As a Dachshund, and a proud American, I found it ridiculous when Obama apologized for the Quran burning incident. Now its come to light that the entire issue was about an accident? Six soldiers are now dead because of something that turned out to be a mistake? I wonder: will the governmental leaders in Afghanistan apologize to the families of the dead soldiers for what THEIR PEOPLE did?
Probably not.
Lets take a look at this whole thing, shall we?
The excuse is that Obama had to apologize to maintain good relations with Afghanistan and to calm the situation down. Neither goal worked. And ultimately, six men who had nothing to do with the burning were murdered. And 30 Afghanis are also dead because these militants, who seize any opportunity to pitch a fit, decided to pitch one this time, too.
Did the apology work? Only a blind boob would say it did (and Obama claims it worked, so......)
No, it didn't work. In fact, things escalated after the apology and Muslim clerics are not happy campers!
According to one news report:
"Senior Afghan clerics, in a statement issued after a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, said: 'This evil action cannot be forgiven by apologizing. The perpetrators of the mentioned crime should be put on a public trial as soon as possible.'"
"Investigators appointed by Marine Gen. John R. Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, found that the service members removed the Korans from a prison at Bagram air base after they were discovered to contain extremist messages.
The books were then placed in an office for safekeeping, according to the inquiry. But they were mistaken for garbage and taken to a landfill on the base."
But the entire thing was accidental. The personnel didn't realize the books were even in the pile:
"Another military official said: 'What they did was careless, but there was no ill will.'”
Mr. President, why are these young men being penalized for an honest mistake? It wasn't they who doodled in the Quran. It was MUSLIMS that did it!
These particular Qurans were unusable. They had written in them information which encouraged jihadist attacks on others and how to pull it off. So how are such unwanted Qurans to be disposed of?
"With regards to getting rid of unwanted religious and Islamic literature, the great
classical Hanafi jurist (faqih), Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:
'Books that are no longer benefited from, one should wipe away the names of
Allah, His Angels, and His Messengers, and burn the rest. There is also nothing
wrong with casting them into a flowing river as they are (i.e. without wiping away
those names) or burying them, and this (burying them) is better.'" (Radd al-Muhtar
ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 5/271)
Seems to me that the Muslims were spared the indignity of having to burn their own books!
Of course, there were other options. Burial of the books or drowning the books. But does anyone thing for one moment that either of these options, had they been done, would not have resulted in the same hissy fit?
see: dispsal of religious texts
Still, we're talking about a group of people who are pretty OCD about their book (and everything else):
"Quran-handling regulations extend far beyond disposal. Depending on their chosen sect, Muslims are forbidden to touch the Quran during menstruation, allow the book to touch the ground, leave it open after reading, use it as a pillow, or take it into impure places such as the bathroom....The physical text of the Quran is considered not just sacred, but also mystical and powerful. Some Muslims wear verses as amulets for protection or dissolve ink from a Quran in water and drink it to cure illnesses."
I suppose it isn't any nuttier than seeing Jesus on a toasted cheese sandwich, but still, no Catholics would kill someone for eating a "sacred sammie".
As a Presidential hopeful, I would never EVER apologize to these nincompoops. Instead, I would tell them:
"It was an accident. Stuff happens. Build a bridge and get over it!"
Then again, I've been fixed and STILL have more 'nads than Obama!
Til later, keep keeping on and remember to VOTE OSCAR IN 2016!
--Oscar Meir
