U.N. in Afghanistan says Koran burners should be punished

U.N. in Afghanistan says Koran burners should be punished
Thursday, March 01, 2012
By Amie Ferris-Rotman

KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday in calling on the U.S. military to take disciplinary action against those who burned copies of the Koran at a NATO air base, calling the incident a "grave mistake".

Despite an apology from U.S. President Barack Obama, the burning of the Muslim holy book at the Bagram base north of the capital ignited a wave of anti-Western fury across the country.

At least 30 people were killed in protests, including two American soldiers who were killed by an Afghan soldier who joined the demonstrations.

"After the first step of a profound apology, there must be a second step ... of disciplinary action," Jan Kubis, special representative for the U.N. secretary-general in Afghanistan, told a news conference.

"Only after this, after such a disciplinary action, can the international forces say 'yes, we're sincere in our apology'," added Kubis, without elaborating on what action should be taken.

Obama, in a letter of apology to Karzai last week, said the burning of copies of the Koran had been "inadvertent" and an "error".

Distancing the United Nations from the anti-Western uproar, Kubis lamented the attack on a U.N. compound in Kunduz province in the north last week, which angry demonstrators charged with weapons. U.N. staff was relocated around the country.

"We were not the ones who desecrated the holy Koran," Kubis said. "We deeply, deeply, profoundly respect Islam."

In some of the toughest language yet from an international organisation over the Koran burnings, Kubis added:

"We were very hurt that the international military allowed the desecration of the Koran. We rejected and condemned this act, it doesn't matter that it was a mistake.".

The call from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan for action come after Karzai demanded the Koran burners -- whom he said were American soldiers -- be put on public trial and punished.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says any disciplinary action "deemed necessary" would be taken by U.S. authorities after a thorough review of the facts in an investigation.

Results from separate investigations by NATO and Afghan authorities into the Koran burnings last month are expected soon. New protests could erupt if the investigation teams are seen as too soft on the Koran burners.

The Koran desecrations are also believed to have spurred a 25-year-old policeman to kill two high-ranking American officers inside the Interior Ministry.

The attack has raised questions about NATO's strategy of replacing large combat unit with advisers as the alliance tries to wind down the war.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.as...T_0_UK-AFGHANISTAN-UN-KORANS&sec=worldupdates

 

Ultimately, wouldn't that be our commander in chief?

I say...we let them have him.

 

I think everybody - right, left, middle - everybody wants us out of Afgahnistan as soon as possible after this little fiasco. I'm sure there are a lot of good people in that country but there is nothing more we can do to make their lives better.

 

The worlds in an uproar demanding justice because a few copies of the Koran were burned when someone mistakenly threw them out with the trash, yet no one mentions the murderers of innocent bystanders and military personnel who had nothing to do with the matter.

And we are actually thinking of pandering to these people?????

Words fail me..........

 

Pull everything out of that country tomorrow, every nut, bolt piece of toilet paper and let them implode on themselves in the matter of days....... send up a bunch of drones around the boarder and blow the fuck out of anything that tries to leave.

 

By God I think you should be put in charge of the Afghanistan Theater of Operations.

Let them hang Karzai from a service station sign like Mussolini.

 

Yes, and totally destroy anyone who fucks with us while we're pulling out. I'm sick of this PC bullshit. Force is the only thing those "people" understand anyway.

 

+1

To hell with them and their 7th century thinking.

Total immediete withdrawal and no subsequent foreign aid money or food aid or fuel aid or anything else. We've wasted 10 years and too many US lives. Not another westerner should have to lose their life over these backwards people.

Why does Obama continue this war? What is the stated objective?

 

The original goal was to go after al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban but it's morphed into a half-assed PC clusterfuck of nation building and trying to create a democracy. WWII only lasted 6 years.