28 September 2006 @ 3:29PM >> In response to the Berlin opera story, a reader e-mails:

Hey Evan,

Isn’t it amazing how there is a global organized entity that is actually successful in dictating conversation to the rest of the world? Has that ever happened before? Seriously, when was the last time a single movement censored the rest of the world? The Nazis were not successful censoring the world, neither was the Soviet Union.

I find it astonishing that the entire world is currently censored by one entity. It’s like The Mob took over the world.

Regards,
Name Withheld For Fear of Retribution

28 September 2006 @ 3:08PM >> There have been a lot of press reports lately claiming that by waging a vigorous campaign against terrorists, we’re simply creating more terrorists. Leaving aside the fact that the alternative would seem to be surrender, a recent poll of Iraqis indicates that the press speculation isn’t based on reality:

Overall 94 percent [of Iraqis polled] have an unfavorable view of al Qaeda, with 82 percent expressing a very unfavorable view. Of all organizations and individuals assessed in this poll, it received the most negative ratings. The Shias and Kurds show similarly intense levels of opposition, with 95 percent and 93 percent respectively saying they have very unfavorable views. The Sunnis are also quite negative, but with less intensity. Seventy-seven percent express an unfavorable view, but only 38 percent are very unfavorable. Twenty-three percent express a favorable view (5% very).

Views of Osama bin Laden are only slightly less negative. Overall 93 percent have an unfavorable view, with 77 percent very unfavorable. Very unfavorable views are expressed by 87 percent of Kurds and 94 percent of Shias. Here again, the Sunnis are negative, but less unequivocally—71 percent have an unfavorable view (23% very), and 29 percent a favorable view (3% very).

If our military actions in the Middle East are creating more terrorists, you’d think the place you’d see this most is in Iraq. But I guess not.