Obama Orders Flags at Half-Staff Following Libya Attack

All Hawaii and US flags will be flown at half-staff from today until sunset Sunday in honor of the US ambassador to Libya and other American personnel killed Tuesday in an attack at the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

President Obama today issued the decree for flying the US flag at half-staff, and Gov. Neil Abercrombie followed his lead for Hawaii flags.

The attack killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others, a Foreign Service officer and two US Marines.

The attack occurred several hours after a mob scaled the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt and tore down a US flag and replaced it with an Islamic banner.

Both incidents were initially attributed to outrage over a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, excerpts of which were posted on YouTube.

However, national news organizations are now reporting that US officials increasingly believe the attack in Libya was a well-planned maneuver by terrorists done under the cover of the protests or to coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Officials are saying the Libya attack may have been an act of revenge for the killing in June of a high-ranking al Qaeda commander during a drone strike in Pakistan.