Screenshots

Yes, Jeff, the black and white one is one of the 3 extra cartoons that the Danish Imams added and shown to the Arabs while they went on a tour to explain how evil the West is. One can only question their motive in deliberate disinformation and provocation.

Check out the story at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons#Rumours_and_disinformation_regarding_the_images

In particlar, Chapter 8.4 --

/// A Muslim religious organisation in Denmark, Islamisk Trossamfund, played a large part in bringing attention to the cartoons to Muslims of the Middle East during a recent tour. According to some sources they also added three additional images to the group and claimed that they had been published in Jyllands-Posten as well[71] [72]. These three images are all considerably more obscene than the published cartoons, and none of them had previously been published by Jyllands-Posten or any other mainstream media outlet.///

The other 2 extra wicked cartoons, in case readers cannot find the links in the wikipedia entry, show a Muslim prostrate in prayer being raped by a dog and Mohammad as a paedophile.

These are indeed sick cartoons. But they will never part of the original 12. So, who are the real culprits here?

I am glad that truth prevails and even glad that thru internet more information can be drawn for thought.

veRine

What truth? The addition of additional cartoons still do not change the fact that printing of the original 12 cartoons caused the crisis.

The argument would have been different if the Muslims had fabricated ALL of the cartoons. Then we say, the Truth prevails.

All I can say is the Muslims who added in the cartoons are being silly and stupid and had diluted their case. Nothing more.

It is still NO comfort to those who still feel justified that the 12 cartoons were printed and reprinted in the western media.

Dear Frank and Honest,
You’re not very honest are you?[ DELETED - Distortionist at work ]. Did it even register with you that the added cartoons were even viler than the original 12? Be fair man!
These so called imams [ DELETED - No expletives here in my blog! ]. To actually go on tour to drum up the rage. After the whole thing had died down last year. Unbelievable. The West have their share of diabolical idiots as well too, which doesn’t help at all.

Frank&Honest,

I think the reason why Jeff publish this is so that we can think for a while, the reason behind the addtional 3 cartoons. Are there any motives behind it?

Yes, the damage is done. No one is saying that the original cartoons is justifiable. But no matter the reason, no matter how outraged, NO ONE in this world should resort to violence to punish anyone.

War could never make peace nor solve any problems

Sorry frank and honest, you speak utter rubbish. In the first place, the cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper with circulation so small that hardly anyone reads it.

In the second place, the newspaper that published the cartoons might have been doing something insensitive, BUT not something illegal. Ditto to all the other European media reprinting those cartoons. Hence, only fools blame the countries (in one case the extremely idiotic and naive boycott of Danish products)for the actions of their media. I for one wouldn't like to think of what is published in utusan as representative of our government, would you? (shudder).

Feel offended? Don't read Jyllands-Posten. Or any of the newspapers that published the cartoon. Problem solved. Why this is so hard to comprehend is beyond me.

Gunnfan

You missed my point. They are being stupid and silly for diluting their case, whether the cartoons they added in were more vile than others. Read again.. and slowly what I said.

As for the Imams, they asked for Danish govt to fix the problem. The Danish PM refused to even meet any of the Danish Clerics and even the Ambassadors of the Muslim countries. What you do want these Muslim clerics and Ambassadors to do when their Prophet is being dragged down the gutters by the cartoons in the mass media and being reprinted by other countries. Keeping quiet and smile about it?

You need to get real, my friend.

I presume you have a religion and deeply affected by it ( if you don't, then my question to you is irrelevant)... Put yourself in your shoes (better still as a Muslim) and say here you don't mind those cartoons. If you cannot empathise as a Muslim, then your comments carry little weight here.

The fabrications are indeed despicable, and must be condemned, just as the violence that we have seen in the past several days should also be condemned.

However, they do not dilute the offensiveness of the 12 caricatures that were published by Jyllands-Posten, and the provocative effect of the republication of the caricatures by other newspapers.

Let's be clear here: the Europeans are not totally blameless.

Phoenikz

I need not respond to you here as I have made my point in the other thread on Jeff's blog.

You are just re-hatching an old worn-out argument.

Sorry, take another line please.

I agree with Frank&Honest, it is wrong to put extra vile pictures there. But still doesnt clear the air for the newspaper that printed 12 cartoons.

Its not 1, not 3 but TWELVE cartoons. Thats why its super offensive.

