Do Not Apologize for Cartoons of Mohammad
By Yaron Brook (Irish Independent, February 9; The Daily Express, U.K., February 9; Tucson Citizen, February 10, 2006)

European newspapers must refuse to apologize for running cartoons of Mohammad. But instead of applauding those papers that have stood their ground defending free speech, the U.S. government has shamefully endorsed Muslim complaints against the "blasphemous" cartoons.

Blasphemy violates no one's rights; whoever finds such cartoons offensive, can avert his gaze. To cave in to intimidation and not publish anything Muslims (or any other group) feel is offensive is to surrender the crucial principle of free speech.

Ultimately, this clash is about respecting man’s right to express his views, however unpopular, in the face of religious attempts to subordinate that right to mystical dogmas. Instead of appeasing the mobs who call for executing anyone offending their faith, the United States must support those who share our political ideal of free speech.