Rooney’s are among the harshest attacks yet. Rooney blames Obama for violence

President Barack Obama should be blamed for attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East, Rep. Tom Rooney, a Florida Republican, charged in a Thursday afternoon news release.

Rooney, who criticized Obama for using force in Libya last year without specific congressional authorization, said the current round of violence, which claimed the life of four American diplomats in Benghazi earlier this week, was foreseeable.


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

“We supported the rebels without taking into account their individual values or motives, and without understanding their ability or plan to govern. We helped these individuals topple a dictator, but then stood on the sidelines as radical extremists assumed power,” Rooney said. “It should come as no surprise that these movements in the region have given way to violent, anti-American actions.”

Increasingly, Republicans have criticized Obama for what they portray as a failure to lead in the region, and Rooney’s are among the harshest attacks yet. They come during a week in which American embassies have been under siege in Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Iran. An anti-Islamic YouTube video posted by a Florida pastor has been cited as kindling for the protests and attacks, but Rooney said there is something much deeper at work.

“The murderers who killed our citizens and the thugs who stormed our embassies may claim their motivation was in response to a movie, or because that day marked the anniversary of 9/11, but the reality is that they attacked us not because of a particular incident, but because they have a pervasive and consistent hatred of who we are as Americans and what we stand for,” Rooney said. “Projecting weakness will not make us safer or discourage attacks against us. We need to show leadership and strength by demonstrating that we will not tolerate violent acts against our people, and we will not leave our citizens or our interests vulnerable to an attack.”

Rooney, a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, wrote a resolution last year that would have prohibited continued U.S. intervention in Libya without congressional approval. His measure failed, and the U.S. role in ousting Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi continued unabated.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the outcome of Rooney's resolution last year. The resolution came to a vote and failed.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Elizabeth Titus @ 09/13/2012 04:21 PM CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the outcome of Rooney's resolution last year. The resolution came to a vote and failed.