Huff Post: by James Zogby.
The crisis created by the film The Innocence of Muslims that many feared might spin out of control seems to be subsiding across the Arab World. The appeal by extremists to escalate the situation appears to have given way to more stable and thoughtful leadership.
Washington acted wisely by not pouring gasoline on the raging flames of unrest. The Administration declined to be provoked by careless partisan attackers into escalating their rhetorical response or engaging in a show of force. Instead, the president dispatched a small force of Marines where they were needed to enhance Embassy protection and spoke firmly and privately to Arab leaders making it clear that swift and decisive action had to be taken to stem the unrest and apprehend those who murdered American personnel and violated U.S. Embassy grounds.
Arab leaders in most countries also refused to be goaded by the extremists (both those who had made the offensive video and those who preyed on alienated and angry youth seeking to exploit the situation for political advantage). In Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, responsible political and religious leaders took steps to restore calm.
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