US Soldier used Koran for target practice

[sprok]

Yea, I'm sure we would feel pretty indifferent if it were the Iraqi military in the US and one of their guys used a bible as toilet paper in our country.

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: punchkin
And many of the non-extremist Muslims do nothing to cure the greatest ill their culture has given the world, radical Islamic terrorism.

US Citizens voted Bush and his Radical Neocon Terrorists into POWER twice

This was certainly not the wisest choice... but they have had a worldwide impact on terrorism, and are certainly not "Radical Neocon Terrorists".

Look at Iraq? THAT WAS TERRORISM

 

[jpeyton]

UPDATE - Looks like the military took swift action to rectify this misdeed.

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

An American sniper was removed from Iraq after he used a copy of the Quran for target practice, the military said Sunday, a day after a U.S. commander held a formal ceremony apologizing to Sunni tribal leaders.

The elaborate ceremony ? in which one U.S. officer kissed a new copy of Islam's holy book before giving it to the tribal leaders ? reflected the military's eagerness to stave off anger among Sunni Arabs it has been cultivating as allies.

The tribesmen have become key in the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq militants, who depict the American forces as anti-Islamic occupiers. One anti-U.S. Iraqi Sunni group condemned the Quran shooting, calling it "a hideous act." Similar perceived insults to Islam have triggered protests throughout the Muslim world.

Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Quran with graffiti inside the cover on a firing range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said.

American commanders launched an inquiry that led to disciplinary action against the unidentified soldier, who has been removed from Iraq, Buckner said.

Members of the local U.S.-allied group said the Quran was found with 14 bullet holes in a field after U.S. troops withdrew from a base in the area.

Sheik Ahmed Khudayer al-Janabi, a local tribal leader, said the group had planned a protest march last Thursday but called it off under pressure from U.S. forces and to prevent any insurgent violence as retaliation.

The incident, which occurred on May 9 and was discovered two days later, was first reported by CNN, which broadcast a ceremony at which the top American commander in Baghdad apologized to tribal leaders Saturday in Radwaniyah. The military confirmed the details Sunday in an e-mailed response to a query.

"I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond was quoted as saying at the ceremony. "In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers."

"The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior," he added. "I've come to this land to protect you, to support you ? not to harm you ? and the behavior of this soldier was nothing short of wrong and unacceptable."

The commander also read a letter of apology by the shooter, who has not been identified, while another military official kissed a Quran and presented it to the tribal leaders, according to CNN.

Tribal leaders, dignitaries and local security officials attended the ceremony, while protesters carried banners and chanted slogans, including "Yes, yes to the Quran" and "America out, out."

The military statement called the incident "serious and deeply troubling" but stressed it was the result of one soldier's actions and "not representative of the professionalism of our soldiers or the respect they have for all faiths."

The hard-line Association of Muslim Scholars condemned the shooting and what it said was a belated acknowledgment of the incident, calling it "a hideous act against the book of almighty God and the constitution of the nation and the source of its glory and dignity."

The alliances between Sunni tribes and U.S. forces have been key to a steep decline in violence over the past year. But the Quran incident was the latest in a series of setbacks, including the accidental killings of U.S.-allied fighters, that have raised concerns about the fragility of the support for the American forces.

U.S. troops also have struggled to overcome the perception that they are insensitive to Islamic traditions after several missteps in the early stages of the war in Iraq.

Sheik Eid Majid al-Zubaie, the preacher at the Radwaniyah mosque, said local leaders were outraged over the discovery of the Quran, which he said was shot through and had big dark X's and other graffiti on the pages. But he said they had accepted the military's apology.

"There is not any difference between this soldier and the figure in Denmark who made the caricature drawings against the Prophet Muhammad," al-Zubaie said. "But they apologized and expelled the soldier."

Separately, relatives mourned the deaths of at least five children killed when mortar shells slammed into a neighborhood while they were playing outside in a predominantly Shiite area on the eastern outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday.