And to know for a fact that the newspaper rejected cartoons of Jesus because it is 'deemed unsuitable' speaks highly of double standards.

Phoenikz:

"Feel offended? Don't read Jyllands-Posten. Or any of the newspapers that published the cartoon. Problem solved. Why this is so hard to comprehend is beyond me."

How overly simplistic. How naive.

Some people accuse Muslims of living in ignorance.

I'm not too sure about, are you?

DarkAeon

You said: But no matter the reason, no matter how outraged, NO ONE in this world should resort to violence to punish anyone.

I am in full agreement with you and I have that point absolutely clear in the other thread.

Let me add here"

The violence and the burning of buildings are uncalled for and cannot be condoned.

We all must realise that Muslims after 9/11 and with Bush's war on terrorism ( read Islam vs West by default)are being besieged by the West, rightly or wrongly, they feel intimidated, viled, accused, words like terrorists implicitly referred to them, and having no recourse in the western media, who are party to the vilificaiton of the Muslims.

The cartoons were the last straw broke the camel's back or rather, it acts as a trigger for those Muslim fundamentalists to manipulate the situation to drive a deeper wedge.

It is impossible to believe that the Danish journalists and journalists in the Europe are not aware that their participation in the printing of the cartoons will spark the raging fires that is going on now.These journalists are not writing from Timbuktu.

I support Frank&Honest.

People with a sense of dignity will never destroy the dignity of others, regardless of the circumstances. People with foresight will never commit actions that have the possibility, no matter how remote, of creating misunderstanding, hatred and vengeance.

A friend of mine was driving along a highway when another motorist cut dangerously into his path. His ego was bruised so he showed his middle finger at the reckless driver. The driver stopped his car, got off and whacked the hell out of my friend. My friend ended up a bigger idiot than the other reckless idiot.

We must think of the consequences of our actions BEFORE we speak, write or do any damn thing. Our commitment to world peace is to do anything and everything that brings peace and not otherwise. And, please do not give any excuses or justifications.

Sorry Aisehman I don't get what you are saying. Perhaps you feel the best way to deal with the situation is to lead mass protests and burn the Danish and Norwegian flags, then burn their embassies (not that the embassies had anything to do with the cartoons, but hey, the Danish are all alike, yes), stone the Austrian embassy (because Austria is currently chairing the EU), lead a boycott of Danish products (not that cream cheese and milk have much to do with cartoons, but again they're all alike) and demand the Danish and Norwegian governments apologize for something they clearly aren't responsible for?

I see, that plan of action is clearly working wonders.

Sometimes, you have to turn your back on insults. An eye for an eye and the world goes blind. I'm guessing you are a muslim. So long as your faith is strong does it make you any less of a muslim if the Danish newspaper prints even a thousand cartoons?

Lets not forget that someone earlier commented in another of Jeff's posts that the media in the arab world poke fun at the Jews in worse ways every day.

Hi Frank & Honest,
Well, perhaps not all truth, but some truth is still truth, agree?

If you noticed that I have not commented on the cartoon issue because i know that situation have gone bad and if only both sides the publisher or the cartoonist have settled in to pause a moment and try not to take matters insensitively. Hence, those rioters too should take a moment and resolve matters in a more civilised manner.

Of course that leaves you and many others to comment further whether the action is justified and so forth. In which it'll never end. Like the chicken and egg story.

Well, for this matter and in this topic, I wish to just say that Internet have enable me to find out truth. Be it the whole or partial... alwways better than none.

Ciao.

I agree with Frank and Honest. The 12 cartoons should not hve been published as they are the cause of the incensed response.

Oops!...The internet has a whole lot more stuff that should incense a lot more people. That should be cut off! The telephone lines bring all of this offensive pictures, stories and articles that insult and are perverted. We should pull out all the telephone wires and melt them down so that we can make more prisons out of them. The cartoons were printed on newsprint paper that came from trees. How vile trees can be...we should burn all that down.

So where and when do we stop?

And Jeff, my hats off to you. For the effort you have thrown in this blog. Yes, I truly agree that you blog and let us draw our own conclusion.

I wish to add:

I am not a Muslim but I say NO to the 12 cartoons.

As a non-Muslim I wish to stand united with Muslim moderates.

As a non-Muslim I will never give any "ammunitions" to Muslim fundamentalists or extremists.

If we provide them the opportunities, circumstances, encouragement to launch attacks against us, do not blame them.

