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| Afghanistan |
| Koran burning will endanger US lives: Petraeus |
| 2010-09-07 |
| THE US commander of the Afghan war has warned that troops' lives will be endangered if a Florida evangelical church goes ahead with a planned burning of the Koran on Saturday's 9/11 anniversary. General David Petraeus said the planned torching of Islam's holy book would be a propaganda coup for the Taliban in Afghanistan and stoke anti-US sentiment across the Muslim world. Afghanistan, where Petraeus leads a 150,000-strong US-led NATO force against an extremist Taliban-led insurgency, is a deeply devout Islamic country. Actions seen by Afghans as against their religion or even allegations that Western troops have insulted the Koran have led to deadly violence in the past. In January seven tribesmen were killed by gunfire from Afghan security forces trying to disperse angry crowds during a demonstration sparked by allegations that US troops had torched the Muslim holy book. An investigation by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan authorities found that no Koran was desecrated following a military operation by the alliance force in the southern province of Helmand. The Dove World Outreach Center at Gainesville, Florida, says it will burn copies of the Koran on this weekend's ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in protest at what it calls "the evil of Islam". In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Petraeus said of the plan: "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community." On Monday about 200 men gathered near a mosque in the capital Kabul to protest the planned torching, shouting "death to America" and "long live Islam" for about an hour after their midday prayer, witnesses said. The planned protest by the 50-member Florida congregation - whose Facebook page bears the motto "Islam Is Of The Devil" - has already triggered outrage in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country. In late August about 100 Indonesian Islamists demonstrated outside the US embassy in Jakarta and threatened "jihad" or holy war if the US Christian group went through with the event. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #32 Don't burn it, put it in a jar of urine and call it art. Cover another copy with manure and do the same. What? It was art when done to Christian symbols. Don't you support art? Oh, yeah - also put a picture of Mo-ham-head on the ground and invite people to walk on it to write their thoughts in a book. That's art, too, just like it was when the American flag was similarly used. ARE YOU LISTENING, Dove World Outreach Center? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-09-07 22:59 |
| #31 I agree. Don't burn it. Air pollution. Use it for toilet paper. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-09-07 22:33 |
| #30 @29 Why? |
| Posted by: Entertaining Prose 2010-09-07 21:54 |
| #29 I don't agree at all. I understand the temptation to provoke these nutbags and defy the ridiculous demands they make on behalf of their bull%$# religion. But you should never take sides with book burners. Never. No matter what garbage book it is. Mohammed cartoons - I'm all for it. Defying bogus demands for "tolerance" and "islamophobia" - we need more of it, unapologetic refusal to bend to or accomodate their cr&p. No GZM. No crecent-shaped memorials. And on and on. BUT, No Book Burning! I refuse to take sides with book burners. |
| Posted by: DJ Curtis C 2010-09-07 21:25 |
| #28 Hebrew National dogs, BH6. I'm Catholic, but totally sold on the HN dogs at Costco |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-09-07 21:14 |
| #27 amen, BH6! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-09-07 21:04 |
| #26 Beso, my pleasure brother, thank you. BTW - It would be kind of funny if someone got a picture of some dude camp-fire cooking hotdogs over this koran burning... |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2010-09-07 20:59 |
| #25 Thank you for your service BH6. Hooah! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-09-07 20:31 |
| #24 I'm scheduled to deploy there in the spring...fuck'em, if that pastor in Fla wants to burn the damn thing, I could care less either way and so could most of my Marines. CF already had the money quote about a pathetic god and a pathetic religion. The majority of Afghanis are illiterate anyways, like they even know what their own horse-shit holy text says. Anytime there's a camera they'll do their little monkey rage dance. Pathetic jerk water country w/douche bag strong men. So sick of islam and have been since 12 Sep 2001. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2010-09-07 20:15 |
| #23 Have we forgoten what wins conflicts? It's not about 'how to win', it's about will. To include dealing with your own demons after you've seen your handiwork, if you have a soul. Read about Soros and understand what its like not to have one. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-09-07 19:17 |
| #22 I just read an article on WaPo by an 'American' Muzzie who says the Koran burning is not constitutional. The Constitution forbids it, says he. He also said he would rather burn in the fire himself than watch a Koran burn. Need any further proof that Islam and Western values cannot coexist on the same planet? |
| Posted by: HumanBeing 2010-09-07 18:59 |
| #21 Overwhelming massive total, (sorry I repeate myself) response would be the correct answer to danger to our troopers. Have we forgoten what wins conflicts? |
| Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 2010-09-07 18:50 |
| #20 Ofcourse not, Islam is not based on freedom and rights like Christendom and western democracies. Islam is based on forced child marriages, pedophilia, sharia law, sodomy, rape, and violent conversion or tortuous killing of infidels. This religion has not improved humanity, and burning Korans or not, wouldn't change its violent and malevolent methods over time. It cannot nor should not be appeased, but instead, confronted because there is no moderate Islam. It is a religion based on evil and sickness. 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. |
