Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman Denounce Florida Pastor's Planned Quran Burning Event

By: Lucy Madison
Topics: In The News

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the latest in a growing number of U.S. leaders to denounce Florida pastor Terry Jones' plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks, calling the plan "disgraceful" and not representative of the American people.

"It's regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Fla. with a church of no more than fifty people can make this outrageous and distressful, disgraceful plan and get, you know, the world's attention," Clinton said this morning in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It doesn't in any way represent America or Americans or American government or American religious or political leadership."

Secretary Clinton reiterated the administration's hope "that the pastor decides not to do this."

The Rev. Terry Jones talks to reporters in Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 8, 2010.

(Credit: CBS)

Meanwhile, Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman joined the White House in entreating Jones to reconsider. Others who have denounced the plan include Attorney General Eric Holder (who called the idea "idiotic and dangerous" in a closed meeting this morning, according to the New York Daily News) and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"I appeal to people who are planning to burn the Quran to reconsider and drop their plans because they are inconsistent with American values and, as General Petraeus has warned, threatening to America's military," Lieberman said in a statement earlier today.

In an appearance on Good Morning America this morning, House Republican leader John Boehner (who went on the program to discuss the economy) also offered a message for Jones - as well as those who are pushing to build the controversial Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero.

"To Pastor Jones and those who want to build the mosque, just because you have the right to do something in America, does not mean that it the right thing to do," he said. "We're a nation of religious freedom, we are also a nation of tolerance, and I think in the name of tolerance, people ought to really think about the kinds of actions they are taking."

In a press conference this afternoon, Jones said he has no plans to cancel the event.

Lucy Madison
Lucy Madison is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by Another_Devil_Advocate September 8, 2010 5:51 PM EDT: ...The Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan will not show more or less compassion to our troops if we don't burn the Koran; our troops (and the Americans) will ALWAYS be in harms way no matter what degree of sensitivity we showed to their religion.; Reply to this comment


by thebob-bob September 8, 2010 5:12 PM EDT: Gen. David Petraeus has warned that the public burning of the Qur'an is a threat to our mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and will endanger the lives of our American troops on the battlefield. If an extreme radical religious group threatens our security and safety, is warned not to proceed and indicates that it will then, according to GW Bush and his Republican neo-conservative supporters, a preemptive attack is called for. In this case, there's only fifty of them and they're already close to Guantanamo.

Protect our troops. A peaceful religion is being hijacked by radical extremists and putting our soldiers at risk!! Why isn't Fox news calling for a War on radical Christianists? Where's the outrage from so-called "moderate" Evangelicals??; Reply to this comment


by rebakitty September 8, 2010 4:39 PM EDT: Why is the State Department hosting a dinner in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan?; Reply to this comment