Yes having an image of Mohammad is no muy bueno, but last time I checked so is burning a flag, and I'm pretty sure they know that one or else they wouldn't do it. They also wouldn't be all over the media being outraged if
A. Westerners hadn't made the printing press and subsequent inventions allowing for mass information.
B. There weren't Western sympathizers that would listen to them.
C. It didn't further an Anti-Western sentiment.
In short the Muslim world could certainly chill out about it... maybe not calling for "Heads and Hands" would be a good start.
I do agree that you should know and respect a person's / ethnicity's / religion's values. You don't have to win hearts and minds. I don't really think it is possible. What we can do is try to keep the issues to a minimum. Not everyone there hates us. Most people in the world are fundamentally just like us. They want to live their lives, and not be interfeared with. There is no reason to be a p*&^s if you don't have to. On the other hand when being proper gets in the way of business that needs to be conducted, politeness goes out the window. For example, as a general rule Americans will not go inside a Mosque. The Muj realized this and as a result these "Holy" grounds became a haven for fighters.
The actions of those Army reservists in Abu Garib were also deplorable and it's not because they played some frat, retard games with the prisoners and violated their precious rights. It is because that kind of behavior is unprofessional, immature, and embarrassing for us. It wasn't even done for the sake of interrogation, only amusement. I'd have rather had a video of detainees being lined up and shot in the head, or systematically tortured. At least then it would have sent a strong message that we aren't screwing around.
A lot of you obviously feel that Iraq/Afghanistan are not the right places for the US to be. I've spent a little time there and I still don't know enough to answer that one. I don't think that just leaving now is the answer to that one. If you wanted that you should have voted for Kerry. I think if the US left now a number of bad things would happen.
A. I think the whole thing would just fall apart over night. Neither country can sustain itself.
B. Yes oil prices are not cheap now, going into Iraq has not made them any cheaper. However if we can get the joint un-f*&^%$d that might well change. Iraq has approx. 22 percent of the worlds oil.
C. Most of the bad guys in Iraq/Afghanistan are not locals. They are foreign fighters. This means we are killing a lot of other a-holes from other countries that hate America too.
D. My index finger might atrophy from lack of use.
