Feb 03 2006
Hold Up Michelle
UPDATE III:
This is at the top since I doubt I will have more to say on this today. When I look at the pictures up at Michelle’s site and Powerline of Muslims calling for the beheading of those who insult Islam, what I see is Bin Laden’s EU army. I see pictures of the next Zaraqawi, the next Atta, the next Zawahiri. I see Al Qaeda taunting the West.
What I do not see is President Karzai of Afghanistan, who legitimately voiced his dislike of the cartoons. I do not see Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt in those pictures – who also was not happy with them. These two critical allies voiced their disgust with the cartoons.
I do not see the Emir of Kuwait who risked all to host our troops prior to invasion of Iraq. I do not see Iragis with purple stained fingers. I do not see President Musharref. I do not see King Abdullah. I did not see the leaders of Turkey.
What worries me is, if we are not careful and precise about how we react to the deliberate PR campaign of these Al Qaeda storm troopers carrying the signs, we may end up seeing these allies in these pictures some day. And all because we couldn’t summon the compassion to agree some of these cartoons are offensive?
If we would die protecting this country from harm, how come we can’t listen to our allies who have ALSO risked death to protect this country and simply admit these are offensive. Not to us – but to them?
Are we going to attack the Bush administration next?
END UPDATE
I really admire Michelle Malkin. She has graced this site with many an appreciated link. And I know she puts up with a lot of garbage from the leftward fever swamps.
Which is why it pains me to say how disappointed I am with her latest post. From my small little niche in the blogosphere I have tried to alert folks to the fact that we need to be setting an example to the moderate Muslims how to deal with ugly free speech. The best way is to dismiss hate speech and marginalize it. Not one of the best ways is to get in an escalating yelling match:
No, you go to hell.
The calls for death to those who insult Islam is a PR taunt meant to get the West riled and chase the moderate Muslims towards the radicals. We all agree free speech is not always pleasant. And to voice outrage at outrageous cartoons is proper, while threats and acts of violence are not to be tolerated.
I fear we are seeing the start of the global war we have been trying to avoid for 5 years now. And it will be over some damn stupid cartoons.
I am not alone in this view – we just seem to be the minority trying to keep cool and focused, and not give into anger.
UPDATE:
More than two now. Mark, want to start another Coalition?
UPDATE II:
I am getting some wild comments here – because some think I am defending the violence and intolerance found in radical Muslim orthodoxy. Just the opposite. We in the West need to retain self control and not give into emotional outburts when the radical in Islam provoke them on their side. Our job is to show how freedom works, not how intimidation works.
I do have one question though. Why is it this episode is being flamed by two elements in society so opposed to the Bush administrations efforts to spread democracy and freedom? We have the over the top outrage of the radical Islamists, but we also have the in-your-face apparently religious intolerance being promulgated by the liberal media outlets:
Publication of the cartoons in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands triggered condemnation in the Muslim and Arab world, where consumers turned their anger on Danish companies.
Arla, the dairy company based in Denmark, where the cartoons were first published, admitted on Thursday its sales in some Middle East countries had fallen to zero. Carrefour, the French retailer, said it had removed Danish products from shelves in its Middle East operations.
Other Danish companies targeted in the boycott include Lego, the toymaker, and Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceuticals company.
As popular protests spread, the leaders of Egypt and Afghanistan warned the cartoons had offended millions of Muslims and could be exploited by terrorists in their war against the west.
I don’t like coincidences. Why are our the two largest groups opposing US policy all of a sudden taunting each other to the brink – and egging both sides on?
Could it be Iran needs a diversion of international focus?
The Mohammad Cartoons
The Commisar has put out a call for bloggers to post the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammad that have Muslims worldwide kind of ticked.
I’ve been slow to the party on this one, but not because I disagree about free speech. Certainly it is …
Wretchard ends today’s post with this:
The West should understand, if it didn’t realize it before, that Muslims are willing to fight for their religion. And Muslims should understand, from the cartoon controversy, that whatever they had heard to the contrary it goes double ditto for the West. And in the long run that grudging respect may make the the process of winning over the Muslim moderates easier than feigning the cheap and superficial attitude of multiculturalism. For who in Islam would believe in us if we did not believe in ourselves? Who in Islam could trust that we would fight at their side if we could not defend all that we were, all that we believed?
posted by wretchard at 10:17 AM | 53 comments
HOPE YOU WILL READ IT ALL AND REMEMBER THE OBL
REFERENCE TO “BACKING THE WINNING HORSE”.
