Afghan riots over Quran-burning: 2 days, 20 dead

Yahoo News ^ | April 2, 2011 | PATRICK QUINN

[YankeeReb]

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghans rioted for a second day Saturday to protest the burning of a Quran in Florida, killing nine people in Kandahar and injuring more than 80 in a wave of violence that underscored rising anti-foreign sentiment after nearly a decade of war.

The desecration at a small U.S. church has outraged Muslims worldwide, and in Afghanistan it further strained ties with the West. On Friday, 11 people were killed, including seven foreign U.N. employees, in a protest in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The protests come at a critical juncture as the U.S.-led coalition gears up for an insurgent spring offensive and a summer withdrawal of some troops, and with Afghanistan's mercurial president increasingly questioning international motives and NATO's military strategy.

Two suicide attackers disguised as women blew themselves up and a third was gunned down Saturday when they used force to try to enter a NATO base on the outskirts of Kabul, NATO and Afghan police said. Earlier in the week, six U.S. soldiers died during an operation against insurgents in eastern Afghanistan near Pakistan, where the Taliban retain safe havens.

President Hamid Karzai expressed regret for the 20 protest deaths, but he also further stoked possible anti-foreign sentiment by again demanding that the United States and United Nations bring to justice the pastor of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, where the Quran was burned March 20. Many Afghans did not know about the Quran-burning until Karzai condemned it four days after it happened.

[YankeeReb]

Aside from all the military and political issues at stake here, the first question I had to ask myself was simply, what kind of a BARBARIC "religion" would riot over a desecration happening half a world away in a backwater Fla church? I mean really, the Bible and Christians are assaulted everyday in these muslim theocracies and I would never begin burning my town or killing my neighbors over it. Do we really want to import this "religion" to this country and give it the same status as other Religious beliefs?

I'm reminded of the riots that happened in L.A. after Rodney King.

[Thane_Banquo]

Either the West destroys Islam, or Islam will destroy the west. Sadly, half our political establishment shares Islam’s goal of Western destruction.

[Lazamataz]

So they mostly killed their own people (except the poor UN souls) because we burned one Koran?

Shi-dawg, lets burn a truckload.

[Dominic01]

it comes to times like this, i’m sorry to say but let them kill themselves, we’d be better off one or even a dozen less radicals. the sad part about it is, the innocent people have to get involved, but they either have to stand up to these idiots one day or die not trying.

[Sacajaweau]

I'm so sick of hearing this called a religion. And I'm so sick of American Muslims saying they are not part of these "radical groups"

Of course they are. Their money supports them

[Christian Engineer Mass]

Please do point 4:

Thoughts for the day

Republicans win in 2012. They are going to try very hard to force an insider candidate like Gingrich or Romney on us.

Conservatives are kept too busy. Downsize some, and give a day a week to joining/starting Tea Party action groups if you really want things to change.

Get rid of the TV. Even the most aware people are swallowing subtle propaganda through the TV.

Muslim atrocities in the USA are sure to punctuate the next few years. When they occur, try to open the public debate about muslim immigration. With each new muslim atrocity, the level of public discussion about the issue deserves to increase.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Just a warm-up for the “Kill Team” riots to come.

[whatisthetruth]

by again demanding that the United States and United Nations bring to justice the pastor of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, where the Quran was burned

Bring to justice? What do you suggest Mr.Karzai, a PUBLIC BEHEADING?????????

[RaceBannon]

The problems with the koran burning and the WTC Mosque

In all this argument of recent days, the most important fact of the matter has been obvious from the start, but is rarely spoken of by the media or the public.

Regarding the Florida koran burning, has anyone stepped back and listened to what people are saying in detail? The first thing a person will hear is how that Pastor has the Constitutional right to do what he is doing.

The next series of statements, however, are always the majority of statements made in these conversations, namely: It is the wrong thing to do, it is inciteful, it is a cult in Florida, muslims will hate us, it will endanger the troops, and, most importantly for this conversation: we are not at war against a religion, but extremists of that religion.

This is important because of the islamic world’s reaction to this Florida Pastor; namely, that the islamic world immediately protested the planned koran burning by condemning the entire country of the United States and marched and chanted promoting our deaths to cries of “DEATH TO AMERICA!”

The response by virtually all American politicians has been an apologetic tone, one where they immediately call for the koran burning to stop, observations that it IS inciteful and that the threats to Americans at home and American Troops abroad are not acceptable and that the safety of the American public are paramount in this case.

Their tone has been to cower in fear at these threats. Not one politician has stepped forward and exclaimed, “Islam is not being attacked by an entire country or an entire religion, Islam is only being attacked by a radical. Islam needs to remember we are not all against Islam and threats to our safety are wrong and inciteful and hate filled.”

