Did Obama Miss the Embassy Bombing Anniversary?

Friday, August 08, 2008

BARACK OBAMA

At 4:05 p.m. yesterday, I received this in my e-mail box:

U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on the tenth anniversary of the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania:
"Today marks the 10th anniversary of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 225 people, including 12 Americans, and injured thousands others. The attacks made it painfully clear that al Qaeda's terrorist call to arms to attack Americans anywhere in the world was not an empty threat. The attacks proved the vulnerability of U.S. installations overseas, and demonstrated — to any that needed further evidence — that al Qaeda was a well-funded, organized and treacherous terrorist organization determined to kill Americans. Tragically, the U.S. response to the 1998 embassy bombings was wholly inadequate in addressing the threat posed by Al Qaeda despite the horrific toll of the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Too many Clinton Administration officials refused to act effectively to counter the dangers posed by al Qaeda. Three years later, al Qaeda's commitment to ki ll was devastatingly brought to our soil. While four of the terrorist perpetrators have been convicted of terrorism offenses in New York and are serving life sentences, Osama bin Laden, and his top deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, remain at large.
"Ten years after these devastating attacks, America continues its global struggle against terrorists who attack us and our way of life. The terrorists' dedication to death and destruction will be thwarted by our steadfast commitment to counter the threat they pose with all the instruments at our disposal: military, intelligence, law enforcement, diplomacy, financial and economic. Our prayers go out to the families of those who were killed or harmed in the Embassy bombings, as we reaffirm our commitment to fight the scourge of Al Qaeda until all of its violent extremists are killed or brought to justice."

I nodded and moved on, until this morning, and looked for Obama's statement. Is it possible that the campaign of the first American presidential candidate with Kenyan heritage missed the ten year anniversary of the al-Qaeda attacks on the embassies? There's no mention on Google, no mention on the campaign blog.

The Council on Foreign Relations news roundup mentions McCain's statement, but no mention of a statement from Obama. If Obama's campaign did release a statement, did it somehow not end up in the hands of the CFR?

Only two posts by BarackObama.com users are tagged Tanzania (although I suppose it's possible there could he some post dealing with it that wasn't tagged with the name of the country). No mention of a statement from him (or McCain, for that matter) in coverage of the commemoration ceremonies.

08/08 10:24 AM Share