On Saturday, the day before the planned Quran burning, Reverend Terry Jones decided not to go through with his plan. President Barack Obama said Friday that the idea that "we would burn the sacred texts of someone else's religion is contrary to what this country stands for." U.S. military leaders have advised Rev. Terry Jones that going forward with the Quran burning would put the American troops in danger. The planned Quran burning had sparked international condemnation.
Unfortunately, Rev. Terry Jones' announcement of his decision came too late. About 600 people protested in Afghanistan against the Quran burning, and the protest turned deadly on Sunday. Afghan security forces opened fire to prevent demonstrators from entering the offices of the governor of Baraki Barak district. Two of the protesters are dead and four more were injured. This is a devastating outcome for the Quran burning that did not even happen. The consequences the United States would have suffered if the plan did go through would have been unimaginable. Rev. Terry Jones has severely damaged United States' reputation with his intolerance towards Muslim religion. This could serve as a major recruiting tool for al Qaeda.
The message to be taken from this is: think before you speak or act. The whole world is suffering the consequences of one irresponsible man.
in the end he didnt do it. though it is his right to do so he was asked not to because of the impact it would have and he decided it wasnt worth it. if only those building the mosque next to ground zero would adopt the same kind of thinking.....
ReplyDeleteTatiana, I completely agree with you. It is funny becuase I also blogged about this same thing recently (Cnn App). I think he did damage the rep of the U.S. and in the process caused security issues for himself too. He made a dumb decision and now we are all paying the price for it like you said. Check out my post and see what you think.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you...Free speech does not mean freedom from criticism, so we all have the right to say what we think about this proposed attack on the holy book of a billion people. But it stems from such unbelievable ignorance."Mr. Obama said that the Koran burning would be a 'recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda' and other terrorist groups looking for people willing to 'blow themselves up' in American or European cities."
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