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© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Afghans angry at Koran burning in Florida kill 7 at U.N. compound
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yasukuni
It's all very simple isn't it. You humans over there, stop burning things that are important to other people. And, then you humans over there, stop murdering innocent people in retaliation when people in another country burn books that are important to you.
Burning korans, bibles, flags, Justin Bieber posters should stop. But, how do you reason with people who will kill over it. Terry Jones is a clown. But, I'd rather live next to him than the people who would riot and kill over it.
Couldn't they just burn Terry Jones photos? Scary world.
MottoMatto
Gosh, they make insurgency sound like baseball teams doing warmup practice in Florida. What's next? Fantasy terrorism leagues?
Elbuda Mexicano
These UN guys are just sitting ducks, surrounded by terrorists, armed to the teeth, wtf is the UN thinking?? The Afghans are a tough bunch, they were tough before the Russians invaded, and way before the British invaded them and now the US, NATO etc..Afghanistan not a good country to be unarmed, if you ask me, just a big waste of time and money.
paulinusa
Typical stupidity in both instances.
WordStar
I'd be willing to chip in for a round-trip ticket to Florida, if the Afghan promises only to flick his BIC at Terry Jones and then leave the country right away.
SuperLib
Insane.
Sarge
I'll bet the family members and friends of those murdered 4 Nepalese guards and the other 3 foreigners are seriously pissed off at those murderers.
"Death to America"
Because a few zealots in Florida burned a Koran? That's a bit harsh, isn't it?
smithinjapan
It definitely cannot be justified... nor can what the did to ire the people who attacked.
sarge: "I'll bet the family members and friends of those murdered 4 Nepalese guards and the other 3 foreigners are seriously pissed off at those murderers."
And I'll bet the 1.4 billion people, whom you have claimed should die by the sword (in the past), are 'pissed off' about the senseless burning of something they consider very sacred.
JinaSensei
Futile. It is all futile.
MikataKarasu
Another example of the absurdity of religion: 7 people murdered because some guy burns a bunch of paper with marks on it.
Sarge
"because some guy burns a bunch of paper with marks on it"
But that bunch of paper with the marks on it is sacred/holy!
WA4TKG
Yet again we are INfamous for instigating something here in Florida...." NOT it " !
sourpuss
brickbats all around. to the murderers as well as Terry Jones.
what else did he expect, by the way?
Yogizuna
Terry Jones should be rotting in jail, because he knew what he did would result in violence and or death to others.
OneForAll
Sarge, you are absolutely right about the Napal Sherpas. Most of this was filmed, I do believe, and the killers will be found. Maybe by the Sherpas first! Not only that, I do not think anyone sleeps well when they become a murderer. I like Karzai's response: 'Karzai issued a statement late Friday calling the killings an “inhumane act” that was “against the values of Islam and Afghans.” '
Terry Jones should understand that the Bible is called a "hate book" by some in this country. Jones really shows an ignorance equal to the murderers in Afganistan and sould be liable for knowingly instigating a riot. We all better learn to live together and realize that everyone is created in the image of God. Give each other a little respect and run from hate. "Hate" what a curse for mankind.
SamuraiBlue
The meaning within the words are what is holy not the scroll itself. They are doing what is said not to be done within their own religion, by worshiping the scroll as an idol and not the meaning. Mohammad is will not be pleased.
Laguna
Hey man, I thought he HAD no Koran!
nandakandamanda
SamuraiBlue, you speak the truth.
Alphaape
These people should be protesting their own government rather than worrying about what some guys in Florida do to a Koran. In America, he has the right to do such a thing. I could see if he went to Afg. and burned the Koran there, but he was half a world away.
Tose imams should tell their people, take that same energy, and either throw out the government that they have their, or make the changes themselves in their local regions so that life will not be as miserable as it is there (you know, the bombings and killings by muslims against other muslims).
Laguna
No fan of organized religion am I, but for tolerance I will always stand, as well as for those with a modicum of understanding of human history. The one thing this Florida pastor has demonstrated is that the Afghans are not alone in having failed to progress from our criminal 20th Century.
warnerbro
This is a hideous attack on innocent people for completely unfounded reasons. However, if Rev. Terry Jones really believes he is doing God's work, he should go do it in Afghanistan or Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.
SushiSake3
Terry Jones is the folk hero of American and U.S. religious conservatives nationwide.
manfromamerica
These angry afgans need to gte a grip. truly pathetic.
Bebert61
Something to note is that this preacher practiced a fundamental American freedom which is protected by the United States Constitution. Would any of these rioters be acceptable as immigrants and new American citizens? Some Americans are pretty thin skinned and don't comprehend the value of their freedoms. They would ban book burning, flag burning, offensive speech, etc. These Afghans (and it seems many Muslims "in the street") are more than thin skinned. It is like they have their nerve endings exposed to raw air. People like this can't be brought into advanced societies like Japan, United States or Switzerland or you end up with a situation like you have in Britain, France or the Netherlands.
To be honest, I hope this guy burns a Koran a week, because the reaction highlights the perils of an immigration system that assumes all peoples are equal and all cultures are the same. They clearly are not as these tragic murders of humanitarian U.N. personnel shows.
SamuraiBlue
The thing that this Floridian preacher does not possess is the universal common sense to respect others. Do you really need to agitate you constituents to gain "brownie points" in the US? The Afghans are not model citizens by any means but burning the Q'uarn to make a point is not a shining attitude that one should be proud of either.
nandakandamanda
Sounds like they just wanted an excuse for an expression of their hatred and frustration. Nothing logical about killing people who have no connection to the Quran burning or Christianity.
