Re: Muslims to march in London
Just to wind you up more:
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THE †˜CARTOON RIOTSÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢: BIGOTS ON BOTH SIDES
February 7, 2006 -- RIOTS scorch the Islamic world as maddened believers protest Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Embassies burn, demonstrators die, crazed threats resound. Far more Muslims fill the streets than protested the invasion of Iraq.
Astonished Europeans insist on their right to press freedom. Muslims are outraged at the willful violation of a widespread Islamic belief: The Prophet's image must not be depicted.
Now the confrontation's gone too far for either side to back down. And both sides are wrong.
First, consider the Europeans. The Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons last September was not standing up courageously for freedom of expression. The editors and cartoonists were so oblivious to any reality beyond their Copenhagen coffee bars that they just thought they were pulling an attention-getting prank.
They got attention, all right. As did the papers elsewhere in Europe that reprinted the offending cartoons last week. In the name of press freedom, of course.
The problem is that with freedom comes responsibility, a quality to which Europe's become allergic (nothing is ever a European's fault). Breaking a well-known taboo of Islam was irresponsible. No other word for it.
There's plenty to criticize in the failed civilization of Middle Eastern Islam. But the European press avoids the serious issues. They could've run cartoons about al-Zarqawi's savagery, al-Jazeera's hypocrisy or the oppression of women. Instead, they attacked a religion's heart. Gratuitously.
Those cartoons said more about Europe's own arrogance toward religious believers and intolerance of faith than they do about Islam. Today's Europeans consider religious belief as beneath their sophistication. They've come so far that they no longer grasp how intense faith can be ††and how furiously the faithful can react.
Through their clumsiness and vanity, the Europeans have made this an all-or-nothing issue. What began as a nasty little Danish problem has been globalized. If the Europeans appear to capitulate now, it will only encourage Muslim extremists around the world.
Wasn't it those oh-so-clever Europeans who complained about a heavy U.S. hand in the Middle East? Who made excuses for 9/11, the Madrid bombings, street murders, terrorist kidnappings and beheadings, the London bombings, French suburbs aflame and no end of hate speech? Then treated Islam the way a dog treats a fire hydrant?
That's Europe for you: A continent of cowards who start fights they can't finish themselves. Thanks, Hans. Merci, Pierre.
Of course, the blame doesn't fall solely on the Eurotrash. The over-reaction within the Muslim world is psychotic ††yet another indication of the spiritual and practical collapse of the Middle East and realms beyond. Will the Europeans figure it out this time? How many corpses, cracked heads, arrests, boycotts and smoldering embassies will it take before Europe realizes that militant Islam isn't benign?
The Arab world, especially, is a pile of tinder waiting for random sparks. And the alacrity with which regional governments and Islamist groups have moved to blow up the cartoon issue into a conflagration is as tactically astute as it is despicable.
What we're seeing in the Middle East is strategic theater, benefit performances for the Syrian government (now playing the Islam card), Hezbollah, Hamas and every tough customer in the neighborhood.
No accident that the largest number of demonstrators busted in Beirut were Syrian nationals. And does anyone really believe that Syria's police and security services couldn't control those crowds in Damascus?
Meanwhile, the nuts-for-Allah boys in Tehran are using the issue to whip up support for Shia nukes. Kashmiri separatists are milking the controversy, as are the remnants of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The protests stretch from Indonesia to England.
Expect more blood.
It's hard not to feel a certain amount of Schadenfreude after enduring endless lectures from Europeans about how the Middle East's problems were all made in America. It will be fascinating to watch the Europeans attempt to come to grips with fanaticism.
Even a French philosopher can't forever glorify a civilization that puts more energy into calling for death to cartoonists than it does into human rights, education or good government.
For once, we Americans can sit back and watch the fight (pass the popcorn, please). The Europeans are going to get a few more teeth knocked out. As for the Islamist bigots intent on destroying what's left of their own decayed societies, they'll lose at least a few of their European apologists ††the sort who make excuses for terrorists, as long as they only kill Americans (or Muslims).
Looking at the pigheaded intolerance driving the Europeans and Islamist fanatics alike, the healthy response is, "A plague on both your houses."
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