“If the U.S. from the beginning had said to Denmark—without reservations—‘we 100 percent support your right of freedom of the press’—and in that way supported the American tradition of freedom of speech—things might have turned out differently. They could have put much more pressure on the Muslim countries. The Egyptians especially would have reconsidered their actions.” [emphasis added]
Danish imams were apparently flabbergasted to learn that the crisis which they orchestrated had unintended consequences:
It was only after the whole project backfired that the imams started working for a peaceful solution, finally recognizing that instead of creating more respect for the cause of Islam, they were creating contempt and anger. The Danish public (and large parts of the Western world) now saw the imams as two-faced villains, which, according to Akkari, was exactly what they were. As the spokesperson of the group, Akkari himself was probably the most hated man in Denmark during 2006. [emphasis added]