On the other hand it is clear that the pastor is and has been bating Muslims. Unfortunately some Taliban agitator in the crowd went ahead and proved his point for him.
electrokids
How pathetic you are.Such kind of reaction cant exist...If anyone know how to increase the sales of arms and bullets, he would burn koran at USA.Not in any european country, but in the USA.There is NO religious reason to kill that people, but in that way you can get enough profit.It's like a PR action, but in a larger scale.
Foxie
I guess nobody will ever dare to burn again a Koran.
sqwak
Looks like Terry Jones and the Afghans are no different. Both are like minded - religious extremism.
Scorpius
Korans are always being burned.. just look on you tube,,,
Wolfpack
All the preacher did was burn a Koran in symbolic retaliation for 9/11. It is legal to burn a book, a flag, the US Constitution, all kinds of things as long as it is done in compliance with local laws and fire ordinances. It is not in good taste to do such things but people must put up with people they disagree with in a free society. To condemn or attack the preacher is to condemn and attack the freedoms that others in the US take for granted.
Let's use an analogy to demonstrate how absurd this all is. Suppose a man in Iran burns an American flag - I've heard that this happens on occasion. In response, suppose a mob of very, very patriotic people in the US storm the UN building and kill 10 or 12 people from nations with Islam as their official religion (ie. just about any Arab country). Who would you condemn? Obviously you would condemn the murderers and not blame the flag burner. There is no moral equivalency in these two wholly different acts in any religion.
The focus should be on the murderers and the Islamist Imans that incited murder. Forget the preacher; what he did was a protest and is wholly within the traditions of a free society.
Do pro-abortion people condemn women who get abortions if a pro-life person were to kill a abortionist? Of course they wouldn't. In fact, they would likely push even more vociferously their belief that abortion is acceptable in a free society even though they themselves would admit that it is not desirable.
This really gets back to the reaction by the Western press and politicians over the Mohamed cartoons shortly after 9/11 and the timid response to the murders that occurred over them. The response should have been to publish the cartoons in every paper in every town in every free country the world over. Instead they caved and showed that free countries are intimidated by radical Islamists. It is entirely predictable that this sort of thing continues to occur in the Middle East - the West has legitimized it by not defending free speech.
These crazy Islamists and their Imans are simply bullies. You don't defeat a bully by giving in to them - they will always find an excuse to bully you no matter what you do. Even a rumor of what you may have done is enough to get you a black eye (ie. the treatment of Korans at Gitmo). Free speech can only be defended by more speech. In the long run, it would do more good to burn more Korans than to condemn the preacher and legitimize murder in the name of Allah.
Wolfpack
sqwak:
Hardly - Terry Jones didn't lead a riot against the UN and kill 10 people. If you think Jones is an extremists for burning a Koran as a protest, then what would you call the Afghans who kill innocent people in response? If you cannot see the difference then you just do not want to see it.
TuxedoMichael
But still the 12 UN workers were killed indirectly because of Terry Jones' actions.
He is much as guilty as the Afghanis who killed them!
Lieberman2012
How many UN workers get murdered when Muzlims in Iraq/Iran/Pakistan/Egypt/Gaza blow up a mosque (and Korans get blown to smithereens)??
HonestDictator
I can't believe what some people are saying on this board. Some folks... actually make that many burn the US flag and other countries flags as well as bibles, scrolls, torahs' etc in order to offend those religions, but a koran gets burned and some group of crazy islamists in Afganistan kill people over it, and suddenly I see posters on this site stating "oh he shouldn't have burned a koran! Its his fault for instigating!" Think carefully about it in our countries where freedom of expression and speech are PROTECTED even if some may find it offensive. Remember Thomas' Jefferson's words said stating that freedom requires ever vigilance or it will be lost.
HonestDictator
@Wolfpack like your post, and seems it hasn't sunk in until either its too late that Islam at its core is a religious/political ideology that only works through intimidation and suppression against criticism and other things. If only people really paid attention to how many former muslims have either converted to other religions or just become plain athiests because they're eyes were opened to how sick the ideology of Islam truely is. 1.4 billion muslims is actually a joke and propaganda in order to gain power and influence. In truth there might be 900 million or less since apostates don't expose themselves due to reprecussions for stating they're no longer muslims in an Islamic country or community.
tclh
A pastor burned a Koran in US , 7 innocent totally unrelated people were murdered in Afghanistan for "revenge"...can anyone understand this?
manfromamerica
Nope, that's just absurd.
totally understandable.
Wolfpack
TuxedoMichael:
So Muslims decide to kill some non-believers in Afghanistan because a preacher burns a Koran in Florida and it's as if the preacher killed those people with his own hands? The preacher did not implore anyone to commit violence - the Imans in Afghanistan did that. They were the ones that needlessly incited the violence. The preacher exercised his freedom of speech - a few dozen emotionally incited Muslims decided to commit senseless murders as a result. Your assertion is ridiculous and nonsensical. Who in their right mind could possibly buy into this line of thinking?
If a newspaper in a Middle Eastern nation publishes a cartoon depicting Jews as greedy pigs, would that make the cartoonist culpable for the (hypothetical) murder of Muslims in New York City by an offended Jew half a world away? Of course not! What about the Piss Christ "artist"? He made a lot of Christians very angry but killing someone over it would be senseless. Come on people, use some common sense.
Sarge
"Karzai... called on the U.S. and the United Nations to bring to justice those who burned the holy book"
What punishment would Karzai seek? More than a slap on the wrist I'll bet. More likely off with their heads.
"how sick the ideology of Islam truly is"
You mean like girls being betrothed at the age of 9, or...
Alphaape
He needs to worry about having justice given to those in his country who killed innocent UN workers than worrying about what is going on in another country.
manfromamerica
exactly right. In America we have something called "freedom", and we don't imprison or execute people for hurting someone's feelings.