The attack and protest on United States diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, and Cairo, Egypt, on the 11th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks have jarred Americans.

While initial reports linked the attacks, which killed US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other US diplomatic personnel, to the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims, Americans are wondering why people in the countries they helped during the "Arab Spring" have turned against them.

Ed Husain, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, believed al-Qaida sympathizers and al-Qaida foot soldiers are behind this.

"I don't think we should look for al-Qaida membership cards because they don't necessarily offer membership cards, but al-Qaida offers compelling narratives and these are people who respond to those narratives," Husain said at a conference call on Wednesday.

"There is a mindset in a large part of the Arab world that America is at war with Islam and Muslim," he said, adding that the narrative led to 9/11.

Husain suggested that the US should not retreat from the region but continue to involve and engage with these governments to help steer a course to advance US interests in the region and the interests of those governments.

In Husain's eyes, the "Arab Spring" is still in motion. While acknowledging local liberal youth's aspiration for transparent government, better economy and a tie with the West, he pointed out that there are many negatives from the "Arab Spring", such as the compromising of women's rights, minority rights, religious freedom and the rise of radicalism.

Though many believe anti-Americanism is deep-seated in the Arab world, Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and also a senior fellow at CFR, told China Daily on Wednesday that he was struck by the relative absence of anti-American sentiment associated with the Arab Spring.

"It is primarily militants who seek to do harm to US interests," he said.

Kupchan said the political transformation of the Middle East is still in its early stages. "Not until there are stable governments in the region can the process of deepening ties with the United States move ahead. For now, the US is correct to stand by the forces of reform and liberalization, and in general to let events in the region to take their course," Kupchan said.

But he said the development in Libya should provide caution about getting deeply involved in Syria. "The attack in Benghazi demonstrates that even successful interventions can produce adverse knock-on effects," he said.

Many in the US have hoped that Libya could be a good example that the transition could lead to a more open and prosperous society, yet Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at CFR, warned the attack could also be the start of a more violent trend in Libya. Still, she said she is hopeful of Libya.

The vast number of weapons flowing into Libyan society has been regarded as a major destabilizing factor in the country after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi 11 months ago. Sectarian violence has so far made frequent headlines.

Joseph Blady, a former program officer for the under secretary of defense, criticized the US policy in the Middle East by saying that after 60 years of direct involvement in the region, the US still can't separate friends from enemies.

He blamed the US' over-dependence on military power to its problems in the Middle East and the rest of the world.

"The United States is blessed, but simultaneously cursed, by possessing the most military power in world history," Blady wrote on the Huffington Post on Wednesday,

"The quality of our military has obviated the need for cogent thought about US foreign policy. Don't bother to understand the other guy if we don't like what's going on, we can just kill the other guys," he said.

Blady believed both US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney are victims of this approach.

But some differences clearly exist. Romney took the opportunity on Wednesday to attack Obama. "I think it is a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values," he said, referring to an early statement from the US embassy in Cairo, condemning efforts to offend believers of all religions, implying the release of the anti-Islam film.

Obama did not wait to fight back. "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

Contact the writer chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com.