Anyone tempted to excuse or sympathize with this latest example of "spontaneous" global Muslim outrage needs to take into account that this was a carefully planned propaganda campaign, designed to guilt-trip and intimidate the West, at a time when Europe and the US attitudes toward Islamist terrorism are beginning to converge.
Would a generalized inflaming of the masses on the “cartoon matter” be better before or after the Palestinian elections, by Hamas standards? Before or after the Iraqi elections, by Salafi angle? Before or after the Egyptian elections, by Muslim Brotherhood plans? Before or after the withdrawal from the Lebanese Government, by Hezbollah calculations? Before or after the Iranian decision to rush to the nuclear race, by Ahmedinijad’s planning? And on the top coincidence list was the fact that Denmark was to head the UN Security Council, just as its members were to take Tehran to the UN.Bingo. [UPDATE: More detail here. And other political agendas are advanced under cover of religious outrage.]
[UPDATE: And opportunities to make a few quick bucks buying wholesale lots of Danish flags to sell to rioters.]
Another example of a carefully orchestrated "outrage" was the Palestinian response to Ariel Sharon's walk on the Temple Mount in 2000. Sharon was set up to provide a justification for the intifada.
Israel's Internal Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami permitted Sharon to visit the Temple Mount only after calling Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub and receiving his assurance that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise.Before you rush to apologize for cultural insensitivity (like these Danish useful idiots), check to see whether you are being set up.. . . . As violence escalated over the following days and weeks, the Palestinians and the media blamed Sharon for the violence. The truth was that the violence started before September 28. The day before, for example, an Israeli soldier was killed at the Netzarim Junction. . . . The next day in the West Bank city of Kalkilya, a Palestinian police officer working with Israeli police on a joint patrol opened fire and killed his Israeli counterpart.
In addition, official Palestinian Authority media exhorted the Palestinians to violence. On September 29, the Voice of Palestine, the PA's official radio station sent out calls "to all Palestinians to come and defend the al-Aksa mosque." The PA closed its schools and bused Palestinian students to the Temple Mount to participate in the organized riots.
Just prior to Rosh Hashanah (September 30), the Jewish New Year, when hundreds of Israelis were worshipping at the Western Wall, thousands of Arabs began throwing bricks and rocks at Israeli police and Jewish worshippers. Rioting then spread to towns and villages throughout Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. . . . In October 2000, Palestinian mobs destroyed Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, tearing up and burning Jewish prayer books. They stoned worshipers at the Western Wall and attacked Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem with firebombs and automatic weapons. . . . Most armed attackers were members of the Tanzim – Arafat’s own militia.
Imad Faluji, the Palestinian Authority Communications Minister, admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been planned in July, far in advance of Sharon's "provocation." "It [the uprising] had been planned since Chairman Arafat's return from Camp David, when he turned the tables on the former U.S. president and rejected the American conditions."
(Cross-posted at Kesher Talk)
UPDATE: This guy thinks it's about this year's tramplings at the Hajj (as opposed to last year's tramplings at the Hajj . . . ).. . . . Most of the pilgrims who were killed came from poorer countries such as Pakistan, where the Hajj is a very big story. Even the most objective news stories were suddenly casting Saudi Arabia in a very bad light and they decided to do something about it. Their plan was to go on a major offensive against the Danish cartoons. The 350 pilgrims were killed on January 12 and soon after, Saudi newspapers (which are all controlled by the state) began running up to 4 articles per day condemning the Danish cartoons. The Saudi government asked for a formal apology from Denmark. When that was not forthcoming, they began calling for world-wide protests. After two weeks of this, the Libyans decided to close their embassy in Denmark. Then there was an attack on the Danish embassy in Indonesia. And that was followed by attacks on the embassies in Syria and then Lebanon.Well, okay, that too. All the regimes benefit from putting the West on the defensive.
Now that the b'sphere has gone a long way toward proving that this is a manipulated situation all along (the MSM should catch that story by March or so), let's move on to the obvious follow-up.
