Islamic Conference, Bill Clinton, Bush Administration,
Radical Muslims comment on Cartoon Controversy
The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned the
burning of the embassies in Damascus. “Overreactions surpassing the limits of
peaceful democratic acts... are dangerous and detrimental to the efforts to defend the
legitimate case of the Muslim world,” the OIC said in a statement. ...arabnews.com Read News Here
Bill Clinton said, "This question, as crucial as it is, is
irrelevant to an ethical evaluation of the cartoons. The fact is, these and other jihad
terrorists claim Muhammad’s example and words as their inspiration. Some of the
cartoons call attention to that fact." Noting, as some of the cartoons do, that there
is a connection between the teachings of Muhammad and Islamic violence, is simply to
manifest an awareness of what has been repeatedly asserted by Osama bin Laden, Ayman
Al-Zawahiri, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Omar Bakri, Abu Hamza, Abu Bakar Bashir, and so many
others. Do all these men and so many, many others misunderstand and misrepresent the
teachings of Muhammad and Islam?
The Bush administration condemned the violent protests against the
cartoons that have taken place around the world and urged governments to take steps to
lower tensions. "We understand fully why people, why Muslims, find the cartoons
offensive, and we've also spoken out about the importance of the right for people to
express their views and freedom of speech in society," the White House spokesman,
Scott McClellan, said.
"Those who disagree with the views that were expressed certainly have the right to
condemn them but they should be peaceful and we urge constructive dialogue about this
difficult issue."
Afghanistan protester Mawli Abdul Qahar Abu Israra told the BBC. "They want to know
whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and to their newspapers," he
said. At least five people have been killed in Afghanistan.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, a key group in the insurgency fighting US-led
and Iraqi forces, posted an internet statement on Sunday calling for gruesome violence
against citizens of countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad have been
published.... "We swear to God, if we catch one of their citizens in Iraq, we will
cut him to pieces, to take revenge for prophet," said the statement on a site known
for carrying militant content.
Muslim cartoon rage, having spread now all across the Muslim world, from Egypt and Sudan
to Pakistan and beyond, also threatens to become the tinderbox that sets off a much larger
conflagration between the West and the Islamic world than the present conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan. The Muslim world was enraged over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and over
reports last May that a Qur’an had been flushed down at toilet at Guantanamo Bay. As
opposed to the Qur’an desecration scandal, the international scope of the cartoon
rage makes those other sources of anger trivial compared to it.
The question here is one of proportionate response. If a Qur’an had indeed been
flushed, Muslims would have justifiably been offended. They may justifiably have
considered the perpetrators as barbarians or infidels. They may justifiably have issued
denunciations accordingly. But that is all. To kill people thousands of miles away who had
nothing to do with the act, and to fulminate with threats and murder against the entire
Western world, all because of this alleged act, is not just disproportionate. It is not
just excessive. It is mad. And every decent person in the world ought to have the courage
to stand up and say that it is mad.” |
