BF2S Forums U.S. Soldier Uses Quran for Target Practice

chittydog wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/17/iraq.quran/index.html

CNN wrote:

The U.S. military on Saturday formally apologized to an Iraqi village after a soldier admitted using the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target practice.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond apologizes after a soldier admitted using the Quran for target practice.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, apologized to the Radhwaniya tribe for the staff sergeant, who was a sniper section leader assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment. He also read a letter of apology by the shooter.

"I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Hammand said to tribal leaders and others at the apology ceremony. "In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers."

Another military official kissed a Quran and presented it as "a humble gift" to the tribal leaders.

The shooter, whose name was not released, shot at a Quran on May 9, villagers said. The Quran used in the incident was discovered two days later, according to the military.

A tribal leader said "the criminal act by U.S. forces" took place at a shooting range at the Radhwaniya police station. After the shooters left, an Iraqi policeman found a target marked in the middle of the bullet-riddled Quran.

Copies of the pictures of the Quran obtained by CNN show multiple bullet holes and an expletive scrawled on one of its pages.

A military investigation found the shooter guilty and relieved him of duty; he will be redeployed to the United States for reassignment away from the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, Hammond said.

"The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior," he said in the apology. "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."

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

Come on. It's because of stuff like this that these people hate us. Regardless of your feelings, provoking them like that is not only pointless, it's completely counter-productive. What did he hope to accomplish? This is the equivalent of pissing on a bee hive after a bee stings you, it's just going to bring the whole colony after your ass.

I wouldn't say (as he did) that this was criminal behavior, but it's definitely stupid, dangerous and counter-productive. I hope he thinks long and hard about the ramifications of his actions and how many new recruits the insurgents will get from this.

lowing wrote:

This guy shot a book, they televise be-headings, murder and mutilate Americans and hang their bodies from a bridge. Yet this is where your/their outrage lies? Go figure.

Any chance that shooting that book was "provoked" by these actions and that these actions are what is "counter productive and pointless"? When was the public apology for these actions, or the outrage for that matter?

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

chittydog wrote:

Come on. It's because of stuff like this that these people hate us. Regardless of your feelings, provoking them like that is not only pointless, it's completely counter-productive.

At the same time, would anyone care if he shot a Book of Mormon?

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

chittydog wrote:

Come on. It's because of stuff like this that these people hate us. Regardless of your feelings, provoking them like that is not only pointless, it's completely counter-productive.

At the same time, would anyone care if he shot a Book of Mormon?

Lotta_Drool wrote:

I feel the people in the middle east need to see more of this.  Many of the people there are forced into Islam and with the war on, now would be a good time for people to lash back at that repressive belief system that causes the world so much grief.  Maybe if the US military went into Iraq with more of a " fuck you we bow to nobody's beliefs " and entered the Mosques, killed Al Sadar's Soldiers, executed defiant Clerics, and didn't show weakness when faced with religious intollerance it would have emboldened the local population to give the finger to the establishment that repressed them for centuries.

Fuck Islam, draw any cartoon you want and mention Mohamad by name.  Just because some uneducated desert tribes allow themselves to be repressed by it, this doesn't mean the whole world has too.  What the Military did just showed the people that they fear Islam and reinforced their belief that the US military are infidels who will bow before the will of Allah and be defeated.

The poor uneducated people of Iraq need jobs, freedom, and protection from Islamic Society, Islamic Laws, and Islamic Tribal Rule.

ExtremeSpy506 wrote:

S.Lythberg wrote:

eh, Muslims need to get over it.

It's just a bunch of paper after all, it's the message thats important, not the physical paper, why can't people ever understand this?

Yes, but that is wrong. It isn't just a 'bunch' of paper. It's THE ONLY WAY to actually GET the message. And you shoot at it? It's like shitting up an only program to save your computer from an all-out virus. Yes, there are millions of copies, but just shooting ONE of them is like destroying the message whole.