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Varying responses to the Danish cartoon kerfuffle prove the Bush Doctrine is working

Compare and contrast:

In liberated Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani, the top Shiite cleric in the land, said this about the Danish cartoons:

Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, condemned the publications as a "horrific action."

But in remarks posted on his Web site, al-Sistani referred to "misguided and oppressive" segments of the Muslim community whose actions "projected a distorted and dark image of the faith of justice, love and brotherhood."

In free Lebanon, the government actually apologized to Denmark!

Lebanon apologized to Denmark _ where the cartoons were first published _ a day after protesters set fire to a building housing the Danish mission in Beirut. The attack "harmed Lebanon's reputation and its civilized image," Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.

I don't think I need to bother with finding links about how the Muslims in unfree nations like Syria and Iran are behaving. I just thought this was a very interesting and revealing phenomenon, one that revives my faith in the value and wisdom of bringing democratic self-rule to the Middle East.

adele has a fascinating link. It sounds like the Saudis, the biggest anti-democrats of all, are directly responsible for the dramatic escalation of hostilities in the cartoon kerfuffle.