Danish embassy invaded

[Spiffor]

Oh my.

[Odin]

Things are spiraling out of control.

[Pekka]

Who truly thinks that this is about the cartoons, still? This is about extremists wanting to start some kind of battle. The moderate communities, in the numbers of hundreds of millions are not behind these things. But there are lots of extremists out there, and they don't give a crap about cartoon, they will use every excuse to justify their attacks and start some kind of holy wars.

I think this is pretty obvious. So how do you deal with that? Pressure local governments, if they aren't willing to help to stop this, then we have a big problem. If they, however, are willing and do try to calm the extremists, then I don't see why we should do anything but help those governments in this task, so we can keep co-existing peacefully.

[VetLegion]

Too bad about the priest, but...

Originally posted by Odin
Things are spiraling out of control.

We don't know if this is connected. Turkey is a country of 70 million people and this could be about anything.

[Winston]

The Lebanese Minister of the Interior, Hassan Sabeh, has filed his resignation following Sunday's riots, which resulted in the raiding and burning of the Danish consulate in Beirut.

"A few minutes ago I put my resignation at the disposal of the cabinet. I didn't wait for an answer and left the meeting." the former minister said.

Mr. Sabeh said 1,200 security men and 1,600 army troops had been called in to prevent peaceful protests turning violent on Saturday.

"But things got out of hand when elements that had infiltrated into the ranks of the demonstrators broke through security shields," Mr Sabeh said.

"The one remaining option was an order to shoot, but I was not prepared to order the troops to shoot Lebanese citizens," he added.

---

(Excerpt from a BBC article).

I have to say, all things considered, the Lebanese government seems to have conducted itself responsibly in this latest madness. They have failed to ensure the safety of our consulate, but it seems to me they tried their best not to fail. And the resignation of the Interior Minister over it reinforces my impression.

Not good enough, and I hope they will do more in the coming days, learn the lesson from this, but bottom line, they're not like Syria.

[Pekka]

Yeah, seems like the right thing to do. I mean there are other ways to do the right thing but I think that's one of them.

[VetLegion]

Yeah, Lebanese seem to have at least tried . They didn't bring sufficient troops it seems.

[DaShi]

It's good to see their leadership has enough sense not to shoot its own people.

[Winston]

A patrol squadron from the Danish military forces near Basra in Southern Iraq was fired upon on Sunday as they tried to provide first aid for 10-15 local children who had been hit by a local truck.

The patrol responded by firing warning shots, retreated from the area, and brought some of the wounded children to the nearest hospital.

Also on Sunday, Danish armored infantry troops were met by young Iraqis who threw stones at them.

The incidents on Sunday came despite an intensive effort by the Danish batallion aimed at informing and calming local Iraqis with regard to the Muhammed drawings controversy. The efforts had included distributing leaflets, appearing on Iraqi TV and holding briefings with the citizens of the area in which the Danish forces operate.

[germanos]

Originally posted by Winston
Media reports say that a Catholic Priest has been gunned down in Turkey. The gunman yelled "Allah is great!" Police will not comment on whether the killing is connected to the case of the Muhammed drawings.

Turkish police say that an Italian, Catholic Priest was shot and killed Sunday in the yard outside his church in Trabzon by the Black Sea.

Police will not say whether there is a connection to the publication of the Muhammed drawings in several European newspapers, which has caused outrage across the Muslim world, including in predominantly Muslim Turkey. Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of Turks protested the drawings in the streets of Istanbul.

An eyewitness told police she heard the killer shouting "God is great!" as he made his escape. Police are searching for a teenage boy who committed the murder, according to the witness.

"Whether the murder is connected to the drawings will be revealed when the killer is apprehended", the local Governor, Huseyin Yavuzdemir, told AP.

The murdered Priest, 60 year old Andrea Santoro, was shot in his chest a few hours after Sunday's mass.

The Turkish government has condemned the killing.

Insinuations.

[Winston]

Originally posted by germanos

Media reports say that a Catholic Priest has been gunned down in Turkey. The gunman yelled "Allah is great!" Police will not comment on whether the killing is connected to the case of the Muhammed drawings.

Turkish police say that an Italian, Catholic Priest was shot and killed Sunday in the yard outside his church in Trabzon by the Black Sea.

Police will not say whether there is a connection to the publication of the Muhammed drawings in several European newspapers, which has caused outrage across the Muslim world, including in predominantly Muslim Turkey. Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of Turks protested the drawings in the streets of Istanbul.

An eyewitness told police she heard the killer shouting "God is great!" as he made his escape. Police are searching for a teenage boy who committed the murder, according to the witness.

"Whether the murder is connected to the drawings will be revealed when the killer is apprehended", the local Governor, Huseyin Yavuzdemir, told AP.

The murdered Priest, 60 year old Andrea Santoro, was shot in his chest a few hours after Sunday's mass.

The Turkish government has condemned the killing.

Insinuations.

I don't insinuate. I translate the news for you.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Winston
A patrol squadron from the Danish military forces near Basra in Southern Iraq was fired upon on Sunday as they tried to provide first aid for 10-15 local children who had been hit by a local truck.

The patrol responded by firing warning shots, retreated from the area, and brought some of the wounded children to the nearest hospital.

Also on Sunday, Danish armored infantry troops were met by young Iraqis who threw stones at them.

The incidents on Sunday came despite an intensive effort by the Danish batallion aimed at informing and calming local Iraqis with regard to the Muhammed drawings controversy. The efforts had included distributing leaflets, appearing on Iraqi TV and holding briefings with the citizens of the area in which the Danish forces operate.

That warning shot stuff is stupid. Either there is an immediate threat and you have to shoot or you don't shoot. If you do have to shoot then make sure you aim to kill the bastard.

[Winston]

Yes it does sound a little odd. Unless they were giving cover while they evacuated the children who were wounded the most. But it'd be a stretch to refer to that as "warning shots".

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by VetLegion
We don't know if this is connected. Turkey is a country of 70 million people and this could be about anything.

I cannot imagine that the general climate of extremism didn't account for this murder.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

and yet again, we see why turkey is not ready to join the EU.