The cause of the attack was an online video, which the attackers said insulted Islam and the prophet Muhammad. The four Americans were killed as they were fleeing the consulate for a safe location. The attack occurred on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack," President Obama said in a statement delivered from the Rose Garden, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at his side. "Make no mistake we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people."
Obama said that the U.S. is a nation that respects all faiths, but "there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence" and that the world must unite to "unequivocally reject these brutal acts."
U.S. embassy officials in Cairo on Tuesday criticized the video Innocence of Muslims for abusing “the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious belief of others," prompting Republican Mitt Romney's campaign to renew his criticism that the administration continues to apologize to the nation's enemies. The statement, however, was issued before the full extent of the violence was known.
“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi," Romney said in a statement. "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.”
On Wednesday morning, Romney stood firm on the statement despite complaints that his remarks were inappropriate and came too soon. The Republican presidential candidate said that when mistakes are made he must speak out.
