Yes, that says Iraq, not Turkey. This cartoon is from September when Al Qaeda bombed the Imam Ali mosque in Baghdad (CORRECTION: the city is Najaf ... thanks to reader Dave Jaroslav) (the cartoon ran at The Intellectual Activist). At the time, American-led coalition forces were blamed for the attack because of a lack of security, even though Muslim clerics had requested that American troops stay away from Islamic sites. Al Qaeda was quickly found responsible despite early denials from one of its "spiritual leaders."
After the recent Al Qaeda attack in Riyadh, some Saudi Arabians again blamed America. Little Green Footballs featured a cartoon from the Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News that made the point: Our Friends the Saudis.
How long before the Istanbul Al Qaeda attacks are blamed on America?
UPDATE Nov. 23 It didn't take long. FoxNews has a pro-appeasement AP article: Experts Blame U.S. for Turkey's Turmoil.
To encourage favorable views among people in Turkey, the United States must allow Erdogan's government to contribute to the war on terror in a way that does not alienate moderate Muslims, said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.Such moderate Muslims despise terrorism, but they also are offended by "heavy-handed, anti-insurgent, preventive campaigns," said Aliriza.
I can't think of a better approach for encouraging more Islamic terrorism.
UPDATE Nov. 24: Little Green Footballs pointed to another this weekend: PM Says Bombers Were Turks, Protesters Rap US.
Several thousand Turks gathered in Istanbul and other cities to protest against the bombs and what some said was the underlying cause of the attacks -- the United States and NATO member Turkey's close links with the world's only superpower. [...]Posted by Forkum at November 20, 2003 08:03 AMA placard carried by a demonstrator in Istanbul read "We know who the murderers are" under pictures of U.S. President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
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