A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames. (Esam Al-Fetori/Reuters)President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered American flags flying above government buildings, military vessels and posts around the world be flown at half-staff until sunset on September 16 "as a mark of respect" for the victims of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Obama announced the order in a presidential proclamation a few hours after he appeared in the Rose Garden of the White House to condemn the "outrageous and shocking attack" that claimed the lives of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans.
Mitt Romney has criticized Obama's response to that assault as well as to an incident in which demonstrators stormed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and tore down the American flag.