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Manipulated Outrage and Misplaced Fury

(Wall Street Journal) Husain Haqqani - The attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions this week should be seen for what they really are: an effort by Islamists to garner support and mobilize their base by exacerbating anti-Western sentiments. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to calm Muslims Thursday by denouncing the video, she was unwittingly playing along with the ruse the radicals set up. The U.S. would have been better off focusing on the only outrage that was of legitimate interest to the American government: the lack of respect for U.S. diplomatic missions. Protests orchestrated on the pretext of slights and offenses against Islam have been part of Islamist strategy for decades. Iran's ayatollahs built an entire revolution around anti-Americanism. Islamists have a vested interest in continuously fanning the flames of Muslim victimhood. For Islamists, wrath against the West is the basis for their claim to the support of Muslim masses, taking attention away from societal political and economic failures. For example, the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference account for one-fifth of the world's population but their combined gross domestic product is less than 7% of global output - a harsh reality for which Islamists offer no solution. Mainstream discourse among Muslims blames everyone but themselves for this situation. The writer, a former ambassador to the U.S. from Pakistan (2008-11), is professor of international relations at Boston University and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
2012-09-14 00:00:00
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