#1 UN staff killed in Afghanistan amid protests over Quran burn
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 7:02 pm
Sky News
I want to make my opinion clear. I find Terry Jones to be an asshole, a moron and quiet frankly a bigoted cult leader. That said I've seen calls for Jones to be charged with murder, which is ridiculous. Terry Jones burnt a book in a display of prejudice and howling foolishness.
The Afghans who killed those poor staff workers however, are manics who think that the proper response to someone burning a book on another continent is to kill people who had nothing to do with it. Let's consider that for moment. I'm religious, but I wouldn't kill someone for burning the Bible, I would be unhappy but not violent. Nor would I go out and kill people who had nothing to do with it. I would also like to point out that there was a nonviolent protest going on, someone crashed the party. So I'm gonna say that while there are some crazed fanatics here, there also seem to be people who understand the proper limits.
I'm okay with the idea of a non-violent protest over this. That's freedom of speech. Terry Jones gets to burn books even if that puts him on a level with jack boots. They get to protest and denounce his behavior. But there's a line, that line is when you start hurting people or worse.
First off, my sympathies to the families of those murdered workers. They did not deserve this.Demonstrators stormed their compound in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, opening fire on guards and setting fires.
They had gathered in a mass protest following reports that an American pastor had recently set a copy of the Muslim holy book ablaze in Florida.
Police said the dead included three foreign members of the UN, five Nepalese United Nations guards and three Afghan protesters. Two are said to have been beheaded.
UN officials have been reported saying as many as 20 have died.
Other reports said several hundred demonstrators were peacefully protesting against the Koran burning when the violence broke out.
Afghanistan had earlier condemned the "disrespectful and abhorrent" burning of the Koran by evangelical preacher Pastor Wayne Sapp in a Florida church on March 21, calling it an effort to incite tension between religions.
It was carried out under the supervision of controversial pastor Terry Jones.
Mr Jones planned to burn a pile of the holy books last year to mark the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, but aborted the move under pressure from world leaders including the US president.
Speaking to Sky News, the pastor attempted to defend the burning of the Koran, while describing the violence in Afghanistan as "tragic and criminal". "The time has come to hold Islam accountable," he said.
President Obama condemned the killings in Afghanistan "in the strongest possible terms" and called for restraint on both sides.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon also condemned Friday's attacks.
I want to make my opinion clear. I find Terry Jones to be an asshole, a moron and quiet frankly a bigoted cult leader. That said I've seen calls for Jones to be charged with murder, which is ridiculous. Terry Jones burnt a book in a display of prejudice and howling foolishness.
The Afghans who killed those poor staff workers however, are manics who think that the proper response to someone burning a book on another continent is to kill people who had nothing to do with it. Let's consider that for moment. I'm religious, but I wouldn't kill someone for burning the Bible, I would be unhappy but not violent. Nor would I go out and kill people who had nothing to do with it. I would also like to point out that there was a nonviolent protest going on, someone crashed the party. So I'm gonna say that while there are some crazed fanatics here, there also seem to be people who understand the proper limits.
I'm okay with the idea of a non-violent protest over this. That's freedom of speech. Terry Jones gets to burn books even if that puts him on a level with jack boots. They get to protest and denounce his behavior. But there's a line, that line is when you start hurting people or worse.