GOLDEN MOLDIES

By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago
KABUL, Afghanistan - International peacekeepers clashed Tuesday with Afghans protesting drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, leaving three demonstrators dead and prompting
NATO to send reinforcements to a remote northern city.

Senior Afghan officials said al-Qaida and the Taliban could be exploiting anger over the cartoons to incite violence, which spread to at least six cities in a second day of bloody unrest in
Afghanistan. Demonstrations rumbled on around the Muslim world, and the political repercussions deepened, with Iran suspending all trade and economic ties with Denmark, where the drawings were first published. The Danish prime minister called the protests a global crisis and appealed for calm.

In a new turn, a prominent Iranian newspaper, Hamshahri, invited artists to enter a Holocaust cartoon competition, saying it wanted to see if freedom of expression — the banner under which many Western publications reprinted the prophet drawings — also applied to Holocaust images.
(answer: yes, of course it does, and miltant Jews, don't take the hate bait!)

The drawings — including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb — have touched a raw nerve among Muslims. Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry (and for fear that they can lead to non-hate).
Violence has escalated sharply in Afghanistan this week, and seven people have died in demonstrations during the past two days. Protests, sometimes involving armed men, have been directed at foreign and Afghan government targets — fueling suspicions there's more behind the unrest than religious sensitivities. (Indeed there is - feigned outrage from Saudi Arabia is driving these so-called protests in large parts).

On Tuesday, protesters armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked the NATO base in the northern city of Maymana, which is manned by peacekeepers from Norway, Finland, Latvia and Sweden, local officials said. (What did Latvia have to do with this?)

Sayed Aslam Ziaratia, the provincial deputy police chief, said three protesters were shot and killed by Afghan and Norwegian forces and that 22 others were wounded. However, NATO said it only fired live ammunition into the air and rubber bullets. Five Norwegian peacekeepers suffered minor injuries.

"Once these crowds get together, they often get out of control, here and in other countries," (when people in the U.S. do this, regardless of their race, religion, gender, or ethnicity, we call such behavior "primitive") he said. "But if this goes on, we're going to have to take a closer look to see if there is more behind it."

The unrest in Maymana prompted NATO to send 150 British troops to help secure the base, and two American A-10 attack aircraft were flown to the city. The U.N. evacuated nonessential staff.

In Washington, President called Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to express "our solidarity and support." A Danish newspaper first printed the cartoons of Muhammad in September, and they were reprinted this month by other European papers, setting off a new round of protests. (Why are the protests so violent only NOW?)
Bush and Fogh Rasmussen agreed that all sides must move forward "through dialogue and tolerance, not violence," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
In Copenhagen, Fogh Rasmussen showed no sign of diverting from his government's stance that it cannot apologize for the actions of an independent newspaper, as demanded by governments in several Muslim nations.

Fogh Rasmussen called the protests "a growing global crisis."

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday that publication of the caricatures was (naturally) an Israeli conspiracy motivated by anger over the victory of the militant Hamas group in last month's Palestinian elections.

"The West condemns any denial of the Jewish Holocaust, (not true, and what on Earth does the Holocaust have to do with this? The countries the Muslims are unleashing their wrath on were complicit in allowing the Holocaust to happen to some degree) but it permits the insult of Islamic sanctities," Khamenei said. (Let me get this right: if the west collectively engaged in Holocaust denial, it could then, according to Khamenei and the way he structured this sentence, permit the insult of Islamic sanctities? Is this some kind of "equal time" rule?)

Tuesday saw the biggest protest yet in Pakistan, where 5,000 people chanted, "Hang the man who insulted the prophet," and burned effigies of one cartoonist and Denmark's prime minister. The rally ended peacefully. Thousands of Egyptians and Jordanians also demonstrated peacefully, calling for a boycott of Danish products and the cutting of ties with Copenhagen.

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By the way, I haven't seen the cartoons in question, but here is a description of them: One cartoon depicts Muhammad with a turban in the shape of a bomb. Another shows him at the gates of heaven, arms raised, saying to men who seem to be suicide bombers, `Stop, stop, we have run out of virgins.' A third has devil's horns emerging from his turban. A fourth shows two women who are entirely veiled, with only their eyes showing, and the prophet standing between them with a strip of black cloth covering his eyes, preventing him from seeing.'

Curious that the outrage seems to be primarily over the fact that the image of Muhammed was used, period, rather than how it was used. Based on the mere description of these images (which does not tell the whole story), it is arguable that at least two of the cartoons' purpose was to make a pointed criticism, that while, sarcastically expressed, is grounded in reality. The other two (the one with a turban in the shape of a bomb, and the one with devil's horns emerging from the turban) can be viewed as what the author believes Muslims think Mohammed wants them to do against certain people (engage in suicide missions, in the cynical name of "God"). Of course, people who are predisposed to be offended, for whatever reason, will get offended.

America has not been nearly as kind to Muslim Americans and Muslim visitors as it can be (recall what happened shortly after September 11th). But it helps to put things in perspective: 3,000 of our citizens were killed that day, and I don't recall scores of public riots where dozens of Muslims were killed - let alone because they were Muslims. On the other hand, the publication of 4 cartoons has lead to death, riots the world over, burnings in effigy, suspension of diplomatic ties, and a none-too-subtle call to Muslims to engage in acts of bigotry, of not violence, against "Jews," and "the West."

I cannot even begin to imagine, and do not want to imagine, what the Islamic response would be, if the United States intentionally (i.e. beyond Iraq war intentionally) committed an act of terror against Islam - say, by taking 4 planes and crashing them into the four most sacred mosques in Islamic society. No doubt some in the U.S. wish this to happen.

God - whatever god - any god - forbid.