You're watching...

Protests Continue Outside U.S. Embassies in Middle East

Details

  • Description

    Former CIA covert operations officer Mike Baker weighs in on the U.S. embassy attack in Libya.

  • Duration 4:19
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

Nicole we'll go to big news now the day of the middle basis demonstrations continued in the US embassies Egypt and Yemen.

This -- day after.

The US ambassador to Libya was killed and then -- sees no Mike Baker.

My former Covert.

Operations officer with the CIA head of diligence now global security.

A firm I'll let me start with the question if I can Mike about.

But security some people brought up the fact -- -- -- on the 9/11 anniversaries this you know worst there as much security as they're needed to be at somebody's embassies from what you've seen now the last couple of days what he said.

Well it again hindsight -- that's it's terrific commodity but him it would have been.

Wise do have a beefed up security presence and in all honesty in Libya where.

We know what al-Qaeda associates are operating whether the -- -- brigade is operating where there is tremendous amount to hard -- of weaponry on the streets still from the revolution money armories were opened up and pilfered.

And just a general operating environment -- that chaos is still trying to form a government they can hold things together.

Very should have been significantly more security on the ground.

It sounds -- -- -- you want to say at this point obviously after such a sad event yes but you know it has to be you know you have to review we have the book and think okay we got to prevent this in the future how do we do that.

Let me go to your other and that's will be talking about after we talk about by the -- response was only gets you as well but I wanna -- of your other area of expertise would be.

You don't intelligence and what we should have known about this has been a lot of talk about this anti -- movie that's been made and whether or not that's the spark war.

Some of these attacks particularly Libya were planned.

In advance and plan to coincide with 9/11 again after looking at the situation last couple days we'll just say about that.

I'm does that by in this this you don't anti Muslim film is sparking this instantaneous outrage in.

It audited these things tend to be when you see something like this developing you see this players are player underneath there.

That have coordinated to some degree.

This as a top cover for the protests.

And I'm this I'm kind of tired of the you know the outrage over any think.

And this particular video -- been out there for a while so why now was -- -- yes specialist stuff for 12 -- you to continue just to point out to our viewers that the pictures you're looking -- on your screen.

Are alive this is Cairo Egypt right now.

I believe right outside -- I'm sure the DUS.

Embassy yes right outside the US embassy for the cameras position should be towards the embassy they could see some of the smoke.

That is developed there so the situation obviously is still breaking the protesters are still a lot of hand outside of the US embassies -- the reports earlier today in Yemen.

This is in Cairo.

Not exactly sure what we just witnessed did you see some of the cars.

Out there that it burned out and people leaving.

The scene is the camera shoots and the embassy -- Mike just a quick thought now on our priorities is all this is still so fluent in terms our priorities as a nation responded.

Well there's there's so there's a lot of emotion right now you've got to you know I think it's one thing to be you know to be highly upset about this and and to have a knee jerk reaction I mean the reality of it is we.

We we need to have a measured approach unfortunately problem and so you know the State Department and and the administration.

They're trying to do that.

But you know there's been an awful lot of pandering.

Over ended and I think sometimes that allows you know for this -- to escalate at times where they think okay what is not going to be a hard response.

From the administration.

You know I would like to be he has -- something little bit more definitive.

From this from the administration over this as opposed to just sort of that you know the pandering over -- sad about this this film.

And obviously this out about the deaths in the in the way things are developing.

You talk about the Arab Spring and early days of the Arab Spring we're talking about the potential for chaos -- we didn't know the players.

And you know a lot of that was shouted down by people who talk about the magic of the Arab Spring and self determination.

The other -- says that you know it's the jury's out we don't know how this is going to shake out across the region.

Is this going to actually be a good thing you know from the US perspective and our allies perspective or are we looking at -- extended period of turmoil.

Where our security interest our you know denigrated our Mike thanks so Mike Baker with -- is still speech in Cairo we saw some sort of just -- receive.