Given that it's a set-up by the fascists "designed to guilt-trip and intimidate the West, at a time when Europe and the US attitudes toward Islamist terrorism are beginning to converge".....
Did it, or is it, working as advertised?
Frankly, I am leaning to this being a catastrophe for the Islamo-fascists. It has gutted their supporters in the West (setting aside Big Brother, imagine George Galloway et al trying to speak to ANY non-Muslim audience about this), brought the US and Europe more in sync than any time since Bush took office (Rumsfeld was very well received there last weekend), gotten the IAEA to hammer Iran, and basically moved Mark Steyn (PBUH) to the level of prophet (Ooooooooooo, I said it..... booga booga booga....)
Where-my goin' wrong here?
I hope you're right!
They're trying to exploit the gap between civilized nations and "the rest" to garner more support and power. So far it's just been propaganda and extreme protests in urban areas of Europe.
When it turns 9/11 or 7/7 type violent, and the perception is out there that all Muslims are violently protesting or boycotting some stupid cartoon, they'll achieve their goal.
Just how much of the Muslim street is inflamed. Not much if you consider the number of Muslims.
The media is hyping this up. A number of countries have now jumped on the bandwagon. First we see the boycott of European products. Next we will see threats to withhold oil.
This is another reason the US should extract and process its own oil and gas as both a national security issue and a stop gap towards the development of alternate energy sources.
Any surplus could be offered to boycotted countries as a temporary measure to lessen the effect of any attempts to use oil for political purposes.
Why indeed! Perhaps they feel that they are ready to push the agenda. Maybe this is their 'Kristallnacht' moment.
This is an jihad "recruiting" campaign in action.
The Counterterrorism Blog article you linked to was pointing to a time lag from September of 2005 to now and saying that because their was a lag of 180 days from the cartoons' initial printing and the start of the protests, it was obviously pre-planned.
Let's look at the timeline, courtesy of the BBC:
30 Sept 2005: Danish paper publishes cartoons
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM
10 Jan 2006: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons
4 Feb: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus
5 Feb: Protesters sack Danish embassy in Beirut
It wasn't untill the cartoons were reprinted multiple times that the riots/attacks/protests started.
I'm not apologizing for the rioters, but let's not jump to conspiracy theories...
It's propaganda, to be sure, but it seems to be the same old same old -- directed mostly at Arab Muslims oppressed by their own rulers, for the purpose of diverting their attention away from the things that are really important. And this time, the usual suspects have a really good reason to want to divert the attention of the masses: coming soon, to a totalitarian society near you, the (successful, so far) Iraqi experiment in Arab Muslim democracy.
It's hard to imagine that anyone in the West will actually be intimidated by this -- disgusted, maybe, but intimidated, no. And the disgust of Western populations will be short-lived, once it becomes clear that Muslim outrage is primarily a problem for Eff'd-upistan, not Main Street. The fact that the Euroweenies haven't caved in should by our first clue that this isn't really a threat to our freedom, but rather it's a ploy to persuade benighted masses of Muslims to continue to concede their liberty and dignity to their rulers.
I'm not apologizing for the rioters, but let's not jump to conspiracy theories...
It's not really a 'conspiracy' , it's a fact that these protests have been organized by Muslim/Arab states. Some will admit it, some won't, but it's hard to deny that they're complicit; no protests can take place in a country like Syria or Iran without the state's approval.
Saudi Arabia was one of the first Islamist nations to criticize Denmark. Saudi Arabia also funds most of the mosques and imams worldwide. Not coincidentally, the anger in the protests increased (on the 4th) after Friday services at those mosques.
It's not a conspiracy, it's their means of communication. This is the way they've always done things.
