Holy Book? Firewood!

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Elenmmare

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11209738

The top US commander in Afghanistan has warned that troops' lives will be in danger if an American church sticks to its plan to burn copies of the Koran.

Gen David Petraeus said the action could cause problems "not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world".

Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center, plans to put copies of the holy book in a bonfire to mark this week's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

There have already been protests in Afghanistan and Indonesia.

The US embassy in Kabul issued a statement condemning the plans by the non-denominational church in Gainesville, Florida.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," Gen Petraeus said in a statement to US media. "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," added Gen Petraeus, who heads a 150,000-strong Nato force against a Taliban-led insurgency.

Lt Gen William Caldwell, the commander of the Nato training mission in Afghanistan, told CNN: "It's their holy book, so when somebody says that they're going to destroy that and cause a desecration to something that's very sacred to them, it's already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern amongst the people."

In Kabul on Monday, about 500 protesters chanted "long live Islam" and "death to America" as they set fire to an effigy of Mr Jones.

The controversy comes at a time of already heated debate in the US over a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural centre two streets from Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks, in New York.

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Jones acknowledged Gen Petraeus's concerns, but added: "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam. We will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats."

The planned protest by Mr Jones's previously little-known 50-member Florida church, whose website labels Islam "violent and oppressive", has prompted protests elsewhere, too.

Thousands of mostly Muslim demonstrators rallied around Indonesia last weekend.

Claims that US soldiers have desecrated the Koran in both Afghanistan and Iraq have caused bloodshed in the past.

There were deadly protests in Afghanistan in 2008, when it emerged that a US soldier deployed to Iraq riddled a copy of the holy book with bullets.

And further lives were lost in Afghan riots in 2005 when Newsweek magazine printed a story alleging that US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet.

Genius! Make world papers by doing the same things we've been doing for centuries!
 
Great, a bunch of blithering almost religious idiots are burning a holy book to protest a bunch of crazy almost religious radicals flying planes into buildings. And people wonder why religion is regarded as the most dangerous belief system in the world.
 
By that logic hundreds of books could be burned, religious or not (Dao De Jing might be a rare exception)
in who's name crimes are committed. Everything from The Bible to The Koran and to Das Kapital to Mein Campf...

It will lead to one thing: more hatred. Nothing good will come of it.
 
Yaaaay, Muslims overreacting over the actions of a small amount of idiots.

Way to break the mold Abdul.
 
Yeah, and obviously Mr.Jones isn't fighting these people personally or, has anything to do with the war in general. If he really cared about his troops he wouldn't create more ammo for the Taliban to get recruits. But it's the soldiers who are over there fighting not Mr.Jones. So why would Mr.Jones care if the soldiers don't want to fight more of the Taliban?
 
tommylaw said:
Solution: war on mr jones.
Agreed. As a well abiding Atheist, I'd like to declare a Jihad on mr.Jones.

"Heh, there you go Mr.Jones, don't be afraid now".
 
Suspect-Device said:
Yaaaay, Muslims overreacting over the actions of a small amount of idiots.
Way to break the mold Abdul.
Considering that it's being used as ammo for the Taliban to recruit with, it's quite likely that the common man engaged in the protests isn't getting the full tale. Sensationalists and fear mongers rarely point out that the extremists are a very small minority who are just being given more press than they deserve.
 
Shatari said:
Suspect-Device said:
Yaaaay, Muslims overreacting over the actions of a small amount of idiots.
Way to break the mold Abdul.
Considering that it's being used as ammo for the Taliban to recruit with, it's quite likely that the common man engaged in the protests isn't getting the full tale. Sensationalists and fear mongers rarely point out that the extremists are a very small minority who are just being given more press than they deserve.

Very true.

The story sold by the Taliban would almost certainly be far from fact, most likely suggesting that these practices are widespread in western society.  not that burning religious books is by any means a mild action in the first place.
 
Its also quite interesting especially now adays how more and more of Al-queda is being mentioned less and the Taliban is more. Although truth be told both organizations are small, ** is (some estimates) at least 500 or less(in Afghanistan).
 
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