Hatred-seething hordes of Islamic fundamentalists continue to run wild in the streets burning the West's flags, torching its embassies, and committing deadly mayhem over cartoons depicting Mohammed. The cartoons were first published by the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper in September but the dispute has now erupted in earnest, as several European newspapers reprinted them in what they assert is a defense of free speech. Islamic tradition strongly discourages depictions of the seventh-century prophet as a form of idolatry. In order to provide an opposite perspective as to the reasons and extent of such rage, perhaps an article in Newsday.com entitled, "Rage over cartoon goes beyond politics," by Carol Eisenberg, dated Feb. 7, 2006, might shed some light and provide balance to my own perspective as set forth below.

Indeed, some moderate Muslim groups have condemned the violence and urged restraint, but Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has said,