Some mistakes are deadly. The recent “accidental” burning of Qurans in Afghanistan was one of those mistakes, costing several lives that resulted from the rioting that ensued after word spread of U.S. troops burning the Muslim holy book.
The incident occurred last week, when several Qurans that had been found to be part of an extremism campaign were collected to be disposed of. The books, officials told the Associated Press, were in the library of the base’s detention center and had writings in them promoting extremist Islam. Along with the Qurans were several hundred other Islamic publications with extremist messages scrawled into them.
For some reason, these items got mixed into the regular garbage to be burned ”“ and rioting broke out when Afghan workers noticed the items in the fire and spread the word.
It’s not only unfortunate, but criminally negligent for these items to have been handled in such a way. How can our troops and NATO forces expect to earn the trust and respect of Afghans after such an enraging blunder?
For those who are not Muslim or not even religious, such fervor for a book can be hard to understand, but it’s important to remember what it represents. The Quran is the epitome of Afghani Muslim culture, on which people base their entire lives and identity. Burning such sensitive material with the garbage accidentally is simply inexcusable, especially when it would take little imagination to think of what the aftermath would be.
We all make mistakes, but a costly error like this has set back our efforts in this war-torn country considerably. Of course, officials at all levels of our military have apologized profusely and stressed that the burning was not done on purpose, but it’s too late. This will not be forgotten.
Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that all coalition forces in Afghanistan have now been ordered to undergo training before March 3 on how to handle religious materials.
Shouldn’t this training have already taken place? Knowing how integral the Muslim faith is for the majority of people in the Middle East, and the undeniable role it has played in the war on terrorism, it’s disturbing to think that we are sending in troops who have absolutely no idea how to handle the Quran or related materials. That training should have been made mandatory years ago for anyone who was going to be in the region.
When the texts were removed from the detention center library, they should have been set aside and disposed of under the guidance of someone who knew what they were doing. Our troops must be much more cautious about such cultural missteps because they cause us to lose hearts and minds and build hatred against the U.S.
This “accident” has cost lives in the recent riots ”“ and will undoubtedly inspire more death in the future.
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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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