Official: Burned Qurans held extremist messages
Afghan protesters in front of Bagram Air Base during an anti-U.S. demonstration, Feb. 21, 2012. / AP
Updated at 4:19 p.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - Muslim holy books that were burned in a pile of garbage at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan had been removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions, a western military official said Tuesday.
The military official with knowledge of the incident said it appeared that the Qurans (Korans) and other Islamic readings were being used to fuel extremism, and that detainees at Parwan Detention Facility were writing on the documents to exchange extremist messages.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident.
Quran burning angers Afghans; U.S. vows probe
Parwan Detention Facility adjoins Bagram Air Field, a sprawling U.S. base north of Kabul, where more than 2,000 angry Afghans demonstrated against the incident.
The burning stoked anti-foreign sentiment that already is on the rise after a decade of war in Afghanistan. It also fueled the arguments of Afghans who claim foreign troops are not respectful of their culture or Islamic religion.
"Die, die, foreigners!" the demonstrators shouted. Some fired rifles into the air. Others threw rocks at the gate of the base.
A CBS News crew traveled to Bagram and saw the remnants of several tires which were set on fire at an entrance gate to the sprawling U.S. base, and as many as several hundred protesters were still chanting at another gate, but appeared to be dispersing.
White House press secretary Jay Carney apologized for the "deeply unfortunate incident," saying it doesn't reflect the respect the U.S. military has for the religious practices of the Afghan people.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta added his voice, saying he disapproved of the conduct. He promised to review the results of the coalition's investigation to ensure that all steps are taken to prevent it from happening again.
U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized to the Afghan people and said the books were inadvertantly given to troops for burning.
"It was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials," Allen told NATO TV. "It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it we immediately stopped and we intervened."
The Quran is the most sacred object in the daily lives of Muslims and burning it is considered an offense against God. The Quran is so important in the faith that Islamic teaching spells out how it should be handled, including directing anyone who touches it to be in a state of ritual purity. Muslims can only dispose of Qurans in very specific ways, including burning or burying those that have been damaged or corrupted to prevent God's word from being defiled.
The military official said that several hundred Islamic publications, including Qurans, were removed from the library. Some of the publications had extremist content; others had extremist messages on their pages, the official said. The official said the documents were charred and burnt,but that none of them were completely destroyed.
"We will look into the reason those materials were gathered," Allen said. "We will look into the manner in which the decision was made to dispose of them in this manner."
Allen issued a new directive ordering all coalition forces in Afghanistan to complete training in the proper handling of religious materials no later than March 3. The training will include the identification of religious materials, their significance, correct handling and storage, he said.
"This was unintentional," he said, adding that no member of the coalition deliberately set out to defame Islam or descecrate the religious materials of the faith.
In a statement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the incident and appointed a delegation to investigate. He said initial reports were that four Qurans were burned.
Early Tuesday, as word of the incident spread, about 100 demonstrators gathered outside the base in Parwan province. As the crowd grew, so did the outrage.
One protester, Mohammad Hakim, said if U.S. forces can't bring peace to Afghanistan, they should go home.
"They should leave Afghanistan rather than disrespecting our religion, our faith," Hakim said. "They have to leave and if next time they disrespect our religion, we will defend our holy Quran, religion and faith until the last drop of blood has left in our body."
Ahmad Zaki Zahed, chief of the provincial council, said U.S. military officials took him to a burn pit on the base where 60 to 70 books, including Qurans, were recovered. The books were used by detainees once incarcerated at the base, he said.
"Some were all burned. Some were half-burned," Zahed said, adding that he did not know exactly how many Qurans had been burned.
Zahed said five Afghans working at the pit told him that the religious books were in the garbage that two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition transported to the pit in a truck late Monday night. When they realized the books were in the trash, the laborers quickly worked to recover them, he said.
"The laborers there showed me how their fingers were burned when they took the books out of the fire," he said.
Afghan Army Gen. Abdul Jalil Rahimi, the commander of a military coordination office in the province, said he and other officials met with protesters, tribal elders and clerics to try to calm their emotional response. "The protesters were very angry and didn't want to end their protest," he said.
Later, however, the protesters ended the rally and said they would send 20 representatives from the group to Kabul to talk with Afghan parliamentarians and demanded a meeting with President Hamid Karzai, Rahimi said.
The governor's office in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan called the incident a "shameful move by some stupid individuals."
Zia Ul Rahman, deputy provincial police chief, said between 2,000 and 2,500 protesters demonstrated at the base.
"The people are very angry. The mood is very negative," Rahman said while the rally was going on. "Some are firing hunting guns in the air, but there have been no casualties."
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well I as a Muslim condemn the killing of the innocent who had nothing to do with the Quran burning, but there are a lot of us but somehow the mainstream media doesn't want us to be heard, and I don't know why.
Perhaps asking one of the protestors, particularly how they manage to burn our flag so efficiently and without reprisals....that way whenever we see them do it again, we'll have good reason to do the same with muslim holy books.
Tell you what sparky, go down to your local Catholic or Baptist church on Sunday and **** on a bible and see if you walk away with all your teeth.
Whether you agree with these morons in uniform or not the act was stupid, counterproductive and frankly childish. I don't spend my hard earned tax dollars so that a bunch of idiots can impotently wag their ***** at Muslims.
Really the bigotry and stupidity that passes for opinion is just staggering.
Show me the Qurans with the extremest messages. Tell me what they said exactly. Let me hear it from a named Obama Administration official speaking on the record. Or better yet, let's get Obama on camera and hear it from his lips. Ask him if he himself has seen these supposed extremist messages. Ask him if he can prove it to us.
The US public should be demanding this kind of accountability from their government!
And until that happens, let's just assume it's just more lies from the man that said he would have an Administration so open they would have their own C-SPAN television coverage.
This is nothing more than an ignorant people, with ignorant fundamentalism ideas about a holy book about a holy God they can't even produce to protect His own Holy books!
Even in our own prisons, inmates are retricted as to what they have on hand to read, their Internet usage, their "store" items, everything is approved or not approved. I am sure they even "burn" pornographic material if confiscated, or illegal publications of all kinds that might promote harm, hatred, evil beliefs, whatever.
These products were obviously contrary to approved materials, and no comment has been made that the actual Qua-ran itself was withheld from those wishing to worship or read.
But for a people in general to be willing to kill and murder because someone burns a book full of nothing but copied beliefs on unimportant paper and cheap bindery is a representation not of their faith but total ignorance.
For others to take up some protesting chant and wander off int oavenues of governemtn conspiracy, goernmetn secrecy, Obama faults and Military abuses is just as stupid aan dignorant.
Folks, we all may have freedom of speech, but it doesn't remove the fact that a fool's words are often their own downfall.
There's the best example of these idiots inner conflict with teh world.
The difference between the translation of a proverb, between these muscle heads and actual true believers in a God of Mercy and Genuine Righteousness:
New Living Translation (©2007)
Fools' words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating.
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
The "Towel Head Version"
Aramaic in Plain English (©2010)
The lips of a fool bring into judgment and his mouth brings him to death.
In most fundamentalist viewpoints of the holy writings, you will find the basic belief is, enslave, oppress or kill those who do not belief or worship as I do.
So say what you want to, a fools words aren't given much weight anyways, no matter what version you hold divine.
I guess I'm just crazy not just to take the word of some anonymous government official.