My hero

minutes ago
BAGHDAD - U.S. military commanders have apologized to community leaders in Iraq after an American soldier used a copy of the Quran for shooting practice, moving quickly to calm anger among U.S.-allied tribesmen.

Bloody protests have sometimes been held across the Muslim world when the Islamic faith has been insulted.

The swift apology by the U.S. commanders appeared aimed at avoiding similar violence in Iraq.



The U.S. military said on Sunday the soldier, who was not identified, had been disciplined and ordered to leave Iraq after a copy of the Muslim holy book was found riddled with bullet holes at a shooting range near Baghdad on May 11.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24693647

[PVVikeFan]

They kicked him out of Iraq ??????
For punishment ?????????
And this was bad how............??????????
Sounds like a good plan for getting back home to me.

I just liked shooting up the book- I'd say they just moved him. Too easy to get home. You can kill a person, but you can't kill a book? This is what is wrong with the way we are fighting this thing.

[PVVikeFan]

I wonder if the Quran is even worth the price of the bullets used to "kill" it.

[Unchained]

How dare they tarnish the Quran! That book has a purpose (like wiping your arse with the pages if you are out of toilet paper).

[jtw61194]

Say what you want, but that guy was really stupid. I'm sure if you talked to some of the combat vets, they would say the Iraqis can be a bunch of hypocrites, but this was still way uncalled for. Basically it is going to be used to recruit more bombmakers and other crazies. I read somewhere that a member of an SF ODA was sent home from Afghanistan for breaking a child's kite. Little things like that can cost others their lives.

[Unchained]

That incident makes no difference to the bombmakers. Radicals do what they do regardless. Not shooting up the Quran isn't stopping them.

[jtw61194]

That's very true and a great point. But, my point is that that soldier hand-delivered another excuse to some impressionable local. It goes against the "winning of hearts and minds" doctrine.

[Unchained]

"Winning hearts and minds". We had ZERO chance of that ever happening from day one amigo. It is like me walking into your house and telling you "These are the new rules". Those folks have lived that way since the stone ages,and just as soon as we roll out,it will be the same. There will be a new Saddam step-up,and the lives we have lost will be for naught. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif[/img]

[BlueWahooChambordDevil]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Indian_Dad</div><div class="ubbcode-body">That incident makes no difference to the bombmakers. Radicals do what they do regardless. Not shooting up the Quran isn't stopping them. </div></div>
yahtzee!!!