| Posted by: Entertaining Prose 2010-09-07 18:22 |
| #19 Half the Muslims probably think the Korans were burned already. The damage to our troops has already happened. Might as well go forward and show the west won't be pushed constantly without pushing back. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2010-09-07 18:19 |
| #18 Unfortunatly it won't 'just their own' but may involves some of our troops and civilians. Right, because our troops and civilians would go unharmed but for the nutjob in Florida torching some Korans. They're already rioting, burning flags and trying to harm our troops in Kabul on just the hint that someone would put a match to their precious book. You can't seriously think that they need an excuse to kill us or that they'd consider sparing even one life if said book burning failed to happen. |
| Posted by: HumanBeing 2010-09-07 18:04 |
| #17 Unfortunatly it won't 'just their own' but may involves some of our troops and civilians. Christians in 'moderate' Indonesia have already been threatened (<<-- link). The chairman of the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia that planned the protests, Rokhmat Labib, says the plan to burn the Islamic holy book is a provocation.He says if the event happens Muslims will certainly fight back, and he cannot predict what form the retaliation will take And the money-quote: Labib sees it differently. He says Muslims must not stay silent when their faith is threatened. If your faith and your God is threatened by a book burning and a few cartoons - then your faith and your 'god' are pretty pathetic. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-09-07 17:43 |
| #16 Doesn't really matter if they burn the 'holy' books or not. The Muzzies will be told it happened (just as the Danish imams traveled to the ME with fake and more inflammatory cartoons than were ever published by the newspaper). Then, they'll wail, gnash their teeth, murder, rape and blow shit up. If a few of their own get killed, so what? Less we'll have to get rid of later. |
| Posted by: HumanBeing 2010-09-07 17:20 |
| #15 Koran burning does not endanger US lives, Muslims do. Let's put the fault where it lies. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2010-09-07 17:11 |
| #14 How about a compromise? No burning of the koran in exchange for no building of the triumphal mosque on ground zero? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-09-07 16:22 |
| #13 It seems to me these folks have decided they're in a war, not with "extremists" but with Islam, itself. So they see themselves as showing distain for an enemy, not engaging in |
| Posted by: Enver Thromomp4826 2010-09-07 15:47 |
| #12 It becomes a habit with Petraeus. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-09-07 15:13 |
| #11 FACTOID: Rain and flooding in Pakistan.... HELPS allied forces engaged in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-09-07 14:52 |
| #10 Book burning has unpleasant historical connotations. However I don't think this Afghan crowd would appreciate the prospect of a Muslim Gay Bar or a Mohammed cartoon exhibition close the the Ground Zero Mosque either, so that would endanger western troops as well. Where would the line be drawn? The Afghans want their piece of Earth and Water. Will they get it? |
| Posted by: Uneng Anginerong2922 2010-09-07 13:21 |
| #9 Phuck it, burn em. It is about time the entirety of Islam knows we're not as weak willed as they like to think we are. Confrontation and killing are inevitable, A-stan and the entire war on terror is just a new chapter in a VERY OLD war. |
| Posted by: Entertaining Prose 2010-09-07 13:07 |
| #8 I was under the impression our troops are fighting in Afghanistan to defend freedom. If that's not the case then bring the boys home. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-09-07 13:00 |
| #7 They do have a legal right to do it, but doing so would be wrong, offensive, and insensitive. And stupid. It accomplishes nothing and it does potentially increase risk to our people in A'stan and elsewhere in the Muslim world. Why push even one more Muslim from the 'radical' camp to the 'rabid radical' camp? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-09-07 13:00 |
| #6 They have a legal right to do it, but doing so would be wrong, offensive, and insensitive. Hmmm, I have a feeling of deja vu. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-09-07 12:48 |
| #5 Turning blue is un-islamic. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-09-07 12:29 |
| #4 "The Dove World Outreach Center at Gainesville, Florida, says it will burn copies of the Koran" Suddenly freedom of religious expression is a bad thing? |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-09-07 12:29 |
| #3 Gosh, 'cause the last thing we need is for them to be mad at us. They might stomp their feet and hold their breaths until they turn blue. And it would be socially tricky if Mohammed walked up to Abdul and said that he looked bluish. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-09-07 12:20 |
| #2 troops' lives will be endangered Well, my first choice would be that our troops' lives not be in danger and that all the Taliban have seen the light and are no longer a problem. That isn't the case. So my second choice would be that our troops' lives not be in danger and that all the Taliban get mowed down by our troops. But that won't happen. So my next choice would be that the Taliban are encouraged to fight, and unfortunately our troops' lives will be in danger. That seems more like a war now, doesn't it? The only other option remaining is that the Taliban don't fight and that our troops' lives won't be in danger but the Taliban will still be there. That doesn't solve anything. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-09-07 12:19 |
| #1 More than the thousand bucks a head the Iranians are offering? |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-09-07 12:02 |