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/
AJ,
The only difference between “freedom fries” and “down with Danes” is of course that in the former, it was the policies of the French government and the attitude of the French people that was being protested against. In the latter, it is a protest against the actions of a single (small) newspaper in Denmark.
Yes, they do have every right to protest against what they may feel is a slur against their religion (although their own holy book says otherwise…) but they don’t even realize that their entire protest is quite false due to being brainwashed into believing that the Danish or Norwegian or [insert something] governments/people stand behind these cartoons.
If Karzai and Mubarak are offended by the depiction of Mohammed, then they are not following the Koran. However, if they are offended by the nature of some of the images, that’s fine, because some of them were offensive. Although I would argue that most of the images are purposefully being misunderstood.
The picture of Mohammed with a bomb as a turban isn’t meant to say that Mohammed really is a terrorist, but that Mohammed is being misused by terrorists.
Well, I hope that’s what the artist was trying to convey, anyways.
CARTOONS – AT WAR WITH MODERNITY
HT Right Wing Nut House
I’ve tried to post representative views from reasonable thinkers in the Blogos. I tend to favor this one at the Right Wind Nut House. On the otherhand AJ at
I would tend to agree with both AJ and Dr. Sanity. You must first understand what the west is dealing with and take the appropriate action (maybe like that of dealing with a 2 yr old) but not just react in the same way they are. Stand your ground on freedoms we hold dear, be on guard if necessary, and acknowledge non violent means of protest as ok. Stuffing more of the problem back into their face won’t yield a good result.
I tend to relate this to when my wife is so pissed off at me that she completely flips out and starts an absolute insane tirade directed at me. I’ve learned over several years of different approaches that I must rise above the invective and remain on an even keel. Two people flying off at each other lights off an incredible escallation which everyone regrets later.
Here’s the deal. The West will end its cartoons of Mohammed if the Arab press ends its vile anti-Semitic cartoons.
I’ll bet the Arabs back down. They will never give up their Jew hating.
Sammy,
I relate to the last paragraph. Heh. Two angry people is definitely not better than one. We should apply this to the current situation with the… cartoons… Cartoons for crying out loud. Man this is pathetic.
Unfortunately there are no secondary issues in the religion of peace. You are either with them or against them. Cartoons have become irrelevant now, they are simply a means to an end.
Jihad is a fundamental part of the Muslim belief and the Quar’an asks all good Shari’a abiding Muslims to either wage it themselves or abet those who will. Once you have understood that, you will understand that there are no moderate Muslims, there are only Muslims who do NOT follow the Quar’an to the letter. If you think that belief in Jihad in the Quar’an is exclusive to Bin Laden and co. you are simply wrong.
When you have time read myThe Jihad Apocalypse ‘A Muslim Obligation’
My friend at Sigmund Carl & Alfred puts it rather well today:
Rose, Jyllands-Posten’s cultural editor is right when he says:
I have never said that no one should be offended, and you are missing the point if you think that this issue boils down to that. It is everyone’s right to be offended, including ours when we are forced to see grotesque versions of ‘Piss Christ’.
But we do not declare war on Islam because of a painting nor do we haul people out of hotels and threaten their lives, nor do we burn flags and threaten to behead every non-Christian because of a cartoon.
Why should we make different rules for Muslims just because they shout the loudest and threaten us the most? Do we recall our Ambassador from a country that ‘offends’ us by posting rude photographs of anyone of who we deem to be our religious leaders? Do we withdraw offending cartoons or take down paintings simply because the believers of a particular religion are offended. Do we close down institutions and expel people out of our country for drawing an offensive cartoon, or writing offensive prose?
It is easy to speak of tolerance when you simply ban the very existence of Christianity in an Islamic country. What sort of moderation or tolerance is that. There are no Christian churches in Saudi because they are illegal. Simple isn’t it? Meanwhile England is busy building the largest mosque in Europe .
The whole thing is upside down AJ, and I am afraid that appeasement will bring us closer to Ahmadinejad’s dream rather than away from conflict. The conflict is at our doorstep and is not about some silly cartoons. It is about breaking down our core value system of democracy, liberty and the freedom of speech that we hold so dear. Chipping away bit by bit…..and the more we apologize the more the goalpost will simply shift.
Anyway I have already said far too much, and I do after all have my own blog to run. Good to see you AJ.
Folks, I am going to enjoy some time with friends and family. If you do not add more than two links to a comment they should post immediately. If you are a new user I think I need to approve the first one before the system recognizes you as a regular user.
I will try to come by now and again and free the suspended comments – but no promises!
All of you have a great weekend.
