It's Not About the Cartoons

As I type, Sean Hannity and Pat Buchanan are arguing about the use of political cartoons in Denmark depicting Muhammad. Neither one particularly approve of the cartoons. Hannity argues that we should expect the Muslims to be civil about their opposition to the cartoons. Buchanan argues that we should expect them to be violent. My argument is that it's not about the cartoons.

A Danish imam, Ahmad Abu Laban, is the source of the riots. While the cartoons were printed just over a week ago on the front page, the cartoons were printed as early as September of last year. At that time, Abu Laban faked some images of his own and toured the Middle East to work up anger against Europeans in order to force a call for Denmark to change laws to be more Islamic.

Thus, my argument: it's not about the cartoons. It could be about something else completely arbitrary that has been trumped up by the imam or other Muslims like him. While we must try to live peaceably with all people, we can't walk on eggshells if our would-be enemies are looking for any excuse they can manufacture in order to attack.