This unbelievable situation must be chilling the dedication of every soldier in the field; our government refuses to deny reports by the Afghan government that NATO has agreed to have the soldiers who burned copies of the Quran face trial in an Afghan court!
Last week, Afghan president Karzai demanded NATO turn over the US troops for trial. President Obama then sent a letter to Karzai reassuring him that the troops involved would be punished for their actions. Part of this letter to Karzai said, “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies. We will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible.”
It’s not clear what Obama meant as the White House has not released the full text of the letter. However, the Afghan government may have provided insight into its contents. The Afghan government website posted a joint statement by the delegations probing the Quran burning incident; they were created to “investigate the circumstances and causes that have led to the inhumane incident.”
“NATO officials promised to meet Afghan nation’s demand of bringing to justice, through an open trial, those responsible for the incident and it was agreed that the perpetrators of the crime be brought to justice as soon as possible,” the statement said. The wording suggests members of the military could be handed over to an Afghan system that imposes Shariah-related penalties.
Clare Lopez, a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy, said if this statement turns out to be true, it would be an unprecedented betrayal of our troops. “I can’t imagine we would ever do this, what would we charge them with? Are we going to try Americans for crimes committed under Shariah law? I cannot believe our government would go that far,” she said.
Robert Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch, said it was fascinating that our government has not denied the statement. Whether the soldiers end up being turned over to the Afghan government or face court-martial, either decision would set a dangerous precedent.
Lopez said the silence on the part of our officials has the potential to cause real damage to troop morale. Oh, and it appears that the soldiers may not have violated Islamic law at all by their burning of the Qurans. In a PBS interview, Imam Jihad Turk, director of religious affairs at the Islamic Center of Southern California, said it was acceptable to burn the Quran if it was in a state of “disrepair.” So, you are supposed to burn a Quran that is worn out, and you are not to write in it. Do Moslems have a problem with the burning of the Quran? No, they do it all the time.
The real question is what in the world is wrong with the US Government? How dare they put our brave troops in this horrible situation for even one minute? We put our troops at risk when we send them into combat, but real leaders will NEVER put troops at unnecessary risk.