We are to blame.

Frank & Honest,
I do have a faith in my own religion. But my faith isn’t so fragile that I can get so easily offended by a cartoon. And believe me my religion gets all kinds of abuse from artists, musicians, and worse still televangelists. ;)

JEFF OOI says: Please save us the agony and take your inter-personal rile offline. Don't hijack my blog topic.

PS
Hey Jeffrey, sorry about the expletive in my previous post, I had just visited the rudepundit and you know how that guy gets.;)
Won’t happen again. Your blog is one of the best parts of our local blogosphere and I for one will play by your rules when visiting.
Keep up the good work mate.

Conspiracy?

Press Freedom doesn't mean I can write, draw or talk about your family matter... your religious matter!

Many years you "KENA" being bully and push to the wall. One fine day this people will bounch back to you!

sorry phoenikz, you are the one who have been speaking utter rubbish...

"... the newspaper that published the cartoons might have been doing something insensitive, BUT not something illegal."

according to danish law:
* “Section 266-B of the Danish Criminal Code says: ‘Any person who, publicly or with the intention of wider dissemination, makes a statement or imparts other information by which a group of people are threatened, insulted or degraded on account of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, or sexual inclination shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years.’
* “Section 140, which deals with blasphemy, reads: ‘Those who publicly mock or insult the doctrines or worship of any religious community that is legal in this country, will be punished by a fine or incarceration for up to four months’.”
(taken from http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C02%5C08%5Cstory_8-2-2006_pg7_51 )

the point is: the danish imams went to the middle east only AFTER their case had been rejected by the danish court. that seems like injustice to me.

as for the 3 extra drawings, they were separated from the real 12 by several letters, and were clearly CAPTIONED to mention that they were NOT part of the 12.
(taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/03/wcart103.xml )

by the way, the original 12 are enough to make muslims' blood boil. (and i have not even seen these extra 3.) this discussion (sorry jeff) is actually pointless. it's clear that someone is trying to pin the blame on those danish imams.

The religious beliefs generate the appropriate emotion that is implied but you are not your emotions or feelings. Let them flow through you, you feel them and then they disappear.

But the moment you try to hold them back they build up and when instigated further by others, you get angry, you protest or you get violent.

Your beliefs generate emotion. It is somewhat fashionable to place feelings above conscious thoughts, the idea being that emotions are more basic and natural than conscious reasoning is.
The two actually go together but your conscious thinking largely determines your emotions, and not the other way around.

something else for you guys to think upon:

"Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have caused a storm of protest throughout the Islamic world, refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus Christ, it has emerged today.
The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of Christ three years ago, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny."
(taken from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1703501,00.html )

imagine the Jyllands-Posten editor...
* cartoons making fun of jesus: NO!!! IT'S NOT FUNNY!
* cartoons making fun of muhammad: YES!!! HAHAHA!!!

vain_harper, wrong on so many counts.

a) If the courts rule that the cartoons were not a violation of Danish Law, then they weren't a violation od Danish Law. I'm curious of how you (and the ahem, Pakistani newspaper) came to the conclusion that the cartoons were "against the law" when the Danish courts ruled that they do not fall under the term "mock".

Who the hell are we, people from another nation to question the ruling of the court of a sovereign nation? Didn't Old man M tell the Westerners to mind their own business when several protested over the court ruling of Anwar? Do unto others what you want them to do unto you, or so the old adage goes.

b) I don't want to go off topic but Jesus is a VERY common symbol of ridicule in the West - Monthy Pythons Life of Brian ridiculed the story of Jesus and Jesus (and God) have even made appearances on South Park. Were Christians offended? I don't know, maybe. They just chose not to watch the show.

c) The fact that the Danish imams willingly inserted 3 extra cartoons is relevant - it shows that they were purposely bent on rousing religious sentiment within the muslim community. Hence the addition of an extra 3 more insulting cartoons in case the original 12 didn't create enough fury in Muslims.

PS: vain_harper, captioned differently or not, it doesn't disguise the fact that the Imams faked them - and this forgery has been exposed.

Phoenikz

Try and enlighten yourself on this crisis by reading this article on the link below, it saves us alot of space and time to get it across to you.

Anyway, sometimes it is hard to crack entrenched opinions however hard one tries.

