Sunday, September 16, 2012

Revolting Muslims

There was a time if an embassy was breached and an Ambassador was killed this was a causus belli.  An imperial power would despatch a couple of gun-boats and bombard the offending country and send in the marines.  But, now its much more complex.  Yes, Pres. Obama sent two warships and a detachment of marines to Benghazi, Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed when the US Consulate was attacked and destroyed, but he also almost apologized for doing so.  He made it quite clear that the US does not agree with the anti-Muslim sentiments of the supposed movie "The innocence of Muslims" and that he does not hold the current Libyan Government responsible for the action of a small (or quite large) minority. 
The fact that the US stands for freedom of expression was glossed over.  In the US you can say practically anything, you can criticize Christians, Jews (there is a lot of that) and Muslims (in principle), protected by the various amendments to the Constitution, and get away with it.  You can display bad taste, obscenity and stupidity (like most Hollywood movies) and get away with it.  Even a badly produced and acted video is protected under freedom of expression, although it might be illegal if it is truly inflammatory.  But, the Muslims want NO criticism and by violently rioting every time there is the least bit of criticism of Mohammed, that intimidates any such criticism.  Hence cartoonists are very careful now after the events of 2006, and movie makers will be more self-censoring.  Even though it is stated in the Koran that Mohammed married a 13 year old girl and murdered a whole tribe after tricking them to lay down their weapons, noone will mention it, it will be the elephant in the room.
Whoever made the video tried of course to transfer blame onto that all-encompassing scapegoat, the Jew, and an Israeli at that.  But, it turned out that it was a lie, and the fictitious Sam Bacile does not exist, but is a pseudonym of a Californian emigre Coptic Christian Basseley Nakoula, who wanted to vent his anti-Muslim feelings.  It is not surprising that the Copts have anti-Muslim feelings, since they are an Egyptian minority (10%) treated to constant harassment and murder by the Muslim majority.  Every now and then the Muslims riot and attack and burn Churches, just as they used to attack and burn synagogues. 
There are two mitigating circumstances to the Benghazi events.  First, it appears that the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi was a pre-planned, calculated attack with heavy weapons, on the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US, which make it seem more like an al Qaeda type of attack, unlike the attacks in Cairo and elsewhere on US Embassies that were carried out by unarmed mobs.  So the reaction to the objectionable video was a convenient cover for a more serious and professional hit there.  Also, different is that in Benghazi the whole building was destroyed and Americans were murdered.  Second, the Libyan Government failed to provide security for the Consulate and the US Government also failed to adequately protect its personnel, apparently despite prior warnings of an attack. Both Governments have now said that the attack was carried out by members of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb (N. Africa) and another terrorist group, and the Libyan Government have arrested four men said to have been involved in the attack. 
These riots do not bring any credit to the Muslims, it shows them as undisciplined, violent and childish (even Pres. Morsi of Egypt said they were childish).   They are a gross over-raction to an unimportant and amateurish criticism.  Are they so insecure that they cannot open their faith to any challenge and cannot distinguish between the US and a private individual?  In any case, these events show that Muslims are not friends of the US and if a stupid short video can cause such rioting, then the US is in a very tenuous position throughout the Arab/Muslim world. Spending billions of dollars in these countries, as the US does in Egypt, will not buy the US their friendship or support.  What is clear is that the removal of the Arab dictators through the much-heralded "Arab Spring" has unleashed a wave of anti-American and anti-Western hysteria throughout the Arab world.  What the US needs in the Middle East is a good reliable ally, and oh, by the way, it has one, Israel! 

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home