Anyone else concerned about unrest in middle east?

[JeuxDEnfants]

Due to this Californian film?

which film? to be honest the unrest in the middle east has been there for all my life and i'm in my 40s, so i don't tend to get too upset about it

Yes. I'm cross with both sides though - the twats who made the film knowing it would wind people up, and the twats who get wound up over a stupid shite film.

Have you seen the news?

It's just an excuse to vent their feelings but it's not good...needs to change.

There are some worrying possibilities, not least what sort of retribution to US will seek to exact. Also, if it becomes unsafe for diplomats to be in problematic areas, it is going to set back initiatives to promote nation-building.

And does anyone know what a resurgent Muslim Brotherhood is likely to mean?

I know that the film is insulting to the Muslim religion, but seriously countries like Egypt are going through massive turmoil at the moment, why is a video that nobody has to watch such a big deal, surely the people have more important things to worry about?

Here's the BBC's round up of incidents of violence and it's worrying that it includes an American school.

they're unhinged. was over a bloody cartoon before. idiots

I think the people who are doing all these protests are using the film as an excuse for violence - why else would they be attakcing German and UK interests too? They say the issue is the film and the fact it was made in the US. it's a film! No one needs to watch it, I've not seen it nor do I intend to.

Why are these people not focusing their anger at the film maker, very strange blaming embassy staff etc who have had fuck all to do with making or distributing the film most people would never have any interest un viewing, it sounds a shite low budget boring film.

Of course it's an excuse. The embassy raid was no spur of the moment thing & September 11th timing probably not a coincidence. Doesn't take long trawling the internet to find websites spouting all kinds of extremist crap so if it hadn't been this video used to rouse the rabble, there would have been others to choose from.

They look like a bunch of idiots having a tantrum punishing innocent people because someone else they can't be bothered to access called their Mum ugly.

I think there have been enough incidents to show it is easy to incite violence from the outrage which follows such publications. I suspect that both the timing of the promulgation of the outrage leading to low-level but dangerous incidents, and that of the more sophisticated attacks, would have been coincidental - to the extent that both were going for the anniversary. And now they are mutually reinforcing.

If there is a single co-ordinator (rather than coincidental anniversary convergence) then this shows a capability for both planning and execution of multifaceted and multi location attacks. That would be extremely worrying.

Concerned?
The ME is always in a state of unrest and sectarianism and tribalism and rage and paranoia, rather like certain areas of Africa.
I'm interested and watching the news, but it seems to be the same old, same old rather than a live source of worry.

The protests seem to be multiplying, spreading to Sydney today. And for the first ten hours after the attack, the Taliban was saying that's why they attacked Bastion (and it was the US parts they hit). The spread to so many places seems to me to be a new factor.

Youtube has a trailer for the film (innocence of Muslims), and have refused to remove it. I watched the trailer, and was offended on behalf of Muslims! (I am atheist btw). It is really in very very poor taste. Shame on you tube and other Internet providers / governments for not doing more to block things like this. Perhaps 'freedom of speech' needs to stop being taken so literally and needs to have clauses attached, like 'incitement of religious hatred'. Very insensitive (and frankly un-christian like behaviour) by the film makers. Not saying in any way that the protests are right or justified btw!

'Freedom of speech' can only be taken literally. It's one of the main planks of Western Democracy. "I disapprove of what you say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it". It is not the US government's or YouTube's responsibility to decide what opinions are in poor taste or likely to offend. Book burning and witch-hunts belong in the Middle Ages and to think free speech should be curtailed just because bullies use it as an excuse to attack is cowardice.

I would be very worried if the US/youtube caved to this and removed the video. Freedom of speech is important.

The protests and violence have fuck all to do with the video. It is just an excuse.

Am very proud of our Muslim community in Sydney, especially the leaders who met today and refused to endorse any further protests about the video. The 100 or so fucking morons who cause trouble on Saturday are a tiny tiny proportion of the community, certainly less of them than the fucking morons who got violent at the anti-globalisation protests a few years ago.

Morons come in all flavours, there isn't much you can do about them other than enforce the laws in place and remember that while their religion might give a flavour to their stupidity, it isn't the cause of it.

There should be more concern about what the US intends to do about the Ambassodor's murder, they can't let that slide, it might be about to get really really messy.

Even without the video there would still be unrest, so no, I'm not worried.

It's now spread to Islamabad.