I saw mention of this picture in today's Opinion Journal "Best of the Web," this is a cut and paste from there:
letter to the editor of the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal from one Patty Sommer (third letter):
Your front-page photo of the soldier with the rosary hanging off his or her gun shocked and appalled me. I have been against the war in Iraq from the get-go, but I don't think anyone in this country has ever tried to justify it on religious grounds. The image just gives fodder to those who would characterize this war as another Christian crusade against Muslims.
While I hesitate to criticize our troops, that soldier should not have displayed a religious symbol on his or her weapon. Certainly his or her commanding officer should not have allowed it. Absolutely, the Wisconsin State Journal should not have published it. As an American, I am disgusted. As a Catholic, I am outraged and offended. My religion has nothing to do with President Bush's war.
After all the backlash over the picture of the Marine with a cigarette in his mouth, you knew something like this was coming.
I wonder if this woman found the time to write any letters about Saddam and his torture chambers, or about the taliban murders of women in Afghanistan. Was she outraged and offended by the events of 9/11? I imagine those things were not so very offensive that she felt compelled to write a letter about it or do anything else.
But, give a soldier a rosary and she gets all fired up.
As an American, I find that disgusting.