“We cannot disguise hostility towards any
religion behind the pretence of liberalism” - Barack Obama, Cairo Speech 2009
President Obama has a historic opportunity to
demonstrate that the words uttered at the Cairo speech were not the usual
rhetoric of a politician seeking popularity and votes, by taking swift action
against the few anti-Islamic extremists who produced this satirical, and
profoundly offensive, anti-Islamic movie (Innocence
of Muslims). And consequentially, endangered the lives of innocent
Americans abroad; unfortunately four Americans including the ambassador in
Libya have already perished; igniting an emotional issue will generate
emotional response with unpredictable consequences.
An open condemnation has to be followed by
further actions to show that US government policy will not tolerate crass
insults hurled against an entire community, in the same way that the world does
not tolerate racial slurs. Hence, the crucial question is - can the US
government take the lead in the Western world and demonstrate that it will not continue
to allow the propagation of hostility towards Islam and Muslims, behind the
pretence of liberalism, or will it continue to submit to the liberal bullies who
are waving the hypocritical flag of free speech?