Since the Rushdie 'controversy', most Europeans have been afraid to tackle the subject of Islam, or to criticize Muslims in any way because of implied and real death threats. The cartoons were a protest against that. The organized Muslim response is an attempt to reassert their control over Danish self-expression. There's no secret about that, the Saudis are saying it for everyone to see in their newspaper, Arab News:
Juste’s bosses should dismiss him for his lack of judgment and the damage it has done to Denmark, politically and economically and all out of spite. That would go some way to calming the situation. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has to act as well. His categorical refusal to apologize on the issue because it would be against the laws on freedom of speech is just as disingenuous. It would be perfectly within the bounds of political propriety for him to say how appalled he was and that Juste should go. That would come well within the bounds of his freedom of speech.
In any event, if it does go against the law, the answer is simple: Change the law
They want the Western states to change their laws to be more in line with Islamic laws, which forbid self-expression. It's not a conspiracy, it's just old-fashioned bullying
I just looked outside and I dont see any pigs flying. But I am agreeing with all the posters!
Oh well, that's why I like coming to this site- a nice 25%/75% mix.
As Derek pointed out, when I read (NYT? not sure)that these cartoons were printed last September- I knew the fix was in.
Did u see this one?
HERE
This whole things exposes fault lines.
Westerners like their free speech and freedoms, as noted above this is an attempt to impose Sharia by degrees on the West through threats of violence and intimidation.
The man in the street is angry and disgusted by this, it cements his opinion that Muslims cannot be trusted, are all terrorists and murderers, and should be kicked out of Western countries because they are iminent threats to public safety. Signs threating mass terror attacks, beheading, more 9/11's and the "Real Holocaust" make this point for the man in the street.
Meanwhile the multi-culti PC loonies and their followers in European and American governments (Tony Blair, GWB, etc) cater to and grovel in disgusting ways to the seething, murder-threatening Muslims at home and abroad. The signs threatening Murder in London were against the Law, but Blair's Gov't has said they won't enforce it against Muslims.
The Average European who has to put up with Muslims in his/her daily life is angry, fed up, and sees the Government as groveling in dhimmitude (which is objectively true). They are thinking the unthinkable which is a right-wing nationalist vote for whoever can crack down or better yet expell the lot of the murder-inclined Muslims.
For the average American seeing the Danish and Norwegian flags being burnt on TV or their embassies burnt to the ground, the perception is that Muslims are violent fanatics who need a good dose of military intervention to keep them in line, like dealing with comic book villains. It also reminds them of 9/11 and that we are indeed in a conflict of civilizations.
So while this might play very well in the streets of Riyadh, or Tehran, or Amman, and distract from domestic failures at home in Muslim countries, the effect is to harden Western attitudes towards Muslims. Both Muslims in the West (who are now seen as the "enemy") and in Muslim nations.
Turkey has no chance in hell of getting into the EU. Dems look weak and appeasers in light of this cartoon jihad, Iran's "mocking the Holocaust cartoons" and nuclear weapons. Bush looks weak as well but not as weak as the Dems. And we lurch ever closer to confrontation.
The 1914 comparison is apt.
What happens if there is mass-terrorism in Denmark? Or against Danish athletes in the Winter Games? Denmark is a NATO ally and the US is obliged to defend them. It's very possible Iran could assist a terrorist attack on the Danes in Turin. Just ask the Israelis. Shades of Sarajevo and Gavrilo Princep.
Hmmmm... Rockford, I think you afre a little over the top. I agree with the frustration part of the Europeans. What I don't agree with you on is that they are a majority of murder-threatening Muslims at home and abroad. I think there are certainly some but I also agree with Yehudit that this seems pretty well planned - tho not as conspiratorial as it looks. Notice the signs - in every location where a demonstration was held, the sign print at that location was amazingly similar - done by the same core group. Yes there was collusion. No they aren't all murder inclined. Most of them just don't care. The Muslims I know personally (only three but still...) didn't see the cartoons as insulting and can't figure out what the big fuss is about.
You are right to question the timing. Timing is everything at some times.
