As we've had plenty of occasion [2] to say before: Isn't it funny that those who invoke the supposed superiority of Western culture the loudest are the quickest to betray those values which supposedly make it superior (pluralism, tolerance, etc.)? And we'll also add—Way to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan! From ABC News [3], Sept. 4:
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan warned that a Florida pastor's plan to burn Korans at his church on Sept. 11 could be increasing the danger to his troops.
The so-called "Burn a Koran Day" ignited a protest for a second day in a row by hundreds of Afghans, who burned American flags and shouted "Death to America."
The crowd in downtown Kabul reached nearly 500 on Monday, with Afghan protesters chanting, "Long live Islam," and, "Long live the Koran," and burning an effigy of Terry Jones, senior pastor from the Dove World Outreach Center [4] in Florida, who is planning the event.
While Jones has an approximately 50-member following in Gainesville, Florida, protesters in Afghanistan were well aware of the pastor's inflammatory comments, such as, "Islam is an evil religion," because they have spread wide on the Internet. Jones also has authored a book, "Islam Is of the Devil."
"America cannot eliminate Muslims from the world," one Afghan man told ABC News.
On Monday, the angry crowd pelted a passing U.S. military convoy with rocks.
Gen. Petraeus said he is outraged by the pastor's decision to burn the Koran, which he said could "endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort here."
See our last posts on Afghanistan [5] and Islamophobia [6].