Bandaged girls and boys with bloodstained clothes cried as they were packed two to a bed at the hospital to which they were taken in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City.

Mortar rounds struck a house, an open area and a street where boys were playing soccer in the Maamil neighborhood on Baghdad's northeastern outskirts, witnesses said.

Nadim Jabir, 33, said he lost his 4-year-old son Abbas, and that his wife and 10-year-old daughter were wounded when their mud-brick house was hit.

"My wife was panicked and ran out with my three children," he said, adding he ran after them but was thrown to the ground by the force of another blast.

"When the dust settled, I saw my only boy Abbas lying on the ground with many other kids. All were groaning and some kids were missing limbs. Abbas was hit in his head," he said.

Residents said four other children were killed. Police and hospital officials also reported a man was killed and at least 30 people were wounded.

The mortar strikes occurred as sporadic fighting continues between Shiite militiamen and U.S.-Iraqi forces despite a peace deal reached with followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last week.

An American soldier also was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb that hit his vehicle north of Baghdad, raising to at least 4,080 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Shooting the Quran in Iraq is "criminal behavior" according to military commanders.

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: dahunan
Look at Iraq? THAT WAS TERRORISM

I guess you need to bone up on some of your vocab.

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Shooting the Quran in Iraq is "criminal behavior" according to military commanders.

Too late, hot plate. I already addressed this with my question above. Those words may have just been PR spin to appease the locals. I was unable to find out what crime he may have committed in a quick search (although I could have missed something).

 

[jpeyton]

"PR spin" is putting it lightly. Our military stuck their brown noses in some brown Iraqi asses for this screw-up.

Originally posted by: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond
In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.

Too bad he wasn't apologizing for 5 years worth of war crimes.

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
"PR spin" is putting it lightly. Our military stuck their brown noses in some brown Iraqi asses for this screw-up.

Originally posted by: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond
In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.

Too bad he wasn't apologizing for 5 years worth of war crimes.

Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act. When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: punchkin
Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act.

You don't move that far up the ladder without knowing how to play the political game a little.

Not in an Islamic nation. Not when you're a foreign occupier. Not when it's a matter of life and death.

But of course, you, behind your keyboard, have the luxury of criticizing the politics of our troops in the line of fire.

When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

When's the last time Iraqis invaded and occupied US soil?

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: punchkin
Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act.

You don't move that far up the ladder without knowing how to play the political game a little.

He was ordered to do it, obviously.

Originally posted by: jpeyton
But of course, you, behind your keyboard, have the luxury of criticizing the politics of our troops in the line of fire.

Of course. No matter where I am, I have the luxury of criticizing whatever I like. I am behind a keyboard, without fail, when I post on the Internet. Are you finished with your little expose now? LOL

Originally posted by: jpeyton

When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

When's the last time Iraqis invaded and occupied US soil?

So I guess you believe that the externally equipped and funded terrorists are "freedom fighters". LOL. News flash: we haven't committed five years' worth of "war crimes" either, despite what ultraliberals may believe.

 

[MadRat]

You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Shooting the Quran in Iraq is "criminal behavior" according to military commanders.

Too late, hot plate. I already addressed this with my question above. Those words may have just been PR spin to appease the locals. I was unable to find out what crime he may have committed in a quick search (although I could have missed something).

Is blasphemy not illegal in Iraq?

 

[conehead433]

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

What did 90,000 Iraqis do to America to earn their death sentences?

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: jpeyton
"PR spin" is putting it lightly. Our military stuck their brown noses in some brown Iraqi asses for this screw-up.

Originally posted by: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond
In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.

Too bad he wasn't apologizing for 5 years worth of war crimes.

Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act. When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

Who blew up who first?? Be honest too

Oh.. and in what ratio?

 

[arkcom]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

What did 90,000 Iraqis do to America to earn their death sentences?

America wasn't targeting civilians.

What about the 180000 killed by Saddam simply because they were Kurdish?

