The headline says "Fury over Pope's remarks raises concerns." Fury? Well, yes:
Across the Islamic world Friday, Benedict's remarks on Islam and jihad in a speech in Germany unleashed a torrent of rage that many fear could burst into violent protests like those that followed publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
By citing an obscure Medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," Benedict inflamed Muslim passions and aggravated fears of a new outbreak of anti-Western protests.
The last outpouring of Islamic anger at the West came in February over the prophet cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper. The drawings sparked protests — some of them deadly — in almost every Muslim nation in the world.
Some experts said the perceived provocation by the spiritual leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics could leave even deeper scars.
"The declarations from the pope are more dangerous than the cartoons, because they come from the most important Christian authority in the world — the cartoons just came from an artist," said Diaa Rashwan, an analyst in Cairo, Egypt, who studies Islamic militancy.
Cartoonists, the Pope, Miss Universe contestants, writers, whatever. Something always seems to be able to set off some sizable minority of Moslems. Gruesome deaths can't be far behind this latest outbreak of outrage. We may not think we are at war with Islam, but a good chunk of Islam is determined to make it a war between the West and Islam.
Are we seriously supposed to apologize over every little thing that sets them off? Is the Pope really supposed to apologize for some reference to an obscure 600-year-old document? Honestly, apologies just encourage this type of behavior. A good official "bugger off" with Vatican stationary would be more appropriate, with the advice to come back and talk to us when the Islamic world's GDP is higher than Spain's.
I don't mean to be cruel, but in this modern age most actual Catholics don't pay real close attention to Papal speeches. The Moslem world really needs to turn over the calendar to this century, or one day people might start to really snicker when they hear "religion of peace."
And if they don't move on, rather than apologize, I suggest the Swiss Guards be expanded and given real military training. If the Moslem world is determined to fight all of us and the Pope is going to be accused of being a Crusader ...
UPDATE: The Pope has not apologized but has expressed regret that his remarks were interpreted as an assault on Islam. Me? I really am sorry. I'm sorry that hopped up jihadi wannabees are so thin-skinned and insecure that any little thing sets them off.
Oh, and a couple Christian churches were firebombed on the West Bank. They kill us and we can't note that they kill us withoug inspiring rage about their hurt pride. They firebomb our churches and we're supposed to understand their rage. Talk about an asymetric war.
I don't think we are in a war between the West and Islam. But the jihadis in the Islamic world sure do want to make it that way. (And some over here, too.) Probably because the terrorists and extremists know they are losing and want the added power of the vast majority of Moslems who do not support their jihad. The main problem with this line of extremist thinking is that we have used very little of our power to fight jihadis. If the jihadis truly do multiply their power by enlisting the Islamic world in their fight, the West can raise our level of power directed at the enemy far beyond any increase the jihadi world sees.
I don't want to see the war escalate to that level. We really need to keep the jihadis isolated and make moderate Moslems see the benefit of rejecting extremism. I think we are doing this so far, but this is long war so take nothing for granted.
UPDATE: We're up to five churches attacked. But really, it's early.