The Cartoon War
Never has the adage ‘Information is Power’ felt more critically relevant. And never has the Power of ‘Dis-information’ revealed its evil effectiveness more poignantly. I am grateful for a better understanding of the meaning behind these not so long…
Maybe it would be a good idea if the Western media published many of the nasty cartoons the people in the Muslim world see.
Often the most effective ammunition against an opponent are his own words, or in this case, cartoons.
Let them be embarrassed by how they depict others. Show what they put in their textbooks.
Voices of reason on the Danish cartoons
There’s been an enormous amount of aburdity written about the cartoons of Mohammed printed in a Danish newspaper and now re-printed in a number of European papers. But through all the din a few voices of reason have managed to come through, som…
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/photos/3rd-infantry-saddam-911.jpg
Dont hear Muslims bitching about this mural from 2003.
Good idea Snapple, I have no problem using Islamic hate cartoons to say ‘ we know how you feel, free speech can be a real bear sometime’ while holding up their cartoons.
Muhammad Cartoon in Perspective
Photo montage of Militant Islam’s Reactions and Open Trackbacks
In my very first comment – actually the second comment
of the post, I suggested looking around the web today.
Now, that perhaps you have, and regulars like Snapple are
pointing to the cartoons of the Islamic world, you
may also wish to consider this regarding following our
“moderate” “allies”:
“The “moderate” Muslim governments have no interest in standing up for free speech; they don’t tolerate it in their own countries and supporting the West would put their (pseudo) Islamic legitimacy in question. For the Islamists to back down and be seen as backing down is to show fatal weakness.
The most interesting question concerns how this ends. Will the Muslims settle for a non-apology apology that is the specialty of those schooled in the PC world? (“I am deeply sorry if my cartoon has offended anybody’s feelings.”) Or, will they continue to demand full obeisance to their skewed perception of what free speech involves?
If the Islamists feel that they are not yet ready to openly confront the Europeans on their home turf in Europe, prominent Imams will accept the proffered apology, the crowds will dissipate, and things will quiet down.
Click here: ShrinkWrapped: The Inexorable Logic of Terror
This from my initial post – #2 in comment queue:
Bibles in Saudi Arabia???? Try it AJ! And it won’t take much
looking around the web to get a good overview of the political
view of the Islamists’ world.
Larwyn,
You already lost all credibility with me. So if you wish to debate others – knock yourself out.
Wow. AJ, I know I headed toward this comment space to say, “Amen, and kudos! You took the thoughts right out of my head before I got around to thinking them.”
I haven’t changed my mind through the rather long, bizarro gauntlet of some of the comments ahead of mine — many left by posters with whom I’ve agreed more often than not.
That Karzai and other allies were offended by the Danish newspaper cartoons, I find completely understandable. I am regularly similarly offended by antics, behavior and statements of some of my fellow Americans (I guess they are) on the political left, when they push the First Amendment envelope and use vulgarity and obscenities to denigrate my religion, my flag, my president.
And I’m not real tolerant — an image of Robin Williams, for instance, will never remain on my television screen longer than it takes me to reach the remote control (and I loved his portrayal in “Survivors” and a couple of other pre-GOP-political dominance films).
I fully admit to not liking it when my sensibilities are offended, and to react by letting anyone who can hear me, know exactly how I feel. I might even write letters or sign a petition to withdraw tax subsidies, for example, from so-called “art” with a Christian icon and elephant dung, or a crucifix in a bottle of urine.
I don’t think that’s an unreasonable reaction, if I’m offended. And it seems to be pretty comparable to the reactions of Karzai and other Muslim allies, to cartoons which offended them. Their reaction, by the way, seems no more intense than the letter to the Washington Post, signed by several US generals, who were righteously offended by a recent ugly cartoon depicting “Dr. Rumsfeld” standing over an armless, legless serviceman in a hospital bed.
Your points were excellent, and well made. Enough said.
And here you have it, just what was asked for.
Plea to bin Laden to retaliate
Tens of thousands of Sudanese demonstrators in Khartoum filled a downtown square, calling for a boycott of goods from Denmark after the publication of controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Some shouted: “You Danish Satan, the Muslim people are now out after you!” Some even shouted for al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to retaliate for the insult to their prophet. “Strike, strike, strike, bin Laden!” the frenzied group chanted.
SBD
[…] From my latest post on this, some of my favorite readers have lashed out at the still totalitarian societies in the Middle East nations that censor speech, as if to say this censorship (re bibles in Saudia Arabia) somehow legitimizes Western anger in this situation. […]