Originally posted by Aristotle
That's right. There is NO DEFENSE. Furthermore, there is NO BLAME to be placed on the people who created those comics or published them, just as there is no blame to be given to Salman Rushdie or the publishers of "The Satanic Verses." Period.
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There is no defense, I agree. However, as others said *most* of the riots are organized.

For example, I am sure a large percentage of the Iranian people are happy for the publishing of the cartoons (because of the tyranny of the 'Islamic Republic'). An even larger percentage are angry but not to the degree to even demonstrate, let alone riot. I am 100% sure the attacks on embassies in Iran were orchestrated and organized by the same group who oppose the reformists.


On the other hand, there is a blame on people who published the cartoons. They have anti-immigrant and anti-arab agendas so their act could be interpreted as racism or hate speech. However, saying that, again there is no defense on the riots.

However, an interesting observation that I make is that those riots and violence happen mostly in third world countries (with corrupt, manipulative governments) or Europe (with high tension between Europeans and immigrants). If you look at north america, you hardly see those violent moments. I think that tells a lot about the reasons why violence occurs.