From yesterday, there is a heightened threat alert (Green to Orange) to all American and western nationals here in Iraq due to a combination of 'that' movie and the cartoons published in the French magazine. Those people who produced the movie [I find it difficult to call it a 'movie'...since I am led to believe that it is an amateurishly put together trailer] and published the cartoons should exercise better judgement and more respect to different cultures and religions...and be aware that their actions may result in death or injury to others. I suspect that the paper would not have published the cartoons if the editor and owners were living in the Middle East!
I believe in free speech and the rights of an individual to hold any opinion that they want, but I also believe in exercising religious and cultural understanding. Irrespective of the fact that I disagree with the cartoons being published, I would like to thank the French publication for the exceptionally bad timing and wonder if they will take responsibility for any deaths or injuries that may occur as a result?
I would also like to point out that these sort of actions undermine a lot of the good work being undertaken by western countries for humanitarian reasons in various Islamic nations. It also makes our job so much more difficult [and dangerous].
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