Am I the only one seeing this?

It seems to me that something is afoot in the world.
Lately the news has been flooded with stories of muslims rioting, protesting, burning down embassies, burning flags... supposedly all because of a cartoon. Perhaps I'm the only one who thinks there is a heck of a lot more behind all of this. The network news isn't going to go into the detail of why people would be so angry about a drawing, which was in poor taste to begin with, which was published in a small newspaper over 4 months ago would enflame such a large group of people to such violent heights. First, let me say that publishing something which flagrantly insults another group is wrong. That's not the question here, though. The question is, why is this violence occuring now, out of the blue?
If I go to google and type in 'image of Mohammed' we find out from this page that drawings of Mohammed have existed for centuries without any general outcry. What does that tell us? The Muslim world doesn't flip out every time an image is published any more than the Christian world does. In the Old Testament, Moses was not even able to look at God because he'd have died from sheer amazement... yet we still see images of God in flattering an not-so-flattering variations all the time.

Reading a little further on from my first link, it's mentioned that three extra cartoons seem to have arisen from the original twelve that were published in the Danish (and Egyptian) newspapers. It seems a little much to me. The first twelve images aren't all that spectacular, in my opinion... but the three extras are quite vile. (here, here and here). Now those, deserve some sort of reaction. If a reasonable person were to see this garbage for what it is, I don't see why this reaction would be happening. I can't help but wonder if this is all being stirred up by an outside source for some reason. Whether it's Islamist Extremists or by a local or foreign government, I'm sure we won't be allowed to know. I would suggest that all of this violence is not originating from a few common-folk, though. This is all being organised by an outside force, and it is just that, organised. Not random. There are greater forces at play here, and I feel that the media is doing no one any favours by not looking in depth at the causes of it all.
The unwillingness of the media to look into the depths of this issue makes them guilty of the demonisation of the Muslim faith.
For those folks who say, "Well, shouldn't the muslims be speaking out against this violence? why do they remain silent?" First, I tell you that you're wrong, and there are numerous leaders who are speaking about this issue, and are also encouraging non-violent methods of dissent.
I also ask you a question in return: Why don't the leaders of Christian churches need to assure the world that when one nutcase blows up an abortion clinic that not all Christians are violent and desire to destroy anything against their narrow idea of "right".
If the only things you know about the world come from the network news (CNN, Fox, CBC, NBC... whatever) you're not really informed. A person can't learn a whole heck of a lot from infotainment... the old phrase, "If it bleeds, it leads" still holds true today, and a boring old man who is explaining the history of these incidents beyond "They're angry about a cartoon" just isn't enough to keep the average joe interested anymore.