This may sound like a crazy hypothesis, but could it be that Bush is borrowing a page form the
Art of War and trying to use the Danish cartoon crisis to his political advantage? Read on...
Sure he has been cowardly about giving even an iota of support to European nations who now bear the brunt of extremist rage all because of the unwillingness of the local emirs to understand that unlike in their world, there is no control of the media in Europe and some fool with enough spare time and a number 2 pencil can say whatever he wants. Not to mention the fact that Bush won't lock horns with Iran which has been whipping up the controversy every chance it gets and urging more and more hatred towards the EU.
So what would embattling Europe bring to Bush & Co.? In the Art of War there is a simple axiom that has been used for centuries. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." In other words, Europeans might hate Bush for mudslinging, xenophobia and the constant abuse hurled by his supporters in the same manner as a rabid monkey tosses its feces at something that irritates it. However, embattled with their own Islamic crisis -- this bizarre Cartoongate -- they might have no choice but to ally themselves with Bush again because no matter how much they hate him, they have an enemy that hates them more.
In the past week or so, Danish, French, Norwegian and Italian embassies have been attacked or burned by violent groups focused on inciting violence. According to international law, the embassy of a county is basically foreign territory. This is why spies during the Cold War would rush to the Soviet or American embassies if they got in trouble. This was the equivalent of going back to America or USSR and escaping their pursuers. Because of this law, an attack on an embassy is essentially an act of aggression against a foreign nation and a certifiable act of war. If you burn down an embassy, you are basically declaring war on the country which runs the embassy.
So after enough embassies go up in flames and enough citizens get hurt, killed or kidnapped, the Europeans will be forced to take very drastic action. Possibly even a full scale military retaliation to protect their countries and their citizens. Since Europe and the United States would then be fighting side by side, it would lead to an uneasy, but very necessary alliance between the former trade and political partners. Bush and his buddies may simply be waiting for the Europeans to turn to arms and to the United States to defend themselves and this is why he and his administration offer such cowardly taglines designed to do nothing more, but to quietly ask Islamic radicals with blood in their eyes to please, maybe, possibly stop it if and when they feel like it.
So how dire is the prognosis for Europe? If the protests aren't bad enough, Iran will make sure that Europe has no choice but to clash with the Middle East. The Iranians already said to the European committee that oversees the use of nuclear materials and technologies to take a hike and remove their cameras form Iranian nuclear facilities. They admitted to have purchased plans to make nukes and set a date to begin full scale uranium enrichment by this spring. Finally, every time Jordan or the Saudis remind the Muslim world that European countries are not responsible for the cartoons, only a few citizens are, Iran is always there to grab the bullhorn and scream:
"Those fucking Zionists brainwashed the Europeans to make fun of us, kill the bastards in the United States, Europe and Israel!"
And of course, prove to the entire world how immature they are by commissioning contest for the best anti-Western and anti-Semitic cartoons. No matter how offended they may be, this proposed pissing match reminds me of a confrontation between two spoiled kindergartners, rather then a serious cultural debate. There are even mentions in some foreign news sources like InterFax (Russia) and AFP (France) that some Iranian extremists have been drawing extra cartoons and showing them around as the genuine article to further incite Western hate.
All in all, when this is said and done, United States might once again find itself partnering up with European nations again and Dennis Miller might have to swallow his xenophobic French jokes when the French army starts to suit up to defend its citizens overseas.