In a highly charged situation shooting the Koran is tantamount to shooting the albatross, the bird of good omen. The war in Iraq is purportedly fought also for winning the hearts and minds of the people. When the wind of anti insurgency seems just to have started blowing shooting the holy book could wreck the very ship in which the Americans and the Iraqi government are sailing.. This is not a theological perception of any presentiment but rather a gauge of geopolitical realization of the facts on ground.
An enlisted soldier of the US army used the holy book to practice shooting target. This incident has come full several years after the flushing of the same holy book in the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. Both are contemptible outrageous deeds. Instead of winning hearts and minds such odious acts would create cataclysmic reaction. It is like carrying gunpowder for the al Qaeda cannon aimed at the so called crusaders besieging the Muslims.
In the fist place it is a symbolic action. A thin wire far away or gravel would have done the job better. But choosing the thick book with hundreds of pages the American soldier wants to signify certain things that are fixated in his mind. It is objectification of his hate. He can shoot even without bothering the crossed hair in the view. In the words of Najam Sethi such deliberate wilful act of vandalism is seen ‘as evidence of how America and the West make the war against terrorism synonymous with the war against Islam.’ [Somini Gupta and Salman Masood, “Guantanamo Comes to Define US to Muslims” New York Times, May 21, 2005]
It also lends credence to the fact that there is design behind all the incidents of desecration. It was no other than a two-star general in charge of the hunt of Osama bin Laden, William G ‘Jerry” Boykin who told in 2003 a gathering of Christians that America was cast as a Christian nation locked in a battle with Satan. The general made such a statement wearing full military uniform. He also described his god as greater than the god of the Muslims. It is for nothing that some 4000 Christian missionaries landed in Baghdad after the invasion began in 2003.
On May 9, 2008 American soldiers were practicing target shooting in the police station of Radhwaniya on the western outskirts of Baghdad. They had clearly marked the centre of a copy of the Quran for this purpose. Afterward the bullet ridden copy was retrieved by an Iraqi policeman, Abdullah. There were fourteen bullet marks and the pages of the holy book were scrawled with graffiti. Since then the Americans have pulled the particular sniper soldier out of the country and flown him to US.
In the past US officials were dismissive in their attitude and did not tender any apology. Their attitude is summed up what the soldier in charge said when US planes had bombed a marriage party. A senior officer had remarked: “Hey, bad people can have parties too.” In the case of the shooting the Koran the New York Times reporter described the reaction of the people as irrational popular anger [May 20].
The blogger site Abu Muqawama devoted to fighting insurgency merely called the soldier stupid and the American response to apologize: quick.
A meeting of tribal leaders was called on May 17 where a grim looking officer, General Jeffrey Hammond said: “I come before you here seeking your forgiveness, In the most humble manner, I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.”
President Bush who was lecturing the Arabs on democracy and asking for more oil around the same time spoke to the Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al Maliki and expressed his concern. There was no extraordinary effort on his part as was in evidence during his visit to Israel. He ignored to dilate on the kind of attitude his soldiers had for Islam and the Muslims. He had won the hearts and minds of the people of Israel when on that foreign soil of the ally he had castigated Barack Obama for daring to speak with radicals and terrorists. The Americans know whose hearts and minds they really want to win.
Many others in America justified saying that shooting the holy book is of the same class as beheading Daniel Pearl and Nicholas Berg. For them Jehovah was guidance: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. They did not bother that such attitude puts the soldiers in the rank of the terrorists. Of this Matthew Arnold had said of armies clashing in the dark of the night when the sea of faith was ebbing. But now it is full.
So full that every event has a biblical justification. Some took strong exception to American soldiers kissing the Quran by way of tendering apology. They also felt angry at army officers’ submission to the tribal leaders and their demand. Submission as a metaphorical substitute of Islam is a bete noire to many.
However, when all is said and done, what really matters is that US is a secular country and yet such regrettable incidents happen, that too in the army. Another is the absence of chain of command in the episode. The higher officers on duty enjoy the cloak of anonymity. No one seems to question what they were doing when the incident transpired. Call it what you will, debasement or demoralization. Occupation of a foreign land has queer ways of recoiling on the occupiers.
President Bush had attacked talking to radicals or ‘terrorists’ as appeasement. What else were the army officers in Baghdad doing when they met the tribal leaders? True, real politick is necessary, but the Americans and their allies in the Noori government have much longer to stay together, if at all staying the course is feasible. It is for this that many people recall how Britain had to deal with the IRA for a hundred years. In a world where IRA, yes, but Hamas and Iranisns, no, the Reformation is still needed in the West.
