Clarifying the U.S. position on the anti-Islam film that has sparked protests across the Muslim world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the video "disgusting and reprehensible" on Thursday, but she said it was no excuse for violence. Clinton spoke at the U.S. State Department Thursday, making it clear the U.S. government had "absolutely nothing" to do with the creation of the film, which is apparently the work of a 55-year-old Southern California man named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, posing as a filmmaker named Sam Bacile. Clinton condemned both the film and the response to it, per a broadcast on CNN:

This video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose: To denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage. But as I said yesterday, there is no justification, none at all, to responding to this video with violence. We condemn the violence that has resulted in the strongest terms.

The U.S. response to protests that raged around embassies attacked across the Middle East and killed several U.S. diplomats has been disparate, with the U.S. embassy in Cairo issuing a controversial statement condemning the video for hurting "religious feelings," which was reportedly rejected by the State Department but posted to Twitter anyway. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, took a neutral line on Egypt Wednesday, saying it was neither an ally nor an enemy, while presidential candidate Mitt Romney called the administration's response "disgraceful," and was then criticized himself for attacking the president in a time of international crisis. Hopefully Clinton's remarks will clarify the U.S. position on the whole thing. That's the intent, anyway.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Adam Martin