Caricature witness

The furor in the Middle East over those cartoons depicting Muhammad is up to a full boil now, with European embassies being torched in Syria. Clash of Civilizations? Perhaps. But there are a number of things to note in this developing story that I don't think are given enough play in the media.

First let me try to make clear my position on the matter. I believe in a strong response on the part of the Western Nations. Not necessarily war, but always keeping force an option. I support the policies of George W. Bush for the most part, and acknowledge that there have been errors. I think Bush and his associates have demonstrated vision and clarity - and boldness - in their post 9/11 responsibilities. On the other hand, I continue to believe in the chance that Islam can be reformed, that its power structures can be reorganized to be more representative, less corrupt, and less violent.

So I shun pretty strongly anti-Muslim sentiments because I think the enemy is a hard-core component - a coalition of statist fascists and militant Islamists. I believe the situation is like the Nazis in Germany - a minority of hard core fascists with broad sympathies among the masses, fueled by hate. By all means, come down hard on that minority but at the same time win over the more moderate elements with the promise of economic freedom.

The cartoon imbroglio started modestly back in September when Denmark's Jyllands-Posten (It used to be my local paper. Honest!) published a set of 12 illustrations of Mohammad by local artists. Some were clearly political cartoons and contained explicit critiquing of Islam, and some where more benigh illustrations of a typical Islamic man. The political ones could be seen as offensive, but by Western standards they were pretty tame.

Since September, a small group of Muslims made it their mission to advertise these drawings to the rest of Islam. And in the process they added 3 additional illustrations - these FAR more offensive than the original 12. I saw what were claimed to be these other 3 last night (but have lost the link). Very poor quality, but I think one had the snout of a pig on the nose of a Muslim man, one had a more cartooned image of an mean old Muslim man gripping two children - allegedly a pedophile. The third looked like a photomontage (the quality really sucked) of a dog humping a man. Very offensive indeed.

I can imagine it is these three that really get the protestors blood boiling, inciting them to violence. I also strongly suspect that these demonstrations are being organized by much smaller groups who start out peacefully and then escalate to violence. Austin Bay has this covered, but I wish we saw more discussion of the complicity of some Arab governments and organizations in inciting this violence.

The demonstrations in Damascus began peacefully with protesters gathering outside the building housing the Danish Embassy. But they began throwing stones and eventually broke through police barricades. Some scrambled up concrete barriers protecting the embassy, climbed into the building and set a fire....

Demonstrators moved onto the Norwegian Embassy about 4 miles away, also setting fire to it before being dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons. Hundreds of police and troops barricaded the road leading to the French Embassy, but protesters were able to break through briefly before fleeing from the force of water cannons.

If we know anything about life in today's Syria, it's that it is impossible for any group to demonstrate without the authorities first being in full control. So the Syrian government is complicit. Note that the the French were afforded some protection. Hmmm....

Elsewhere in the Arab world,

In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags. Protesters smashed the windows of the German cultural center and threw stones at the European Commission building, police said.
Iraqis rallying by the hundreds demanded an apology from the European Union...
Pakistan summoned the envoys of nine Western countries in protest, and even Europeans [but still Islamic, apparently] took to the streets in Denmark and Britain to voice their anger. (emphasis mine)

Doesn't appear the democratic nations in the region (Iraq) could muster as much anger.

I find the official reactions worldwide disappointing. Lukewarm in support of free speech and supplicant to the protesters. I'm really appalled by the uniform surrender by the MSM in my own country. Tim Blair put it well:

They won't publish cartoons, but they will run anything they can get out of Abu Ghraib. Both sets of images provoke Islamic anger; note how the media behaves when that anger is directed at them.

This is the most depressing thing I've read so far on the issue. Any acquiescence on our part encourages more and worse conflicts later. This was a chance to make a stand on a one of our most dear principles - freedom of speech. Instead, we're showing that avoiding Islamic offense is a higher priority.