Film protests resulting in deaths and injuries have no excuse nor can fault be shifted to the US

The feeble minded are searching for a rationale to explain the violence allegedly in response to the film clip made by those that being called feeble minded would be praise. We are led, not maliciously though, to believe that these people of violence were upset by the clip's denigration of Mohamed. I wonder.

For the moment I am leaving Libya out of the consideration. While there seems to be some differences between a Libya official and the US ambassador as to the cause of  the violence leading to the death of the US ambassador - I side with Libya in that it was a strategic attack under the guise of protest. Libya too appears to be the only Muslim country to react appropriately.

A New York Times piece seems to suggest that culture clash might be at the root of the protests. Cultural Clash Fuels Muslims Raging at Film. Really? What cultures are clashing? A look at the mob participants does not find religious leaders, community leaders or those whose time is focused is on the welfare of their families.



But here is an insight. "Mr. Ali, a 39-year-old textile worker said, holding up a handwritten sign in English that read “Shut Up America.” 'Obama is the president, so he should have to apologize!'” We will never know, but a sign written in English? Let's assume he wrote it himself - isn't it a bit incongruous that he can read, write and speak English yet he is attacking America. Apparently learning English is useful for sign writing.

The sign writer too doesn't seem to grasp that it is an odd rationale to hold Obama responsible for the action of the film maker, yet not hold their county's leaders responsible for the mob violence resulting in deaths, injuries and property damage.

There is a certain oddity too in that the sign holder knew the president of the US. Episodes of Jay walk suggest that many US citizens would have no idea.

But, I don't believe that this sign writer and others like him participated based upon personal convictions. Nor is it explained by differing ideology of the Muslim people. This quote from the NY Times article depicts a fallacy in reasoning and promotes a victimology where Muslim see themselves as 'victims' of American values.

“We want these countries to understand that they need to take into consideration the people, and not just the governments,” said Ismail Mohamed, 42, a religious scholar who once was an imam in Germany. “We don’t think that depictions of the prophets are freedom of expression. We think it is an offense against our rights,” he said, adding, “The West has to understand the ideology of the people.”

These 'victims' lack introspection. Tolerance is absent. Whatever resulted in America speeding by most other nations and cultures in a relatively short time has not resulted in the failure of those countries and cultures to develop and succeed.

Don't fault the US' successes as the rationale for the failures of other countries and cultures. It is ironic that the political and religious leaders of these countries and cultures emulate American values while often their people live with 3rd century values and aspirations.

The US has much to apologize for in its prosecution of the war on terror which is rightly seen more as a war on Muslim faith. E.g., in places like New York, the city and federal governments have spied on Muslims in their mosques. If the spying would have been on Christians in their churches - the outrage would be unmatched by any Arab Spring event.

But, the silence of these political and religious leaders in the wake of these violent actions is proof that the real cause behind the violence is not the denigration of Mohamed - it is the management of events to shift the focus from their failures to everybody's favorite uncle, while at the same time enjoying the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

There is a tragic subtext - the death of the US ambassador to Libya that has been largely ignored in the media. While that that death might not equate numerically with those of 9-11 - it is just as egregious. Thus far our outrage, assuming that we are outraged, has not been sufficiently expressed. 

While I understand Hilary Clinton's need to calm matters - the death of the ambassador cannot be merely assigned to a "small and savage group." It results from a pervasive and pernicious attitude stealthy held by the leaders of these countries.

It should not go unnoticed that in almost all, if not all, countries in the Middle East protest arena the populace are uneducated living in conditions of poverty. That is not the fault of the US.