Who’s REALLY behind the cartoon riots?

I’ve been watching the sheer INSANITY going on with the Danish cartoons for the past few weeks, and yes I’ve even given my own thoughts on this matter, but there has been one question that has remained elusive…

Who’s behind it?

Yes, I KNOW it’s the Muslims behind the protests and the acts of violence and the general fear that is being spread all over the world, but this outrage didn’t just happen overnight.

The cartoons made their appearance in Dutch newspapers in September of 2005. The protests and the worldwide outrage didn’t start until the end of January of 2006. In the age of the Internet and of worldwide news services like Al Jazerra ("The network where Muslims can do no wrong"), I find it hard to believe that such an outrage could happen with a FOUR MONTH delay! The news of a US Serviceman accidentally stepping on Muslim’s prayer rug would get immediate world-wide condemnation the moment it happens, even if such a story never exists, but a series of cartoons in a Danish newspaper gets a FOUR MONTH lag time? I don’t think so, slappy!

Clearly someone’s jerking the chain of the devout. So who’s the jerk?

The Bush Imperium is putting the blame on Syria and Iran. It’s a credible finger-point. After all, Syria is accused of helping the terrorists in Iraq, and Iran has been thumbing their nose at the UN nuclear officials in their quest for nuclear technology, so this would make for the perfect cover for them. And the immediate knee-jerk reaction from Muslim leaders against US Secretary of State Condoleza Rice for even MAKING such an accusation is pretty damning to the western world.

But the folks at the Daily Kos came up with a different source for the outrage-jerking. The fault, according to them, lay not with Syria or Iran… but with Saudi Arabia.

Confused? Follow the bulletpoints…

• The middle of January marks the end of the Hajj, the Islamic holiday where every devout and able-body Muslim is obligated to make at least one trip in their lives to Mecca, the start of their religion. They must complete a gauntlet of tasks during that time. It’s not just about "being there". They have to retrace Mohammed’s steps and do a representative of things that he did. It’s a pretty lengthy trek. Think of it as "Survivor" on crack, multiplied a thousand times for the sheer volume of Muslims there. And they HAVE to complete these tasks or die trying. Failure is not an option for the devout. If they can’t complete the trek during the Hajj, then they’re not considered true Muslims and they won’t go to Heaven. I’m not kidding when I say that hundreds of Muslims DIE every year during the Hajj. Some die from exhaustion, while others die from being trampled by the sheer volume of people racing to complete the journey. This happens EVERY YEAR.
  
  
• On January 12th, the worldwide media began reporting that 350 Muslims were killed during the final stages of the Hajj. This makes Saudi Arabia look bad. Having 350 Muslims die because of an annual stampede makes any host country look bad, especially since the one who died came from poorer nations like Pakistan, where news of the Hajj deaths were treated as a serious tragedy on par with the earthquake in Afghanistan.
  
  
• Almost immediately after that, Saudi newspapers – controlled by the government and by religious leaders - began a crusade against the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten over cartoons published four months ago. They began to run four articles per day condemning the cartoons and demanding the immediate apology by the newspaper, the cartoonist, and the Danish government. When that apology wasn’t immediate (because the newspaper had already apologized two months after they were published), the Saudi newspapers called for a worldwide boycott.
  
  
• Two weeks later, Libya closes their embassy in Denmark, the Danish embassy in Indonesia is bombed, protesters start up in Europe and Asia… and the rest is hysteria.
  

Now I would have taken that news with a grain of salt, especially after ABC News and other sources began their little "trace" of the story, but Soj over at the Daily Kos provided this little nugget of info…

"As I sat there watching CNN (International) with my friend today, I could not help but note the number of Saudi flags that the various rioters were waving in Lebanon and Syria. Coincidence? I think not. Look for yourself - they are green with a large expanse of Arabic writing in white above a sword."

See this protester? He’s supposedly protesting the Danish cartoon in Lebanon. So if Iran and Syria are generating this worldwide repressive hatred, WHY is this guy waiving a Saudi flag? Shouldn’t he be waiving Iran’s flag? Or Syria’s flag? Or maybe even the Lebanese flag?

Something’s just not right about that.

Anyway, thanks to the folks at the Daily Kos and FreeThoughtRadio.com for finding this little tidbit.