Why Afghanistan has reacted so sharply to threat of Quran burning

[TomCADem]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

The global response to small-time Florida pastor Terry Jones's on-again, off-again plan to burn the Quran has so far been mercifully muted. Small groups have burned American flags in Pakistan and the Gulf and condemnation of the plan has poured in from world leaders, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Even Pope Benedict XVI, not exactly the Muslim world's favorite man, has weighed in.

But so far, most of the action has taken place on television or in print, with one major exception: Afghanistan. In Kabul, parliamentary candidates have put up signs vowing retaliation against the US if Korans are burned and in at least two provinces, anti-American protesters have been shot outside NATO compounds. In one northeastern province, an Afghan National Army outpost was almost overrun and a protest in Kabul earlier this week included stone-throwing at US humvees.

All this contributed to the reason Gen. David Petraeus, who is running the Afghan war, said the Koran burning "could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan." Petraeus, often described as a scholar-soldier (a former professor, he has a PhD in international relations from Princeton University), is well aware of the powerful role that Islam can play in uniting disparate local groups against what are seen as foreign invaders, nowhere more so than in Afghanistan.

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Perceived insults have affected Afghanistan in the past. In 2005, a riot broke out in Jalalabad after Newsweek incorrectly reported that a US interrogator had flushed a Quran down the toilet at Guantánamo Bay. Not only were examples of the foreign presence attacked (the UN withdrew staff from the city after two of its guesthouses were attacked), but so were Afghan government installations, since the administration of President Hamid Karzai is seen by many Afghans as a symbol of the foreign presence as well. Four rioters were killed before the incident petered out.

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0910/Why-Afghanistan-has-reacted-so-sharply-to-threat-of-Quran-burning

[Skip Intro]

1. I still can't help but wonder, do we eventually reach the point of curtailing our freedom for fear

of how some in this country or elsewhere might react? Does South Park get its scripts edited by the Taliban? I know that's a stretch, but maybe not that much of a stretch - Comedy Central did censor a South Park episode because of threats from those who were offended. How far does something like this go?

I read in another post on DU what I thought was a great line, which I'll paraphrase here: I'd rather live in a nation where people are free to burn books, and flags, etc. - to offend, than live in a nation that forbids such expressions.

[totodeinhere]

2. +1

[Downwinder]

3. Doesn't it pretty much depend on what we wish to receive?

[TomCADem]

4. HuffPo - "Palin: First Amendment Rights Threatened By Criticism" - Palin's Right? OMG!

The pastor in Florida is getting tremendous criticism for arranging to burn the Koran, yet folks are complaining that this impairs his first amendment rights sort of like Sarah Palin:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/palin-criticism-threatens_n_139729.html

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

[Skip Intro]

5. Oh come on. nt

[TomCADem]

6. Don't Criticize Me Like The Pastor!!! You're Trampling My First Amendment Rights!

How dare you censor me! :)

[Skip Intro]

8. Oh Lord.

If you're trying to make a point, you're off the mark. If you're trying to make me smile, mission accomplished.

[Tx4obama]

7. Palin doesn't understand that EVERYONE has a RIGHT to criticize her.

Palin also doesn't understand what the first amendment is.
It has to do with GOVERNMENT not prohibiting free speech.
Poor Palin needs to read her U.S. Constitution and have someone explain it to her ;)

[proteus_lives]

9. +1000

[Imajika]

10. Because many Afghans are backward fundamentalists?

Look, anyone who would riot over some nut with a tiny congregation burning their "holy" book half a world away is a fanatic.

Most likely the Afghans rioting, burning things and killing people over this were just looking for a reason to protest the US anyway.

Obviously burning the Quran is a bad, inflammatory, offensive (to some) and stupid idea. But this massive government effort to save a few Muslim holy books is absurd. We are a free country and we will never be able to stop a handful of over 300 million people from making their own YouTube videos of themselves setting Quran's on fire. The more attention this dimwit preacher gets, the more copycat's his actions will spawn.

Had we just ignored him, he'd have burned a few books, a bunch of Afghani's would go berserk for a few hours after seeing the video, and the lack of attention would have reduced the copy cat effect. The amount of US federal government and media attention that can be obtained from lighting a book on fire is so incredible right now, I can envision scads of people otherwise out of options burning a Quran just for the shot at press coverage, a book tour, reality TV and nice conversation with the Defense Secretary.

The entire thing is ridiculous. Quite frankly, the full court press to stop the burning of ANY holy book is kinda disturbing to me. If someone wants to burn a Bible, they should be allowed to make an ass of themselves doing so. Burn a Quran? Sure, waste your time and money.

I guarantee you if we showed video of Saudi's destroying confiscated bibles that there would be few if any Christians out screaming, burning things and threatening to kill people. It would be met with a very large "ho hum".