Taking a Joke too Far

The international political arena is turning nastier and nastier as the weeks go by. Massive riots carried out by Islamic protesters due to the cartoon depiction of the Prophet Mohammed have not ceased and many lives have been lost. It seems as though the cultural divide between
the west and the Middle East could not be stronger and one can not help but sense there is a lot more of this violence to come.
It is scary to think that one cartoon which is laughed at in the west by some could have such a strong impact on the Muslim world. At this point even though I know it is freedom of the press, I hope that the cartoonist learned a lesson.
Meanwhile the situation in Iraq is getting remarkably worse. Strong signs of civil unrest have been shown as thousands of Shiites protested the election process in Baghdad, and now the CIA has warned of a potential and likely civil war. This disastrous situation in Iraq manages to worsen as time goes on and who knows when the end will be in sight. It could be more than ten years before any substantial stability is reached in the country. Hopefully it will be a lot sooner for the sake of the troops we have deployed over there.