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Gen. Martin Dempsey opted to phone Florida pastor
The military's top uniformed leader decided on his own to phone an extremist Florida pastor linked to an inflammatory anti-Islamic online video, the Pentagon said Thursday -- no one else asked him to do so.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey called Florida pastor Terry Jones on Wednesday to ask him to withdraw his support for the video that some reports have linked with anti-American unrest in the Muslim world, a spokesman said.
Military leaders aren't supposed to do that.
Didn't someone at that office call the good pastor last time around, too?
"He called of his own initiative over concern that the violence incited by the film would pose risks to U.S. service members around the world," said Marine Col. Dave Lapan.
I appreciate the concern but you don't fix that by intimidating American citizens into giving up their First Amendment rights. Our military is supposed to defend itself. If our military is in a position where they can't do that, get them the hell out of that position.
Muslim protestors have reportedly cited the video as one reason for this week's attacks against American diplomatic missions, including embassies in Yemen and Cairo and the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday.
The other reason was that they just wanted to kill Americans...
When asked at a press briefing about whose decision it was to call Jones, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little added: "Gen. Dempsey was willing to call pastor Jones. The kinds of words and actions that pastor Jones has spread have incited violence and have led to deaths, including in Afghanistan and including American service members. I think that's why he called. It was a brief conversation and pastor Jones was non-committal."

Jones first gained national attention when he threatened to burn Korans on Sept. 11., 2010. After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus condemned the threat and said it would put American service members at risk, Jones called off the burning. Gates phoned him to appeal personally. Still, Jones wound up burning a Koran after all earlier this year.

Clinton gave a statement Thursday at the State Department in which she emphasized that the American government had no connection with the online video and that it rejects insults against any religion.
It also apparently is willing to sacrifice the rights of American citizens...
Also in the briefing, Little declined to go into detail about press reports that commanders had ordered two Navy warships to the Libyan coast after Tuesday's attack on the consulate.

"On the issue of assets being moved toward Libya, I'll be very clear: We do have ships in the Mediterranean," he said. "We have had ships in the Mediterranean for some time. None of our naval vessels in that region have been assigned any specific mission with respect to Libya. Our assets in the region are prepared to respond to any contingency. That's what the U.S. military does. But again, they haven't been assigned a specific mission."
Posted by: Steve White 2012-09-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=351929