First:
RIP Vilerat. You will be missed. Shootin' blues on the gates of Heaven now.
Couple things I wrote that I want to preserve.
I want to clarify something regarding the recent embassy attacks:
The attacks were NOT CAUSED BY THE VIDEO. It appears that they were, but that argument falls apart upon inspection. The videos were posted in mid-July. Even if we assume nobody involved in the attacks speaks or understands English or knows anybody who does, they were dubbed into Arabic last week. Why today? Because of its symbo
lic value.
The militia that carried out these attacks was deeply unpopular. They were largely driven out of Benghazi earlier this year, first electorally, and then physically.
These attacks were an attempt to reassert their dominance. They failed to gain control of Libya via the democratic process and they are now attempting to subvert that process, spread terror, and intimidate their opponents. The video was a convenient excuse to attack and allows them to cloak their brutality in the guise of "defending Islam," but this was a political attack launched for a political reason. While it is obvious that some of the attackers were enraged by what they saw as an attack on Islam (but even that is not so cut and dried; see my earlier post), many more were fully aware of what they were doing and why.
The militia that carried out these attacks was deeply unpopular. They were largely driven out of Benghazi earlier this year, first electorally, and then physically.
These attacks were an attempt to reassert their dominance. They failed to gain control of Libya via the democratic process and they are now attempting to subvert that process, spread terror, and intimidate their opponents. The video was a convenient excuse to attack and allows them to cloak their brutality in the guise of "defending Islam," but this was a political attack launched for a political reason. While it is obvious that some of the attackers were enraged by what they saw as an attack on Islam (but even that is not so cut and dried; see my earlier post), many more were fully aware of what they were doing and why.
Also:
i think the tragedy here is caused by the intense level of misunderstanding on both sides.
most (all) of the middle east does not really have free speech, especially in the area of filmmaking; filmmakers are often sponsored by the government and will certainly be in serious trouble if they release something with which the government does not agree. therefore, it is culturally understood that any film has the implicit approval of the authorities. this is not the case in america, but the lack of prosecution of terry jones and the man behind the sam bacile pseudonym makes it look, from a certain perspective, like the us government endorses the content of their movies.
it's not that muslims everywhere freak out every time islam is insulted-- you'll note that american muslims don't, because they understand the cultural difference-- but when you (erroneously) believe that an incredibly insulting film about your beliefs is officially endorsed and supported by a regime that has exerted tremendous influence in your part of the world as an occupier and killed thousands of innocent people, you get enraged. and this shit happens.
it's also worth noting that the movie has been available on youtube since july and dubbed into arabic since last week, and it's fairly obvious that the ginned up "outrage" surrounding it is mostly an attempt by a wildly unpopular sectarian group to legitimize their violent acts and stir up hostility towards their opponents on the 9/11 anniversary.
