[quote=ucodegen][quote=SK in CV]What is magic about the word “terrorism”? He called it “an act of terror” at least twice in the two days following the attack.[/quote]
Show reference here! What I found shows quite the opposite even though he was informed of it (that it was terrorist in nature) two hours after the occurrence. Obama still wanted it to be attributed to that ‘bad old video’.
PS: There is nothing ‘magic’ about the word terrorism. It goes to the intent of the act, which would be to spread fear and attempt control through fear.
[quote=SK in CV]And apparently during the CBS interview, he did not. Is that the lie? Would everything have been just perfect if he’d called it terrorism at every opportunity? Are terrorism and a spontaneous attack mutually exclusive? Does calling it terrorism change anything? If so, what is different?[/quote] As I stated earlier.. it doesn’t look as bad for Obama as it does for CBS. The only parts that look bad for Obama is that it looks like:
He did not have control of the situation, was not on top of it.
Obama misrepresented how things went down during the debate.
CBS has a bigger problem going down to their credibility. They tried to justify his statements on the debate when they knew otherwise. CBS should have called him on it. I am much more bothered by CBS’s behavior than Obama’s on this.[/quote]
Obama did not misrepresent anything during the debate. He asserted that he called it an act of terror immediately after the attack. His words from his address the following morning:
As Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained because there are people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay down their lives for it. Our country is only as strong as the character of our people and the service of those both civilian and military who represent us around the globe. No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.
He used almost identical wording the following day.
As to whether it was a “terrorist” attack, do you have any evidence that the intent of the act was to spread fear or attempt to control through fear, as opposed to an attack to kill or harm anyone that was inside the consulate facility? IMHO, the “terrorist” label is stupid. It does nothing to explain anything.
