CARTOON WARS UPDATE: IraqPundit sees a positive development:

The fear of the cartoonists recalls the case of Salman Rushdie, who went into hiding in 1989 after his book The Satanic Verses drew calls for his death. There were plenty of riots at the time. But there were few who spoke out in defence of Rushdie.

What is different now? Why are more Muslims calling for reasonable responses to offensive cartoons than rose to defend Rushdie? The reasons are, of course, complex, including that Rushdie himself was raised in a Muslim home. But part of the explanation may be that more Muslims have been horrified by the events of the years since Rushdie’s book was published. That is, plenty of Muslims are disgusted by the terrorists responsible for the World Trade Center bombing, September 11th, the Madrid and London attacks and other horrific acts.

Maybe ever more Muslims will realize that it’s time to stop assuming the role of victim, and blaming the West for everything that wrong with the Muslim world. Change must come from within the community itself. Maybe these acts will bring about serious efforts to end a violent era and begin a moderate one.

Let’s hope so. We certainly want to encourage those folks — which we do both by standing up to the extremists, and by avoiding claims that the problem with Islam is Islam.

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

MORE: A stiffer spine in Denmark? More thoughts here.