Posted on 02/03/2006 9:04:55 AM PST by thesharkboy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday condemned caricatures in European newspapers of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, siding with Muslims who are outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion.
"These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims," State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question.
"We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable."
WTF BARF!
Time to flood Foggy Bottom. This is absurd.
Courtesy of Pookie18's Today's Toons thread.
Well...at least the feds condemned that stupid cartoon in the WAPO the other day...so they're 1-1...in the great toon wars.
Oh, "State Department". That explains it.
Not unbelievable. These people are cowards who quake in their tasseled loafers when hearing the word "Muslim."
1) Absolute free speech in the press
2) 'Religious tolerance'
I looked, too. Never mind.
Mistake, mistake , mistake.
Get your State Dept. under control Condi.
I'm not a great believer in poking fun at other people's religions. Nonetheless, freedom of the press in other countries is their business, not ours. And not the business of Jihadists.
Our State Department is an absolute mess of hippies and morons.
The response is of course crazy. But the idea of insulting people's religion is common among liberals and the like.
The response is a separate issue.
The use of the pictures and inclusion of very nasty pictures not drawn by the same European but presented as such throughout the Middle East is also a seperate issue.
Is this satire?
There is a difference between cartoons that make fun of Muslims and Islam and cartoons that draw caricatures of Mohammed. In the name of free speech, I support all cartoons of both categories. But from the point of view of diplomacy, I do see a difference.
Personally, if I had talent as a cartoonist, I would eagerly draw cartoons showing how stupid and brainless the Islamic world is, without having to actually draw a picture of Mohammed. Why make fun of someone's belief system, when it's so much more to the point to satarize their bad behavior?
She's had a long time to do that.
It ain't happenin'.
Did the US threaten to fire cruise missiles at the papers that do? Nope. Free speech...it is a bitch.
All smokescreen folks. Just like Bush calling Islam a "Noble Faith" in his SOTUA. You could almost see him gag while saying it. If anything the state department making this comment actually invites more public mocking of Islam and Mo-Ham-Head.
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