Speaking of which; I don't have time to read everything here now. The link from pajamasmedia caught my eye. The psychological wave of comic-book interest in the West was preceded by the almost French-like rioting and very similar to the "N ewsweek Quran, forget the Bible/Torah, on the seat rioting Afghanistan etc."
Bomb, kidnap, rape, stab, burn AND THEN CRY WOLF WOLF WOLF.
What one cannot figure out is why more dramatic "real world" scarey headlines, which could sell sell sell, are not being used by a willing arm known as the media.
ie/ They're smashing skulls in Amona. ie/ The woman kidnapped in Iraq, gone a month now, was posed in the most bizarre photo with foreign "clothing." Blogs do not seem to follow that latter item of atrocity.
Full throttle Spinning in high gear now.
I'm with Andrew X that this looks like a huge blunder for the Islamic supremacist movement. They've telegraphed* their intentions toward Western civilization decades before they've built up the demographic advantage they need to make good on them.
What's really shameful about all this is that it took a bunch of religion-mocking cartoonists (as opposed to, say, serious and responsible MSM journalists**) to expose the Islamic supremacist worldview to the world in all its ugliness.
*Albeit not via Western Union.
**I know, that's an oxymoron. Indeed, that's exactly my point.
What a load of old codswallow. Sharon wanted the government to fall wo he could be elected. That's the entire explanation of his little walk that kicked off the latest intifada. Who benefitted? Sharon did.
What a load of old codswallow. Sharon wanted the government to fall so he could be elected. That's the entire explanation of his little walk that kicked off the latest intifada. Who benefitted? Sharon did.
unmitigated gall is divided into three parts:
greed, stupidity and cruelty.
Your cod got stuck in my throat...Way to be open minded and look at things without the blind racsism getting in the way.
Really i dont think Iran and the poor f#@k$ who've been forcefed this whole 'Jews' world view thing have any idea how little the average person cares about holocaust cartoons, sure we'll have some hand-ringing on the MSM but thats just cuz we've been told it's practically taboo, not cuz we actually FEEL like it's a big deal.
Took a long time for them to get mad, and, like other are saying, where did they get so many Danish flags?
Orchestrated it may be, but the effect is the same, and notably no "Moderate Muslims" have come out and said threatening to behead people is out of bounds.
The effect is to accelerate IMHO a confrontation out of control, like stepping on the accelerator.
If you believe Spengler both here and here then Muslim countries are caught in double binds.
Spengler argues in Asia Times that rising literacy rates correlate with loss of religious faith and falling population growth. That this has prompted as much as anything the religious insanity in the Muslim world to modern "doubt" because unlike Christianity and Judaism and Buddhism and Confucianism which had centuries to adapt to doubt, Islam has only a generation and is ill suited to doubt.
That further the population growth crisis has prompted Ahmadinejad to not act like a fool but a combination of Hitler and Stalin to impose totalitarian measures internally to deal with a crashing population that is also losing faith, and imperial ambitions abroad. Which of course the cartoon crisis feeds into.
Doubt and disbelief are more than just cultural characteristics, they are essential IMHO to economic growth and productivity gains which the West depends on to avoid totalitarian measures such as Ahmadinejad (basically relocating rural Iranians to new areas, and using the State to feed, house, clothe, and control their lives in thought, marriage, children, and elsewhere). Thus Westerners react strongly and very negatively whenever they find the fundamental underpinnings of productivity growth threatened, even if the threat is only instinctually understood.
Muslims already HAD a horrible image of bloodthirsty terrorists who cannot be trusted in the West. This simply underlines it and lowers the barriers to action against Muslims worldwide.
Derek (#7) makes the mistake that following the BBC timeline provides the complete picture. What's missing is the November trip by Danish Imams to the Muslim nations to fuel the fire with additional fake cartoons.
And what about the Egyptian newspaper that ran the cartoons with no apparent effect?
The conspiracy theory is confirmed.
Iran is behind this!