Sudie:
I don’t care or give dime to what people and other indians call me. Call me Namak Haraam or anything i simply don’t care. All i want is first the safety and security of my family and then all muslims. Yes as i have mentioned in other posts, i would also like justice established for all irrespective of muslims or hindus as well. But first i want to set my house straight. All i am saying is that i support the ordinary iraqis self-determination (which is Jihaad in our terms) for freedom from America.
Didn’t Indians ask for Self Determination from British? In my terms even Indians did fight Jihaad against the Brits!!!
I don’t care if you people are laughing at me. And Yes, if Allah helps me turn the tables on America, i will ban Play boy, Cause i am against the commodification of a Womens beauty and spread of immorality.
And BTW i wouldn’t cause the obliteration of Hindus in India, don’t forget that 1000 Years of Muslim Rule left India with more than 84% of the Hindus today in India.
Faraaz:
First go read the Quraan and understand your roots. A muslim is one who lives as per the Quraan, and for muslims in Iraq who are being slaughtered by Americans day in and day out Jihaad is the only way for them to chase the Americans away.
And to everyone out here:
Who say why should muslims care about the shooting of Quraan. I have Question for you would you close your eyes, if i burn the Gita in New Delhi or better yet in Ahmedabad (like how the VHP did in New Delhi)?
When a muslim does something bad, you all ask questions to us? But when something is done against muslims, we are asked to simple avoid it? Just look at yourself and your cowardice.
Infact the more i read this forum the more conviction i get that Muslims must look after and solve their problems.
Wingless:
About so much talking of USA helping muslims, show me the damn proof. USA first goes drop a couple of bombs, goes in for regime change, destroys the infrastructure.
Then it comes with the Aid, just go to google and check out to whom the US aided Iraqi Government is exporting all the Oil now? it is the US!!!
Yes, i agree we have problems in our homes, which we will sort out on our own, and we don’t need any assistance from the Americans.
And BTW if alone democracy was to come to middle east today, US would be the biggest loser.
And about the Kosovo issue, during the Bosnian war, the americans and the EU impose a Arms embargo and also the serbs to massacre and rape muslims, then when the situation is ripe, the Americans go to war with Serbia. Well the american involvement was purely in lines with the cold war mentality of going to war with a country which is behind the Iron Curtain. Today only Serbia and Russia still have some of their soviet legacy.
And about he Dutch peace keeping efforts in Bosnia, check the below link. The dutch simple let the Serbs Kill and Rape muslims.
All i would say is that the Americans and the EU simply waited till the number of dead and killed came to 50000 then stepped in to teach their former cold war opponent a lesson.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1037403/Europes-worst-genocide-Hitler-How-Dutch-peacekeepers-looked-Karadzics-men-butchered-8-000-Srebrenica.html
Of course Zionism is plain racism and why should the jews have the eternal right to “Home” . Should’nt palestinians also have the ‘eternal right’ to return home after the Nakhba ?
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You are no history lover as your name implies. Do explain how Zionism is racism when the Arab Muslims in Israel are the free-est, healthiest, most prosperous ARabs in the MidEast. The only Arabs who vote, run for office, sit in parliament, attain cabinet positions and sit on a free Supreme Court!
The ARabs that wanted to come back to Israel after the 1948 war did so. The proof? It’s in the demographics! Israel is made up of 1,000,000 mostly Muslim Arabs, they were granted full citizenship and the rights that come with this.
The Nakba is a myth and a lie that makes no sense to those of us who know the history. Exactly how do you explain the so-called Nakba when today the Arabs control 83% of British Mandate Palestine (Jordan=70% + Gaza + parts of Judea = 13%)?
BTW: I don’t want to hijack this topic, too often this happens when this topic is introduced. If you want a respectful, open-minded debate then do feel free to visit me at http colon slash slash wingless dot aoriginality dot com (I spell it like that so this post isn’t trashed by spam filters).
About so much talking of USA helping muslims, show me the damn proof.
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I already did! When no Arabs would raise a finger, the USA saved both Saudi Arabia & Kuwait.
When no Muslims would move one man to help, the USA put its men in harms way in Libya, Somalia, Indonesia, Kosovo.
Nobody gives more aid, or money to Muslims than the USA.
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USA first goes drop a couple of bombs, goes in for regime change, destroys the infrastructure.
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The USA did not destroy the infrastructure! What possible evidence have you of this? The roads weren’t mined! The highways and bridges weren’t destroyed anywhere that was not required. The USA could have easily destroyed all of the cities without losting one man, but they did not.