Here, have a go and it maybe worth your while to engage a debate with you.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-02-07-faith-speech-understanding_x.htm

phoenikz...

the danish imams faked them??? who told you so? they said that the 3 drawings were taken from hate mails received by danish muslims. the point of including them in their dossier (SEPARATED from the original 12) is to show the extent of islamophobia in denmark.

(the islamophobia that caused the same imams to seek international muslims' support, since even danish judges are islamophobic. the danish PM simply brushed away the 11 ambassadors who came to discuss this issue with him.)

now, what stops you from believing them, other than simply the wish to say that "this is the danish imams' fault"?

and fyi, the majority of muslims have not seen these 3 extra drawings. they are still angry...

Frank&Honest,

Again you post an article that misses the point entirely. If the muslims want to be outraged, that is fine, however they should know who to be outraged at - AT THE PAPERS rather than at the countries.

Thats what freedom of speech is all about. The Danish government is not responsible for what is published in Jyllands Posten. Neither are the Austrian Government. Nor Danish companies who sell goods in the Middle East.

If you want to show your outrage - boycott Jyllands Posten. Not that it does much good, I doubt any muslims read the paper to begin with.

Boycotting Danish goods to show your "outrage" over a newspaper cartoon whose only connection to the company is that they are both from the same country is daft.

I am lost for words as well. Appears to be an attempt to mislead and create mischief.

Thus, when we exercise our "freedom", it is important to understand our motive. I wonder what the Danish imams have to say to this expose. I also wonder if the muslim community will criticise the Danish imams for bringing disrepute to their prophet for their insinuation. I think they, too, should issue an apology.

Hmmm... the original 12 cartoons caused some fire. The additional 3 cartoons was densely packed fuel to add up the spice!

Anger and hatred's the main ingredient in this recipe. And the recipe is working.

The muslims are the most united race around the world. That's is why this recipe can work so well.

There is a possibility someone behind this, someone wanted a war to happen. A war between the muslims and the west. Because most muslim countries are oil rich.

He would take this opportunity to sparks some fire and add some fuel here and there. Someone who can benefit from war.

If the muslims starts the violence world wide, then they have entered the trap. When it reach an unbearable level, someone with great power can then intervene and benefit from it. Think and look at the big picture!

Frank $ Honest,

I quote from the article you pointed to: "The foreign editor of the paper, Jan Lund, said: "I don't remember anyone raising any objections. The idea seemed good. The intention was to provoke debate about the extent to which we self-censor in our coverage of Muslim issues."

From that it would seem like as if this guy is suggesting that he has never really had any kind of intimate or even friendly encounters with Muslims or for that matter even bothered to understand Muslim sensitivites. There seems to have been an assumption in that statement that if Jesus had been parodied and made fun of in the Chritian world, that this parody should be fair game too. A fatal misjudgement I would say.

I dare say, that in Malaysia it is highly unlikely that even for personal consumption or for private circulation there would be any non-Muslim Malaysian or for that matter Asian who would do such a thing. I guess most of us have seen these cartoons. Now ask yourself, how many of you have forwarded these to your unsuspecting friends? I know I have not. Not out of fear of repurcussions or anything, but just that I know it to be disrespectful and the thought just does not even cross my mind.

Does that mean we have to fault the Danish editors or those people in the editorial team? Indeed as far as they are concerned, they were born there...know it to be home and know the operating rules within that extended home. It sounds like they have not previously been told that the ground rules for living at home have been changed with the immigration of people for whom completely alien ground rules operate.

Taking their word for it that they had had no intention to offend, it would seem like even within their own home they were living under the proverbial coconut shell!

Phoenikz
You said: Again you post an article that misses the point entirely. If the muslims want to be outraged, that is fine, however they should know who to be outraged at - AT THE PAPERS rather than at the countries

I hope you are not too naive in your comments above.

The fire has raged way past all reason. The horse has bolted out of the door. And you are telling those angry mob to reason.

The Muslim clerics and the Muslim ambassadors were telling the Danish Govt to deal with the Danish newspaper and the PM refused. So hell broke loose.

I do hope you undestand mob mentality. It is a forest fire now. The Muslim clerics did warn the Danish PM that something need to be done with the Danish newspaper short of asking the Danish muslims to burn down the building of athe newspaper (which they didn't).

