"It turned out that the story was wrong; Newsweek retracted it. And the rioting may have been a previously planned anti-American demonstration that had nothing to do with Newsweek."
Revisionism is alive and well!
The rioting MAY have been previously planned, but the deaths were a direct result of the Newsweek article.
In another five years things will be different. Movies will have slightly different titles. Now, "Muslim" IS a hated word. It IS anathema to Americans.
The reasons for that? UBL, 9/11, other attacks against Americans during Clintoon's watch and the rest of the world's tsk-tsking our pro-I$real feduciary, moral and military $upport.
If people are perceived to be against one, then they are perceived to be for the other. No gray area for most Americans, most folks anywhere.
Government politicos, the nation's media and the extremely visible protesters are perceived, usually, to be "the people" of a country. Even though that number may be tiny compared to the population of a country, those three groups are perceived by the rest of the numbnuts of OTHER nations to be THE PEOPLE. Therefore, ALL THE PEOPLE of that nation are considered to be in the "for" or in the "against" group.
Those three groups, ESPECIALLY the media, manipulate public opinion, both local and abroad. The agenda-driven (politicians, media, "groups"), young, chip-on-shoulder, impressionable, weak and/or stupid people fall for the manipulation.
Those with more maturity, common sense, knowledge of history/culture and understanding of human nature/history don't fall for the wide-brush slathering of national character assassination of ANY ilk.
Bottom line: there will be a day when "Muslim" isn't a dirty word here and a holy word other places. Sleazywood will be dealing with yet another, as yet unknown, boogey-person.
Life was so simple when we could just bash the standard villains: Nazis (not the "Japs" or "Eye-talians" of course--they always got a pass on WWII) or Soviets, especially the East Germans, who were "2-fers"--Germans who had OBVIOUSLY been Nazis and were communists.
Ah, those were the good, ole days. Harhar.