Attack on Cartoonist a Threat to Us All

My latest column for CNN.com discusses the recent attacks on Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks and argues that by failing to punish the attackers, the authorities are only inviting further violence.

My latest column for CNN.com discusses the recent attacks on Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks and argues that by failing to seriously punish the attackers, the authorities are only inviting further violence.

Firebombed. Cyberattacked. Attacked by a shouting mob.

That's what happened to Lars Vilks in the week ending May 16.

And if you think: "Well thank goodness my week was a lot quieter," think again. The attacks on Vilks were an attack on you too.

Lars Vilks is a Swedish cartoonist. In the summer of 2007, he was invited to submit three drawings to an exhibition sponsored by the town of Tallerud. The exhibition's theme: "the dog in art." Vilks produced three pencil sketches of street dogs with human faces, the face (Vilks said) of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. ...

On Tuesday of this week, Vilks appeared at the University of Uppsalla to lecture on his art and ideas. Two-hundred-fifty people passed through metal detectors to hear him speak. They never got the chance.

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