Well, it was bound to happen. Some Iraqis and most likely many Muslims around the world now blame the Americans for the destruction of one of Islam's holiest shrines - the Shia al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. They say the Americans are at fault for this latest act of terror because they brought terrorists and terrorism into Iraq. Two men, reportedly of the Sunni branch of Islam, were the 'terrorists' that blew up the mosque, triggering anger and retailiation again Sunni mosques in Baghdad.I think this penchant for blaming Americans for anything and everything gives the lie to the credibility of such claims. Once a black cat is called a white cat and a grey cat in the same breadth, you know that its not the colour of the cat that is the issue. The problem most likely lies in self-denial - a refusal to identify the real problem and conveniently pushing the blame to someone/something else. This does great injustice to the intelligence of Muslims the world over, but what can you do when these intelligent and moderate Muslims do not stand up to refute foolish remarks? This is nothing new, and until the moderate and sensible Muslims wrest the agenda back from the extremists, the world will increasingly view Islam as a trenchant, aggressive, unreasonable religion mired in the middle ages.
I am amazed at the American's penchant for hyping everything up. I am no political pundit, and I may not fully understand the American psyche surrounding the accidental shooting of Vice-President Cheney's hunting partner, but to berate Mr Cheney, and President Bush and the White House for not telling the world (read the American Press) about that incident immediately, if not earlier, is incomprehensible, at least to a non-American.
