The Corriere della Sera publication in Milan, Italy, had some harsh and unflattering words for fellow Europeans regarding the Danish cartoon controversy and the violence and murder that have resulted – and continue to occur with agitation from a number of Islamic world sources.

Said the Italian newspaper:

“We had to wait until Pope Benedict XVI’s speech to hear the firm, clear words that the timid European political leaders do not know how to utter. The Pope deplored any lack of respect for religious symbols, but he also said that violence in the name of faith is totally unacceptable. Compare the Pope’s words with the inertia of European capitals faced by the savage violence that has broken out in the Islamic world using the excuse of the satirical cartoons … Europe can only stutter ‘We need dialogue.’

“No powerful European leader … has been heard to say to the Muslim world what should have been said, that is that those cartoons were of bad taste, but that bad taste is a price we pay for freedom, and that they should not dare to pit themselves against our freedom.

“No European leader has been heard to say, for instance, to the Muslim governments that we demand that they dissociate themselves from those fanatics ready to pay in gold for the assassination of the Danish cartoonists.

“To stand firm, when others are thrusting a war of civilizations upon you that you never wanted to fight, is difficult. But to yield means definite ruin.”

It’s always interesting and often distressing to see how quickly European officials criticize U.S. actions and policies, often contending they are harmful to their welfare. America had nothing to do with the cartoon conflagration while the Europeans have been in the center of the storm.

Where have the criticisms been about Islamic forces’ “violence in the name of faith”? Why have Muslim leaders, Europe and the world over, not come out strongly against efforts to manipulate the cartoon issues for demonstration’s sake?

In brief, where’s the beef from many sources that should have as much courage as the leader in the Vatican to discourage new terror under the phony guise of lack of respect for religious symbols?