By the "Cairo apology", we mean this statement which came from the Egyptian embassy early on Tuesday: "The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims - as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."

This statement was actually released before the violence began, but it is curious that it happened around the same time. Even after the aggression began outside the compound, the Cairo embassy issued another statement essentially doubling down on the earlier apology: "Sorry, but neither breaches of our compound or angry messages will dissuade us from defending freedom of speech AND criticizing bigotry."

The "angry messages" part of that statement refers to outrage over the original statement - a statement condemning people who hurt Islamic feelings rather than condemning Islamic violence.

But the question remains: Who was the dingbat who issued the first statement?

Jennifer Rubin reports as follows:

(The Washington Post)