Romney condemns 'disgraceful' Obama response on Mideast violence (Updated)

Mitt Romney is out with a statement condemning President Obama over the attacks on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya, the latter involving the death of an American, officials have said.

“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," said Romney in the statement, which the campaign initially embargoed for midnight, which was when the 9/11 anniversary would have ended, and was sent out a short time ago (this was one of the sharper statements of the day, although as I noted earlier, the anniversary was hardly devoid of politics by both Democrats and the Obama campaign, and Republicans, before this).

"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,” Romney added.

(PHOTOS: Anti-U.S. attacks in Cairo, Libya)

As our colleagues on 44 wrote tonight, the Obama administration tried to distance itself from the U.S. Embassy statement out of Cairo offering apologies for the anti-Muslim film that created the unrest in Egypt and Libya.

Also in the past 12 hours, per 44, Obama called Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu after reports the White House blasted claiming a snub over a proposed meeting (neither proposed meeting, nor snub, happened, according to the Obama administration) which again underscored the tense relationship they have had.

How this all unfolds in the coming days will make clear whether Mideast events will be the unforeseen issue in the fall that many strategists have anticipated.

Romney's campaign, given the initial embargo, was hoping to clear the anniversary before slamming the president. But foreign policy has been an area in which Democrats have been highlighting perceived strengths this cycle, and in which Romney has been criticized by fellow Republicans for a lack of engagement.

UPDATE: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued this statement earlier as well, via AP: "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."

UPDATE II: The statement from the Cairo mission was issued before the death of an American was reported, not afterward, a fact that wasn't clear when Romney pushed out a statement but did become clear as the dust settled on a complicated and developing international situation.