...in Afghanistan. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...otest-heats-outside-US-military-air-base.html 'Die, die foreigners': Thousands of outraged Afghans protest outside American airbase after Koran burning insult by US troops American troops in Afghanistan were at the centre of new controversy and bitter protests tonight after claims US soldiers had burned copies of the Koran among rubbish. More than 2,000 furious Afghans - some chanting ‘die, die foreigners’, other throwing rocks - gathered outside the giant US air base at Bagram, 40 miles north of the capital Kabul, as reports of the burning spread. The US commander of Nato troops in Afghanistan, General John Allen, was forced to apologise over the claims that foreign troops had ‘improperly disposed’ of copies of the Koran. But there were immediate fears the Taliban and other insurgent groups would try to exploit the claims, using it as a rallying call against US, British and fellow Coalition forces. Last year at least 10 United Nations workers were killed and dozens of other people injured in protests triggered in Afghanistan by an American preacher setting fire to the Koran in Florida. And it comes only weeks after US and UN officials condemned a video clip of US marine snipers urinating on dead Afghans as ‘disgusting’ and ‘inhuman.’ Announcing an immediate investigation, Gen. Allen stressed the incident was ‘not intentional in any way.’ However, it stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after nearly a decade of war in Afghanistan and fuelled the arguments of Afghans who believe foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion. Other religious items were reported to have been among the packages burned by the two soldiers. As word of the incident spread, demonstrators gathered outside the sprawling Bagram Air Field, in Parwan province. As the crowd grew, so did the outrage. U.S. helicopters fired flares to try to break up the protests and while some demonstrators shouted their hatred, others fired hunting guns into the air. Groups threw rocks at the gate of the base. ‘We Afghans don’t want these Christians and infidels, they are the enemy of our soil, our honour and our Koran,’ said Haji Shirin, one of the protesters. ‘I urge all Muslims to sacrifice themselves in order to pull out these troops from this soil.’ Bagram also houses a prison for Afghans detained by US forces. The centre has caused resentment among Afghans because of reports of torture and ill-treatment of suspected Taliban prisoners, with President Hamid Karzai demanding the transfer of prisoners to Afghan security. Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials took him to a ‘burn pit’ on the base where 60 to 70 books, including Korans, were recovered. The books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base, he said. ‘Some were all burned, some were half-burned,’ Zahed said, adding that he did not know exactly how many Korans, the Muslim holy book, had been burned. Zahed said five Afghans working at the pit told him that the religious books were in the rubbish that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported to the pit in a truck late on Monday night. When they realized the books were in the rubbish, the labourers worked to recover them, he said. ‘The labourers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire,’ he said. In an unusally candid statement, Gen. Allen said : ‘I offer my sincere apologies for any offence this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan.’ A military official says the books were burned because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions. Afghan Army Gen. Abdul Jalil Rahimi, the commander of a military coordination office in the province, said he and other officials met with protesters, tribal elders and clerics to try to calm their emotional response. ‘The protesters were very angry and didn’t want to end their protest...The people are very angry. The mood is very negative,’ he said.
The intolerance, fanatism and hate is the same as the one that was displayed by the guy who assaulted that guy at the parade in the other thread DonnyMost posted. What is the common denominator?
So how do these uncivilized morons deal with the realities of the digital world? E.g., if their Koran is displayed on a website, and that website needs to change servers or something? Can the content of a server never be deleted, or otherwise these savages will go ape****? How about they learn how to be decent people first before they act all outraged and self-righteous over some book? Where was all that anger when 9/11 happened? Where was it when the bombings in London and Madrid happened? Did these people get similarly angry? Did they care?
This is less about Islam and more about a broken people looking for a reason to stand up for themselves. This is like the LA Riots. No one actually gave a care about Rodney King.
Did anyone hear michael berry's commentary regarding John Allen's apology over the incident? It was so juvenile yet funny at the same time.
I doubt anyone finds this surprising, the Afghans don't have paved roads or a water system, they are literally stuck in the stone ages. Anyone expecting them to react and behave like a person from a modern civilized nation has got be an idiot. Heck I remember reading a poll a few years ago which stated that over 80% of Afghans don't even know why the US is in Afghanistan. Also, I'm sure the Taliban saw this as an opportunity where they could get semi-violent without any real retaliation.
Let's see what happens if the US is invaded by Iran, and Iranian soldiers burn the bible. I'm sure Americans wouldn't care. Right?
This is easy to answer. This is the equivalent of, for example, someone asking you to share responsibility for the Holocaust. Does this group of protestors have anything but a nominal link (Muslims) to 9/11, London, Madrid? Just like several Germans have a nominal link with Hitler (German, Christian)?? You've always made this proposterous claim implying Muslims share a responsibility for the actions of Extremist Muslims, I'm shocked by now you haven't seen that, even if that made sense, it doesn't matter because no one in the world would accept responsibility for something they haven't done and don't condone. For example, in the exact same way, I don't expect you to share responsibility for the alarming attacks on Muslims in Germany. I would even argue further that the ability of a Muslim in an "Islamic" country to repel religious terrorism in the region is far lower than that of the average person in a secular, democratic and developed country.
Except in this case, Rodney King would be the equivalent of their savior/god. So, disagree. Yes, some money and a good lay would work wonders to make these people chill the hell out, but they're not doing this crap for fun... this is ethereal war to them... with, in their mind, very real consequences.
hmm. as a Marine who deployed to Afghanistan.... I'm going to try to put some common sense into you. If the United States was invaded by foreign occupiers for the past 40+ years how do we think we will react to foreign troops disrespecting us?
ya i mean i'm sure if your home country was invaded by foreigners for decades you would be so amazingly happy about it.
