The acts of murder and mayhem committed on Saturday by Afghan Muslims proved them to be at least as misguided and infinitely more bloodthirsty than Terry Jones, the provocative Florida pastor whose antics they were purportedly protesting. Their latest reaction proves them to be hypocritical.
To show their outrage over Jones’s religious intolerance, mobs today in Kandahar displayed a little intolerance of their own. They set fire to a cross—the universal symbol of the Christian faith—while pumping their fists and chanting in giddy solidarity. For these people, two wrongs evidently do make a right.
The day was also marked by continuing violence, with the death toll now at 20. In addition, two police officers and 18 civilians were wounded. The Taliban for its part instigated further uprising, blaming government forces for any violence. In a statement emailed to media outlets, the terrorist organization claimed that the U.S. and other Western countries have wrongly excused Jones’s burning of a Koran on March 20, adding that Afghans “cannot accept this un-Islamic act.”
The question that logically arises is whether the desecration of another religion’s most sacred symbol is an Islamic act.
Not that the protesters stopped with burning just a cross. They also burned an effigy of President Obama (albeit one that looks more like a Muppet) and have repeatedly set fire to the American flag.
NATO responded to these latest outrages by reiterating its condemnation of Jones’s action, though notably no mention was made of the killing of innocent members of its own organization by rioters. A smarmy statement from NATO civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, read in part:
We further hope the Afghan people understand that the actions of a small number of individuals, who have been extremely disrespectful to the Holy Koran, are not representative of any of the countries of the international community who are in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people.
Any thoughts, Mr. Sedwill, on "the actions of a small number of individuals who have been extremely disrespectful to" Christianity or the U.S. or do your apologies come in only one color, yellow?
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