Thursday February 9, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

Finally.
Muslim leaders are beginning to speak out and condemn the wave of "extremist" destruction and anger that has enveloped the Muslim world this past week.
Until now Muslim leaders have been silent, complicit and even sponsors of the riots.

Hassan Wirajuda, the foreign minister of Indonesia - the most populace Muslim country in the world - condemned the violence and called for a stop to the rioting.
Mohammed Usman, a Muslim leader in Afghanistan and a member of the highly respected Ulla Council said "we condemn the cartoon ... but these rioters are defaming the name of Islam."

The rioting in countries with large Muslim populations is divided into three.
* Western democracies like Denmark, Germany, Belgium and France.
The Muslim press and Muslim leaders are using free speech to stoke the flames and ignite anger. These riots are under control because the police are on hand.

* Liberal Muslim monarchies and dictatorships like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
These governments are protesting publicly to Denmark about the cartoons and have made known their stand permitting them to now tacitly allow rioters to take to the streets under hidden control with the police nearby.

* Harsh Muslim dictatorships like Syria and Iran.
Here the protests are actually organized by the state and controlled by the police. The state controlled press is fueling the public and urging their citizens to take to the streets to protest the West.

This is revolutionary. Muslim leaders do not often go against the mainstream.