You are right and nobody will disagree. But you are just many days late to tell the mob... or in American jargon, you have just become a Monday quarterback expert.

vain_harper:

Not forgeries? Oh come now don't be so naive. maybe you didn't read the link Jeff provided, which ominously (for the Danish imams at least) states "when Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet asked if it could talk to (the Muslims who the tour of Imams said received the "hate mail"), Ahmad Akkari (spokesman of the tour) refused to reveal their identity".

Caught with their pants down there. Definitely forgery then.

Anyway who would be stupid enough to send a photograph of a Frenchman dressed as a pig and try to pass it off as Prophet Muhammad? Well apparently some Imams are even more clueless about Islam than the far right. ;)

Unanimously we can agree:-

1) Do not ridicule other religion even we do not believe it.
2) Do not judge others for you will be judged
3) Do not condemn
4) Do not draw your sword as you will be drawn the same way
5) Love one another

So guys, if the rest of the world is making fun of your religion, don't do the same. It will never end.

F&H:

"The Muslim clerics and the Muslim ambassadors were telling the Danish Govt to deal with the Danish newspaper and the PM refused."

Oh my goodness of course he refused. You would too if you were him.

Because if he did, it would be unconstitutional and odds are the courts would overrule his actions, while the paper would sue the government and definitely win.

The courts in the West do not kowtow to the ruling party you know, unlike in places closer to home.

Not to mention that the party would be promptly voted out in the next elections due to trying to crack down on freedom of speech.

Muslims cannot and should not expect non-Muslims to abide by Muslim laws and customs, especially in their own country. If the paper was not breaking any laws, the Danish government should not and frankly speaking, take any action nor apologize on behalf of the paper.

I am awaiting our PM's public apology to all muslims and subsequent resignation because the Sarawak Tribune published some of the cartoons. After all, because a Malaysian newspaper published the cartoons the Malaysian government must of course be held responsible for the actions of the paper's editors.

If no apology is forthcoming I would expect an immediate and all-encompassing boycott on malaysian products.

Definitely sounds unreasonable when put like that, eh.

vER!Ne

You said: So guys, if the rest of the world is making fun of your religion, don't do the same. It will never end

It is a bit too late now.

Read below:

(i) As Islamic protests grew against the publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, a small but vocal Muslim immigrant organization responded with a drawing on its Web site of Hitler in bed with Anne Frank. "Write this one in your diary, Anne," Hitler was shown as saying.The intent, said the group, the Arab European League, was "to use our right to artistic expression," just as the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten did last September when it published 12 cartoons showing Muhammad, several of them satiric. Click here for more: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/international/europe/08islam.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1139374800&en=102c025d3704270c&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

(ii) Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

Click here for more: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411319/657903

Even politicians burn flags: read below

(iii)State assembly members in Kano, northern Nigeria, burnt Danish flags on Tuesday in protest at the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad and said they would impose a boycott of Danish goods and firms.
Click here for more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07301675.htm

Phoenikz

Our discussion has reached non-sequitur.

BTW, the editor of Sarawak Tribune had fallen on his sword. So your argument of an apology from the PM is irrelevant to the issue.

Just to inject some sense and sanity into this whole religious issue, I thought I should share this gem of a quote:

///
When the religious rent-a-mob ceases it's violence;

when all religions relinquish their ambition to hold sway over the entire earth;

when all countries realise that their laws only apply in their territories;

when everyone realises that religion is only a tool for political power;

when national laws are observed in preference to ancient rules interpreted by unelected zealots..

..then and only then will thinking men and women of peace begin to address the problems that beset our world.

S Lambert,
Preston
///

I like what Phoenikz has been saying all through this topic. He's right in saying that freedom of expression is guaranteed in Denmark and also under the European Convention of Human Rights. For Frank & Honest to expect the Danish courts and their PM to derogate this basic right is to misunderstand how strongly freedom of expression is taken here. You see, there they're not under threat of a little thing we have in Malaysia called the Internal Security Act. Also (off topic a little) to answer the point about reprinting the cartoons over and over again. The other newspapers did it to stand up for freedom of expression, which in this day of political correctness, and as it appears, fear of reprisals and death sentences by aggrieved people, is slowly being eaten away.

Anyway, F&H, to simply state that the addition of cartoons was "silly and stupid and diluted their case" is to put too much faith in the naivete of the imams. It must appear to any reasonable person that they knew what they were doing. I mean come on, doctoring a photo of a pig squealing contest in France? This is a deliberate incitement of hatred TOWARDS the West, and to me, THEY, not the Danish newspaper, are at fault for all the riots and burning of embassies and so on. Digging up 4 month old articles in a newspaper in an obscure language that no one else can read? Hint of political agenda don't you think?

