Top US commander: Burning Quran endangers troops

[Purplehood]

KABUL, Afghanistan – The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

Meanwhile, NATO reported the death of an American service member in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The comments from Gen. David Petraeus followed a protest Monday by hundreds of Afghans over the plans by Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center — a small, evangelical Christian church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy — to burn copies of the Quran on church grounds to mark the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States that provoked the Afghan war.

"Images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence," Petraeus said.

I hope that they listen to him.

[PRO]

I agree. We shouldn’t lower ourselves to the level of the American flag burning extremists. I’ll admit that I have a relative going to Afghanistan on Oct. 1st so I may be biased in my opinion. Burning books, to me, is fanatical.

Phil

[Hoi Polloi]

Dove World Outreach burning books and inciting world violence...now there's some irony.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

I agree. We shouldn’t lower ourselves to the level of the American flag burning extremists. I’ll admit that I have a relative going to Afghanistan on Oct. 1st so I may be biased in my opinion. Burning books, to me, is fanatical.

Phil

This is supposed to be a church? Wanting to destroy a holy book? Sounds like something out of the middle ages.

And its not Islam or the Quran that attacked us it is the Islamic extremist. Most people overlook that or forget to add that very important word....EXTREMISTS.

[Kythas]

I disagree with this. The people we're fighting already hate us. They already want to kill us. This was shown in 9/11/01 when they showed us that they hate us enough to kill 3,000 civilians.

Will burning a Quran make them hate us more? They'll want to kill us more than they already want to kill us? They'll want to kill us twice?

That said, I think it's a bad idea, much in the same vein as I think the 9/11 mosque is a bad idea. Yes, they have the right to build it. Yes, this pastor has the right to burn a Quran. They are both a horribly bad idea, though.

And its not Islam or the Quran that attacked us it is the Islamic extremist. Most people overlook that or forget to add that very important word....EXTREMISTS.

I'm going to disagree with you here. I believe bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban are practicing Islam exactly as Muhammad intended for it to be practiced and exactly how the Quran states it should be practiced. The radicals and extremists are those Muslims who want to drag Islam into the 21st Century and repudiate the concept of killing the People of the Book where ever they may be found.

And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.

It is He {Allah} Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it superior over all religions even though the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) hate (it).

[Purplehood]

I still think that we don't lower our own standards/values and stoop to the level of our opponents. I will never change my view on that.

[Fangs]

On one hand I agree, it's childish, barbaric, and asking for trouble to burn not just books, but one that a huge part of the world holds dear.

On the other hand, I'm tired of America being so afraid of inciting the terrorists who already want to wipe the U.S. off the map. Extremists burn Bibles and murder Christians all the time. We don't go killing them over it. Turnabout's fair play.

I'd very much like a "Forget you world, take care of your own problems" attitude when it comes to foreign aid, an "Every American you kill, we reciprocate in your country 100 times over" attitude to terrorist attacks, and a "Who cares if you try to blow up or hijack a plane? We're tired of living like scared sissy cattle, and now everyone's armed on the flights" attitude for airlines. Everyone already hates America,I don't see where the harm in this would be. (I'm not entirely serious, but it'd be fun to see how such a policy would play out)

[PRO]

I still think that we don't lower our own standards/values and stoop to the level of our opponents. I will never change my view on that.

[Fangs]

Oh, and can't we just say it's the Christian "extremists" that are burning the books, and that makes it ok, just like when it's the Muslim "extremists" decapitating people and stuff?

[Purplehood]

On one hand I agree, it's childish, barbaric, and asking for trouble to burn not just books, but one that a huge part of the world holds dear.

On the other hand, I'm tired of America being so afraid of inciting the terrorists who already want to wipe the U.S. off the map. Extremists burn Bibles and murder Christians all the time. We don't go killing them over it. Turnabout's fair play.

I'd very much like a "Forget you world, take care of your own problems" attitude when it comes to foreign aid, an "Every American you kill, we reciprocate in your country 100 times over" attitude to terrorist attacks, and a "Who cares if you try to blow up or hijack a plane? We're tired of living like scared sissy cattle, and now everyone's armed on the flights" attitude for airlines. Everyone already hates America,I don't see where the harm in this would be. (I'm not entirely serious, but it'd be fun to see how such a policy would play out)

I personally could care less about offending them. I do care about my own values, which are that I don't want to denigrate any religions holy books. I may not read them, I may not like what they say, but I respect the fact that someone that is looking at that book is actually trying to be a good person in front of God and in their hearts.

The idiots that want to strap a Koran/Quran to their front and a bomb to their back can just paint a target on themselves as far as I care. Just leave peoples books alone.

[PRO]

My roommate is a member of the Patriot Guard. I have ridden with her to help Families and loved ones of fallen heroes from being subjected to the extremists within our borders.

Burning books has the stench of Nazis, communism and dictatorships. It's a book. If they want a symbol, why not burn an effigy of those who were responsible for it?

[The Annoyed Man]

If we are going to object to the building of a mosque at ground zero as a deliberately offensive and deliberately provocative act by muslims (and I do object on those grounds), then we must similarly object to the deliberately offensive and deliberately provocative act of Christian church publicly desecrating Islam's holy book.

Do I think that Islam is in spiritual darkness? As a believing evangelical Christian, yes I do - but that is a purely theological statement, and it has little or no bearing on how we are all to get along as mutual citizens of the same nation under a constitutional government.

My sincerest prayer would be that this misguided pastor and his church would come to the conclusion, on their own, that they should not do what they are proposing to do — for the very same reasons that thinking people of good will can object to the ground zero mosque — and that muslims would, in response, understand the massive affront that is the ground zero mosque, and as a countering act of goodwill, withdraw any plans to further pursue it.

I don't think that's what will happen though. I think that the church that has decided to burn a Quran will proceed with their decision to do so, because the decision was founded in narrow-minded ignorance; and you just can't cure stupid. And I think that those muslims directly involved will proceed with their decision to build a mosque at ground zero despite the venomous hatred it expresses because their reasoning is grounded in spiritual darkness, they are fundamentally not people of good will or intentions, this mosque is a monument to one of their triumphs, and they desire to see the Caliphate established over the United States.

Edited to add: I am a great admirer of General Petraeus's, but I believe that he is wrong in this case. Fanatical Islamists don't need the excuse of a burned Quran to kill American troops. They have all other kinds of twisted reasoning already available to them in their swampy black hearts and brains. They're going to try and kill Americans no matter what we do.

[The Annoyed Man]

I personally could care less about offending them. I do care about my own values, which are that I don't want to denigrate any religions holy books. I may not read them, I may not like what they say, but I respect the fact that someone that is looking at that book is actually trying to be a good person in front of God and in their hearts.

The idiots that want to strap a Koran/Quran to their front and a bomb to their back can just paint a target on themselves as far as I care. Just leave peoples books alone.

Well said.

[wheelgun1958]

I'm not a proponent of book burning, but I won't lose any sleep if I offend a muslim.

[74novaman]

On the other hand, I'm tired of America being so afraid of inciting the terrorists who already want to wipe the U.S. off the map. Extremists burn Bibles and murder Christians all the time. We don't go killing them over it. Turnabout's fair play.

If this only was insulting the terrorists, I might be okay with it. There are, however, millions of Muslims who give no money to terror groups, don't support sharia law or jihad, and its their holy book as well.

Maybe instead we should bury each taliban fighter we kill with bacon wrapped around their body. A jihad-popper, if you will.

Insult and anger those who try to harm us, sure. Make the moderates of islam have more in common with Bin Laden than me, doesn't seem a great strategy.