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

What did 90,000 Iraqis do to America to earn their death sentences?

America wasn't targeting civilians.

What about the 180000 killed by Saddam simply because they were Kurdish?

American soldiers weren't BUT our politicians were

How many innocent citizens do you think we have killed because of our choice to BOMB Iraq with SHOCK AND AWE

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: jpeyton
"PR spin" is putting it lightly. Our military stuck their brown noses in some brown Iraqi asses for this screw-up.

Originally posted by: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond
In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.

Too bad he wasn't apologizing for 5 years worth of war crimes.

Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act. When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

Who blew up who first?? Be honest too

Oh.. and in what ratio?

The terrorists "blew us up" first, unless we caught a few as collateral here and there. That's the way they work-- they kill people without warning. We went into Iraq with plenty of warning.

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

What did 90,000 Iraqis do to America to earn their death sentences?

America wasn't targeting civilians.

What about the 180000 killed by Saddam simply because they were Kurdish?

American soldiers weren't BUT our politicians were

How many innocent citizens do you think we have killed because of our choice to BOMB Iraq with SHOCK AND AWE

So you're a nutjob, basically.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: jpeyton
"PR spin" is putting it lightly. Our military stuck their brown noses in some brown Iraqi asses for this screw-up.

Originally posted by: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond
In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.

Too bad he wasn't apologizing for 5 years worth of war crimes.

Too bad he asked forgiveness for himself and the rest of the soldiers that had nothing to do with this isolated act. When's the last time we demanded forgiveness for locals aiding and abetting known terrorists in blowing up our soldiers?

Who blew up who first?? Be honest too

Oh.. and in what ratio?

The terrorists "blew us up" first, unless we caught a few as collateral here and there. That's the way they work-- they kill people without warning. We went into Iraq with plenty of warning.

What terrorists from Iraq "blew us up" first?

 

[punchkin]

Originally posted by: feralkid
What terrorists from Iraq "blew us up" first?

Are you this stupid normally? Terrorist organizations are multinational. In addition, Saddam Hussein's regime was well-known for conducting terrorist training.

 

[rasczak]

I feel it was a pretty bad slap in the face to these people. I also feel that the soldier probably knew what he was doing and knew this would fast track him out of Iraq.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: feralkid
What terrorists from Iraq "blew us up" first?

Are you this stupid normally? Terrorist organizations are multinational. In addition, Saddam Hussein's regime was well-known for conducting terrorist training.

Stupid?

The terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 had no connection whatsoever to Iraq.


Almost eight years and you still don't get it??

 

[sierrita]

Originally posted by: punchkin

Originally posted by: feralkid
What terrorists from Iraq "blew us up" first?

Are you this stupid normally? Terrorist organizations are multinational. In addition, Saddam Hussein's regime was well-known for conducting terrorist training.

Hey Einstein, everyone knows the group that attacked on 9/11 was Al-Qaida, led by Osama Bin Laden, based in Afghanistan, harbored by the Taliban.

Everyone also knows that there was NO CONNECTION TO IRAQ.

For the love of God, how stupid can you be?

:roll:

 

[Sinsear]

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: arkcom

Originally posted by: jpeyton

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: MadRat
You mean the Koran wasn't meant for target practice? It's pages are especially good for a toiletry wipe, too.

Insulting Islam earns you a death sentence in most Islamic countries.

What did 90,000 Iraqis do to America to earn their death sentences?

America wasn't targeting civilians.

What about the 180000 killed by Saddam simply because they were Kurdish?

American soldiers weren't BUT our politicians were

How many innocent citizens do you think we have killed because of our choice to BOMB Iraq with SHOCK AND AWE

Who cares?

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: Sinsear

Originally posted by: dahunan

American soldiers weren't BUT our politicians were

How many innocent citizens do you think we have killed because of our choice to BOMB Iraq with SHOCK AND AWE

Who cares?

Brilliant response hypocrite.