for acts made by ancestors, but in the name of justice, I think it is good to at least acknowledge when the fruits of past injustices continue to benefit you and hurt other people.

History matters.

ps. Great math too. 2012-70=1942
Everything we mentioned happened well after that and in the living memory of lots of Americans...

In any case, please don't think I am trying to justify the death of the ambassador.

Explain =/= Justify

@FS - we had nothing to do with the 1980 Turkish coup. The article you linked even said that the Americans were perceived to be involved, but actually were never involved.

But, as Obi said a while ago, our embassy in Yemen was attacked today. Also, Obama publically stated Egypt is no longer a US ally. Interesting news. It does appear more and more though that it was an al-qaeda affiliate in Libya that did the attack, and Libyan security forces did try to repel it....at least until bombs started going off.

What we should do is kidnap the leaders of said organization and put them on trial. Then, during one raid, we crash a helicopter in the middle of the city, wait for locals to come out and try to kill us, and then kill all the militias that come out trying to shoot us. It worked so well in Somalia...

really enjoyed Draugnars rant against israelis, which of course would be proved wrong shortly thereafter...

as if one intolerant idiot Israeli American would actually reflect on all israelis even if the Coptic Egyptian/American hadn't made up the Israeli Identity to scapegoat another nationality and keep his brethren safe

There is no way the killing of Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues can be excused or justified-- it's an example of violent thugs acting in a criminal way.
Ambassador Stevens did a lot of work to help free an Australian woman Lawyer who was kidnapped in Libya, so to his family & friends I offer my condolences.
How do we react - we should resist the temptation to descend to the level of violent revenge, rather we should support his family, give Ambassador Stevens appropriate memorial and record his place in human history, so he is not forgotten
we should pursue those responsible and try to bring them to justice
we also need to appreciate that Libyan authorities are just as appalled as we are at this criminal act & encourage and support the moderates in Libya rather than try to punish a nation for the acts of a few individuals

A suggestion I would make is not to produce movies, cartoons etc that insult either the Christian or Islamic Gods or prophets, but to produce lots of movies and cartoons etc that satarise & insult the extremists on both sides that abuse their own religions by advocating violence

@MajorMitchell
What? Seriously, WHAT?

I liked a cartoon that had two women with body bombs and the full bag dress outfit
in front of a mirror and one is asking the other if the outfit she is wearing makes her arse look fat
what does it say about the psychological insecurities of someone who cannot tolerate any insult about their belief systems

oh that last post is a bit of a mess
one I liked that cartoon
the comment about insecurity applies to any person who cannot handle criticism or insult & not about the cartoon

He's saying the comidy should insult the fanatics and extremists, not the religions they have maligned by association.

But I am serious about the need to properly remember Ambassador Stevens
he was a man who tried to resolve disputes and problems without using violence
so he deserves to be recognised & have a place in human history
& his family should be comforted

Lot of shoulds and shouldn'ts you have for us there MajorMitchell.

Considering the OP asked for what we should and shouldn't do, I think he makes sense and answered the OP's question. What's your fucking problem, redhoused?

What's your own fucking problem Draugnar? Is there any reason to start using foul language? I don't see it.

Damn it Draugnar, you are spot on in your summary of the point I was trying to make.
There is a Christian activist who visits my own little village, Forbes Morrison from Adelaide street preachers and he & his wee gang visit the little village where I live with placards that say " God Hates -- homosexuals, drug addicts, gamblers etc etc"
he's a rather naive religious absolutist & I make a point of disrupting his activities by making fun of his rants eg with equally loud comments such as " if you are worshipping a God that Hates you are probably worshipping the wrong God -- God Loves, Satan hates" etc

Trust me Draugnar may have many problems,
but fucking is not one of them, he is a dab hand at the pork sword into the pussy caper

plus i choose to offer suggestions eg I use "should" rather than "must do"

& any person is free to reject my comments, ideas & suggestions

That alone makes you morally superior to these idiots who think murdering an innocent person is somehow proportional to feeling insulted about a stupid movie. Don't forget that.

Sorry, red. Jet lagged from flying home Friday night and flying back out Sunday afternoon. My apologies for being so rude. But your implication was that MjrMitch's post was somehow wrong when he was, in fact, answering the OP's question as to what we, the US of A, shoudl do in response.

Okay, no problem Draug. I wish you a good night of sleep then!