TOS Blog: Daily Commentary from an Objectivist Perspective

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Blame Not American Speech But Islamist Acts of War

Posted by Ari Armstrong at 10:56 am ET

Blaming a video for “inciting” Islamists to murder Americans and destroy U.S. embassies is absurd and reprehensible. Attacking free speech because of the atrocities of Islamists is an assault on the very foundations of America.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Administration officials have asked YouTube to review a controversial video that many blame for spurring a wave of anti-American violence in the Middle East.

The administration flagged the 14-minute “Innocence of Muslims” video and asked that YouTube evaluate it to determine whether it violates the site’s terms of service, officials said Thursday.

The U.S. government’s sole moral responsibility in this matter is to protect American rights and lives, not to evaluate the merits of a film or to pressure Americans into restricting their speech.

The problem is not American speech but Islamist acts of war.

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Related:

• Islamists Celebrate 9/11 by Murdering More Americans; U.S. Embassy Demands “Respect” for Islam
• The Atrocity Following 9/11
• Drawings of Mohammed, In Defense of Human Life

Image: Bosch Fawstin

Posted in: Foreign Policy and War, Free Speech