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Playing the dane: the language of freedom has been harnessed to legitimise the war on terror.

Article Excerpt
The recent controversy over the 'Danish cartoons' affair--cartoons that depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a terrorist--largely became (in the Western press at least) a debate over freedom of expression and the degree to which one culture ought to be able to respect or offend the beliefs of another. While there was some discussion concerning the wider context surrounding the publication of the cartoons--namely the oppression of minority Muslim cultures in Denmark and Europe--the affair was generally conducted along the lines of a classic liberal debate. It was the kind of thing you might see discussed in Politics 101--the rights and responsibilities of free speech in a democracy. On the one hand this allowed free speech to be used as a fairly blunt instrument to attack Islamic intolerance, or religion generally, or both. On the other hand it is clear that freedom of speech and expression are under attack, but here one might turn to forces closer to home--increased corporate ownership of the press and the elevated security and surveillance powers of Western governments-rather than to Muslim minorities in Europe.

If nothing else, the debate around the Danish cartoons spelt out the dilemmas faced in mounting a defence of free speech in the current climate. It has become clear how the language of freedom, including freedom of speech, has been harnessed to the legitimating rhetoric of the war on terror. Nobody wishes, however, to simply jettison the principles...