Antiwar.com Blog

If this comes to fruition, then at least Rose can’t be criticized for maintaining double standards on freedom of speech. We’ll see if the same holds true for the various commentators who have hailed his decision to run the Islam cartoons.

I hasten to note, however, that editors shouldn’t have to prove their objectivity/fairness/whatever by appeasing those who shriek loudest. If the point of the Muhammad cartoons was simply to challenge hate-speech laws, then taking on other, bigger taboos is a logical next step. But printing Holocaust cartoons in the name of “balance” is a non sequitur. It implies that, far beyond supporting free speech for both blasphemers and Holocaust deniers, a “fair” editor is obligated to see no difference between the two. If Rose really believes that, then yes, he is an idiot. If, however, his intention is to strike a blow against the thought police, then let’s hear it for those plucky Danes.

How do you reward someone whose efforts to gin up another war have been indefatiguable? Why, nominate them for a Nobel Peace Prize, of course.

The provocateur at the center of the Muhammed cartoon controversy, Flemming Rose, verifies my thesis that he is a complete idiot by declaring that his newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, is seeking to publish cartoons “satirizing” …. the Holocaust. Where will they get these cartoons? Oh, not to worry: an Iranian newspaper has announced a Holocaust cartoon contest.

There is no excusing the Muslim mobs who have used or threatened violence in response to the infamous Danish cartoons. Period. If that’s not immediately apparent to everyone, Messrs. Cavanaugh and Parris should help out.

One of the many galling aspects of this display of mass imbecility is the smugness it affords our own violent wackos in the West – for instance, those civilized gents who want to bomb al-Jazeera into submission for its “hate speech.” (If you think I’m talking about obscure bloggers, think again.) America’s wackos hate free speech, too, though they’re less enthusiastic than their Muslim counterparts about getting their own hands dirty – at least for now. A few months ago, one of David Horowitz’s goons was kind enough to provide us with a glimpse into the collective psyche of America’s brownshirts, who are apparently itching to let it all hang out:

Expect heavily armed and infuriated conservatives to launch a cleansing war against the traitors. The armed will mow down the mostly unarmed segments, especially those elements that devoted forty-plus years to anti-American hatred to destroy this country. Should the likes of Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Michael Moore, Ward Churchill, Dennis Raimondo, et al. act out their sedition in a just-nuked America, expect their bodies to be found shot full of holes. Expect gun battles at banks, food stores, ATMs, gas stations, and outside hospitals. Leftist professors will be strung up. It will be every man, woman, and child for themselves.

You know, sending a rabid rant to Backtalk would be much easier, but whatever, dudes. Just please point that gun somewhere else as you lecture us on the sanctity of unfettered speech, OK?

The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood.

Now he is forced to pay for the “missing” body armor. The army charges soldiers for missing equipment. When medics rushed to save Rebrook’s life, they neglected to keep track of the bloody and destroyed body armor. “I last saw the [body armor] when it was pulled off my bleeding body while I was being evacuated in a helicopter,” Rebrook said. “They took it off me and burned it.”

Rebrook decided to leave the army because of his injuries. But he was informed that he could not be discharged until he paid $700 for his “missing” armor. Rebrook scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home last Friday.

I wonder if we will hear anything on this from the “Support Our Troops” crowd.

What Richard Perle has learned from the Iraq war:

MUNICH, Germany, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Richard Perle, a key architect of the U.S.-led war against Iraq, said on Saturday the West should not make the mistake of waiting too long to use military force if Iran comes close to getting an atomic weapon.

“If you want to try to wait until the very last minute, you’d better be very confident of your intelligence because if you’re not, you won’t know when the last minute is,” Perle told Reuters on the sidelines of an annual security conference in Munich.

“And so, ironically, one of the lessons of the inadequate intelligence of Iraq is you’d better be careful how long you choose to wait.”

And he’s exactly right, if you understand him on his own terms – the longer you wait to attack a non-threat, the more apparent its lack of a threat will become, thus undermining public support for the predetermined outcome. Can’t have that.

(Via Arthur Silber, who has much more analysis of this and related matters.)