Not one. They cower to the islamic world, refuse to hold them to the same standard of behavior as they insist from their own people, refuse to insist that the Pastor in Florida is an anomaly and that the United States is no threat to islam.

What they did was bow in submission to the sensitivities of the islamic world and deny the Florida Pastor his civil rights to speak out like an American.

The islamic world will not notice. They will riot anyways. It is identical to the cartoonists in Denmark. All it took was one cartoonist to make a cartoon of Muhammad and the entire islamic world was in the streets and threatening to kill anyone who makes a cartoon of Muhammad.

Theo Van Gogh made a movie about this islamic submission in Holland, and they killed him for making the movie.

The Florida Koran burning case is quite similar to the Ground Zero mosque case with some significant differences. In Florida, the Pastor must stop his koran burning or there will be violence across the globe, and in fact, even if he does stop, there will be violence across the globe due to him stating he wanted to burn korans. In New York City, the Imam who wants to build a mosque 2 blocks away from Ground Zero, he said on CNN that if we move the mosque or deny it’s construction, there will be violence across the globe.

In both cases, if we do not submit to islamic sensitivities, there will be violence across the globe, in fact, even if we do submit to islamic sensitivities, there will most likely be violence anyways due to the fact that we spoke of those things.

Free speech is threatened in Florida, and a new twist is happening in New York City, something that Israel has seen does not work, and that is LAND FOR PEACE.

The Ground Zero mosque is about LAND FOR PEACE. If we give islam the land to make a mosque, there will be peace. If we do not give islam the land, there will be violence.

Think this through people. In both of these cases, neither has anything to do with the original concerns people expressed. It is solely about whether we submit to islamic sensitivities or have violence.

It is about Islamic blackmail of the United States.

James Bancroft USMC 1977-1981

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****The desecration at a small U.S. church has outraged Muslims worldwide,*****

How can it be desecration if it is YOUR OWN PERSONAL PROPERTY you are burning?

And why should it set off people on the far side of the world who have the EMOTIONAL MATURITY OF A FOUR YEAR OLD CHILD?

[TexasCajun]

Some folk just aren't ready for American style freedoms like Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Religion.

Yeah, the pastor is a jerk.

But the pastor did cop off any muslim heads in his protest now did he!

[El Cid]

Do we really want to import this "religion" to this country and give it the same status as other Religious beliefs?

Easy question.
No - its insane.
The koran, and its followers, is incompatible with Western Civilization. It is incompatible with any people who desire freedoms and liberty. It is incompatible with people who fear and revere the True God (that of the Bible).

And yet .... our politicians will proclaim it to be a "Religion of Peace" (Trademark Pending), with the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue stating that he'll side with the islamics if/when 'trouble arises'....
There is a poisonous viper in our midst. The books they follow clearly state their intents - and their actions throughout the world and history demonstrate their intents. Yet the West would rather commit suicide then be accused of being 'intolerant'...

[Ironfocus]

Islam is worse than Hitler’s Germany, yet we are either sitting by idly or encouraging the spread of this murderous and barbaric system. It needs to be destroyed before it gets too big to kill.

[SaxxonWoods]

They aren’t rioting over the Koran burning. They riot when they are instructed to riot.

[SaxxonWoods]

Yes, burnings should continue until morale improves.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

De Mistura, however, said he drew no connection between the riots and Karzai's earlier condemnation of the Quran-burning. He said it takes "two to three weeks for information to percolate. It's not like in the West. Then it goes through the mosque and then through the Friday prayers."

"I don't think we should be blaming any Afghan. We should be blaming the person who produced the news — the one who burned the Quran," he said.

[bereanway]

President Hamid Karzai expressed regret for the 20 protest deaths, but he also further stoked possible anti-foreign sentiment by again demanding that the United States and United Nations bring to justice the pastor of the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida””

Is Karzai that stupid or is it just the fact that he’s a Muslim? In the US there’s no justice to be administered for burining a book (or at least there hasn’t been). Of course we’ve seen a lot of firsts the last couple years.

Oh, for the joys of sharia.

[hal ogen]

If I burn korans in private will anything happen other than my house being warmer? Just what is with these emotion-driven-middle-age-religious-zealots? I can only hope that they proceed to kill them selves before they kill me. Their blood lust is something else. Moozlums: Religion of Sticky, Icky Blood (is more like it).

[vbmoneyspender]

clarity is a good thing.

[wild74]

I would burn the Koran, but I wouldn’t waste my money buying that book to burn besides we are under a burn ban in East Texas Harrison county right now