ASK YOURSELF WHY? It is much cheaper and MUCH SAFER to send in a few B52s with dumb bombs and just carpet all of baghdad, but the USA took the more dangerous and expensive route, ask yourself WHY?!
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Then it comes with the Aid, just go to google and check out to whom the US aided Iraqi Government is exporting all the Oil now? it is the US!!!
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The war-for-oil argument is a sham to anyone who can ADD OR SUBTRACT! Surely you can do this. Iraq has an antiquated system that has not met production goals since 2004. Still, private and public enterprises have invested alot of money in order to bring the system up to speed but it’s still got a long way to go.
The bottom line however is this: THE USA WILL NOT RECOUP ITS WAR FUNDS FROM OIL! Again: The War costs more than the return from oil.
For one: OIL REVENUES GO BACK TO IRAQ!!! They don’t go to any American phantom fund. On the contrary, Oil makes up a huge % of the Iraqi economy (I’ve seen figures as low as 40% to as high as 90%) and this money goes to rebuild parts of the nation damaged by a violent civil war.
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Yes, i agree we have problems in our homes, which we will sort out on our own, and we don’t need any assistance from the Americans.
And BTW if alone democracy was to come to middle east today, US would be the biggest loser.
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Yes, you have problems in your homes… The WEST has given you decade upon decade upon decade to take care of them but then YOUR PROBLEMS STARTED AFFECTING THE WEST! Jihadist mindset became part of mainstream Islamic culture, spurned by rampant illiteracy and a generation of young men taught that Shehade & Jihad are greater aspirations than gaining an education and raising a balanced family. This Jihad has hit America, it has hit America’s allies and Bush and others were smart enough to realize that sitting on their hands would just increase the issue.
Bill Clinton sat on his hands for eight years, he LET YOU SORT OUT THE PROBLEM IN YOUR OWN HOMES and THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS LOST THEIR LIVES AS A RESULT! Al Qaeda grew, they trained, they entrenched and they fortified. THey gained popularity with every unchallenged attack and all this culmonated in September 11th.
We were happy letting you “sort out your own problems” but some people in your population took those problems and made them OUR PROBLEM! Yes, when your issues lead you to attack the USA, it becomes the USA problem. Similarly, the world has waited almost 30 years for the oft-touted Iranian Street to rise-up and oust that corrupt regime. Iran is a capable nation, with a good, Western inclined (democracy, pluralism, open-mindedness) and young population yet this population hasn’t done a thing to stop their nation from bringing the region closer to WWIII. As a result, their inaction has made their problem, the Wests and Israel’s problem. YOU ONLY HAVE SO LONG TO FIX “YOUR PROBLEM”, WHEN IT EVENTUALLY LEAKS OUT AND AFFECTS OTHERS THE TIME FOR YOU TO FIX IT IS OVER, IT THEN BECOMES OUR PROBLEM AS WELL. From neighbourhood politics upward to international affairs – This is how the world works!!!
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And about the Kosovo issue, during the Bosnian war, the americans and the EU impose a Arms embargo and also the serbs to massacre and rape muslims, then when the situation is ripe, the Americans go to war with Serbia.
…And about he Dutch peace keeping efforts in Bosnia, check the below link. The dutch simple let the Serbs Kill and Rape muslims.
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What an absurd statement, what an absurd notion… For one, your facts are absurd. So it’s America’s fault? Where was Pakistan? Where was Saudi Arabia? Where was Egypt? All these nations had the power to easily oust the Serbs… WHERE WERE YOU?!
And this conflict had more to do than Serbs killing and raping Muslims. This was an Ameircan propaganda line that you seem to have adopted (interesting). The fact is that since the war ended, evidence has come out that SHATTERS the Kosovar figures. They claimed massive body-counts and outright genocide yet the bones uncovered ABSOLUTELY DO NOT support these figures.
I am not saying this was not a tragic conflict, that it would not have become a genocide – but let’s not forget that the KLA was a terrorist organization. LEts not forget the Muslim crimes against the Serbs. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans have been a volatile region, the fall and breakup of Yugoslavia ignited this timber and all sides have committed unspeakable attrocities!
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All i would say is that the Americans and the EU simply waited till the number of dead and killed came to 50000 then stepped in to teach their former cold war opponent a lesson.
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50,000?! Where, OH WHERE, did you come up with this number?! Are you aware that many now doubt the number is even 10,000?
Heck, nobody knows, but they are still trying to figure it out nearly a decade later.
See: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/pearl123199.htm