Posted on 02/23/2012 7:03:18 AM PST by SeekAndFind
After several days of unrest in Afghanistan over the burning of Korans removed from detention facilities, President Obama has sent a note of apology to Hamid Karzai. Obama stresses that the destruction was inadvertent, and that those who made the “error” would be held accountable:
President Obama sent Afghan President Hamid Karzai a letter on Thursday apologizing for the alleged burning of Korans at a U.S. military base, Karzai’s office confirmed on its website.
“I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident,” Obama wrote. “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies.”
The president concludes the letter: “The error was inadvertent; I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible.”
Was it really “inadvertent,” though? According to CNN’s report on the destruction of the materials, they had good reason to seize and destroy the books:
The Qurans were among religious materials removed from a detainee facility at Bagram Airfield. The materials were gathered for disposal and were inadvertently given to troops for burning, Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said Tuesday.
“This was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials,” he said. “It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it, we immediately stopped and we intervened.”
A military official said the materials were removed from the detainee center’s library because they had “extremist inscriptions” on them and there was “an appearance that these documents were being used to facilitate extremist communications.”
Well, if detainees were marking up the Korans for “extremist communications,” didn’t that deface the Korans anyway? Either way, the US couldn’t return the books to the detention center after having discovered the secret communications added to them, and we couldn’t just store them forever, either. I’m not conversant on the proper destruction of Korans in the Muslim faith, but burning them sounds better than throwing them into a landfill. The responsibility for the need to destroy them rests with the terrorists who defaced them in the first place.
That brings us to the issue of the apology. Although I’m likely to be in the minority here, it’s probably a smart and cost-free move for Obama to apologize to Karzai. Regardless of how difficult it is to work with Karzai, he’s the best option we’re going to have in Afghanistan for quite a while. If an apology can bolster his standing in the face of the riots, or at least minimize the political damage he takes in this tempest in a tea cup, then it’s a minor trifle to offer it.
In the future, though, the US can avoid the problem by removing all of the Korans from detention centers. Let them read Hayek or de Tocqueville instead, and when they deface those books for their communications, no one will riot if we burn them. We are under no obligation to provide detainees with Korans, and that will avoid all of the problems associated with their handling and disposal.
Update: Allahpundit e-mailed me this new development:
“An individual wearing an Afghan National Army uniform turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in eastern Afghanistan today, killing two service members,” ISAF said.
ISAF did not identify the nationalities of the dead soldiers and gave no further details of the incident, which came on the third day of fierce protests against the burning of the Koran at a US-run military base.
Asked whether the events were connected, an ISAF spokesman would only say: “There was a demonstration in the province.”
Afghan troops defending a foreign base in eastern Nangarhar province had “joined demonstrators and opened fire on foreign troops”, a protester told the Afghan Islamic Press news agency.
Thousands of furious Afghans besieged a US base for the third day in a row on Thursday, throwing rocks and climbing up the outer walls.
If an apology can defuse that situation, then as I wrote above, it’s a cost-free sop to Karzai and Obama was correct to offer it. We’ll see how effective it is.
“I’m so sorry, Uncle Albert.”...
Gee, that will help. /s
In other news, Obama apologizes to the bitter clingers.
The “Panty-Waist-in-Chief” just can’t wait to appologize to someone about America!
God I hate this..... I would say, Hey, you haven’t seen anything yet. Attack America again and we will have a giant muslim BBQ.... And you’re pissed about a bunch of toilet paper being burned...
Whjy not just shutdown the embassy and go home too.
Maybe if Christians rediscovered some of that Crusader militancy they would get some respect too.
Gee, you’d think they had burned little kids alive or something. How about “we’ll print some more to take their place” and that should be the end of it.
Barky bows deeply...
Any word on when he’ll apologize to the babies he’s helped kill? Just wondering.
So what? Big whoop!
For Heaven's sake, we are treating these terrorists that we capture with kid gloves. Like we are somehow the culprits here...and the President of the US is in the forefront of this attitude.
These prisoners should be in solitatiry confinement and subjected to strong interrogation techniques, yes, including water boarding, until we squeeze evey bit of info we can out of them.
Then, under the Geneva convention, as irregulars, they should be summarily executed.
If the populations around there don't like it and riot in protest and in support of the terrorist enemies, then treat them the same way we treated the German and Japanese populations in World War II who supportewd the Nzis and the Emperor...meaning we bomb and fire bomb their cities until they abjectly surrender and want NO MORE fundamental Islam.
That's, IMHO, how this has to be handled or we will forever be fighting these people because we do not have the will to humble and defeat them sufficiently to produce a disavowal of this wretched, 17th century ideology.
—Obama stresses that the destruction was inadvertent, and that those who made the “error” would be held accountable:—
I have a feeling Obama will be deeply saddened when he learns he can not have them beheaded.
WHERE IS YOUR APOLOGY TO AMERICAN CATHOLICS PRESIDENT OBAMA?"
On The Drudge Report:
Afghans burn effigy of ‘Black Dog’ Obama...
Photo is included at the site.
Racist Afghans raging against our immaculate mulatto...
So he apologized about burnings of a book that the majority of the Afghans CAN’T READ ANYWAY because they are illiterate. How do they even KNOW they were queerans if they can’t even read the damn thing?
If I were President I would announce that EVERY US Soldier would be issued a pocket sized queeran to carry in their back pockets so they could reference it when in dispute with a muslim. I’d ask that they read it so they can truly understand the mindset of the barbarian enemy. (Then slowly cut back on toilet paper supplies....)
Why would Obama apologize to Catholics? “This is a Muslim country”. Remember?
Apologizes as it’s reported that two U.S. servicemen were killed by an Affganny soldier. What worthless MPOS!
RE: How do they even KNOW they were queerans if they can’t even read the damn thing?
They were told by people they’d rather believe in WHO CAN READ.
Perhaps the White House needs its own YouTube channel where they may post a loop of Obama bowing.
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