The West needs to stand tall with a stiff spine.
We do not need to listen to the whining of seventh century throwbacks. Doing so will only erode our civil liberties and wet their appetite for more. We should not worry about their increased ‘radicalization’ if we don’t adhere to their Islamic norms, this is our Western way of life, if you don’t like it, tough luck.
And what did the West acquiesce to? This a key point to underscore. By acquiescing, by negotiating, by determining that in response to this untenable outrage of a “fatwa” against Rushdie, this “free” British citizen would hereon live as a prisoner inside the “free” West, the great Western powers acquiesced to the sancitity, the relevance, and the dominion of Islamic blasphemy law. This is why, as Lars points out, the Muslim powers-that-be, along with their Muslim gun- or axe-wielding foot soldiers, continue to believe they have the right to implement sharia blasphemy laws against rebels such as he.
APR8
Written by: Diana West
Monday, April 08, 2013 5:13 AM 
My fine friend and colleague Lars Hedegaard, editor of Dispatch International, sat down with The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas last month in Washington, DC, for an interview, posted here.
Ginni’s first question came down to why — why have there been so many assassinations and attempted assassinations of Europeans, including against Lars in February, for speaking (and drawing cartoons) about Islam?
Lars replies with the perception and lucidity that are second nature to him.
It all comes from the fatwa in ’89 against Salman Rushdie. If they could pull that off without any serious consequences in Tehran, then, of course, the way was open to others to try the same thing. What it comes down to is, basically, the contention by the powers-that-be in the Muslim world that sharia law has in fact been established as the law of Europe. They seem to think they have the right to implement sharia law in contravention of our laws and our constitutions. It can only be regarded in that manner. Up ’til the fatwa against Rushdie, nobody would have assumed that we couldn’t say anything we wanted in the Western world. It was beyond anyone’s comprehension that some long-bearded mullahs in a faraway country would dare to threaten inhabitants of our countries. But now it’s taken for granted they have that right.
Had we reacted forcefully in ’89, given an ultimatum to Tehran saying: You have about 24 hours to withdraw this fatwa otherwise there will be very serious consequences; we may bomb you until you surrender; we may bomb your holy cities where you’re thinking all this up. Instead they negotiated, they acquiesced, and thereby paved the way for even more of this murder and mayhem.