Frank & Honest:

Its a perfectly good analogy. After all, the editor of the Jyllands-Posten has apologized for printing the cartoon, despite acknowledging at the same time that he was not contravening any laws (which is of course, true).

Phoenikz
The Danish newspaper editor apologised after all the damaged had been done.
Still irrelevant

hann

I am not questioning that the PM or the Danish court was wrong in defending their position with regard to the freedom of expression.

You and I here can pontificate as much as we want on this weblog on what is right and what is wrong, but in global realpolitik, it does not work that way,much as you and I like. Your thoughts are good for the academic to discuss in seminar lecture halls not in the realpolitiks of global events. We can discuss this till the cows come home when the reality is that this cartoon, for anybody, notwithstanding their strong view of freedom of expression, will result in a disastrous outcome. The lesson of the Salman Rushdie case would have served as a warning sign.

My position is that the journalists, and the newspaper of 135 years old, are either naive or blatantly and deliberataely intent on being provocative. Eithe way, that's the price that is paid, rightly or wrongly.

There is what is called realpolitik which the Danish PM ( not the Danish court) should have fully understood the consequences... or that he is being politically naive and that is the price you pay.Some commentators in Europe say he is just being arrogant. And he is regretting it, though said and couched in diplomatic language. You should read all the news on the issue as I do.

Even the editor of that Danish paper had said that he would NOT have published that cartoon if he had known it will generate into this chaotic mess.

No, those imams were not naive when they added those 3 additional photos. You too have read me wrong as other readers have done. I say they are stupid and silly for diluting their case, whether they make it more vile or less. I have already mentioned my view on this earlier or on another thread. I wish not to repeat.

I feel sorry for the ordinary citizens facing this outrage. I also feel the extreme response by the Muslims in terms of burning buildings etc is to be condemned and uncalled for. But I am here not to justify or otherwise their rage and anger, neither should you, as you are not the bereaved party in the mess.

There is the law of cause and effect. You don't judge a situation and say the effect is the cause.

The extra cartoon thing reminds me of the Deir Yassin Massacre of 1948. The Arab media back then made a blunder by spicing up the massacre (they reported rapes, which was categorically denied by the villagers), which in turn backfired, created a refugee crisis for the Palestinian Arabs, instead of pushing them to fight back harder against the Israelis.

So, what would be the unintended consequences of the 3 extra cartoons?

v2k20
You asked: So, what would be the unintended consequences of the 3 extra cartoons?

Good question.
My view:
(1) The western media will push this hard to discredit the Muslims' case.Which they have started and CBC TV had interviewed the cleric who went around the Middle East with those cartoons.

(2)It would make no difference to the mob rampaging because the 12 original cartoons still insulted the Prophet Muhammad and because of the sheer numbers of 12 cartoons against 3 fabricated cartoons.

In the broader picture of the outcome of the mess , it will not make a hoot of a difference to the mob. They are already bent on attacking the western journalist... and the cartoon issue is just an outlet for pent-up anger
- since 9/11,
-the western media biased since then,
-the war in Afghanistan,in Iraq,
-Abu Ghraib torture,
-perceived US and international Jewish control of the western media,
-the perceived Jewish and Israeli control of US Congress and US Senate, the unresolved Palestinian conflict.

These are the ready made ingredients for the rampage, while the cartoons are just newly added top-up ingredients

Hei, you guys have given me a great idea!

Why not let's all trawl the net endlessly to look for more disgusting stuff put up by people to offense other people (and religions), report them on Jeff's blog, get everyone heated up, get more "irresponsible governments" to apologise, start more riots and boycotts and stuff like that??

This issue is getting more ridiculous and more irrelevant by the day. And it looks like it won't stop soon (Sigh... God help us!)

F&H,
Your point about realpolitik is well taken, and I admit that my argument is somewhat idealistic. However, should the realities of the situation always dictate our actions? All I'm saying is that the media did NO WRONG in printing and reprinting those cartoons, for the very reason that we should all not lie down in fear of an illegal fatwa/death warrant placed upon our heads. Or rampaging mobs for that matter. To live in fear of perpetual reprisal is not the way to live one's life, at the same time, to live with one's mouth permanently closed is not a very attractive alternative either.