BAGHDAD, May 20, 2008
Bush Apologizes For Quran Desecration
President Calls Iraqi PM After U.S. Sniper's Use Of Islam's Holy Book For Target Practice
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(AP Photo)
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An Iraqi soldier stands guard at the scene where a parked car bomb blew up and hit an Iraqi army patrol in the Zayouna area in Baghdad, Sunday, May 18, 2008. Two soldiers died in the blast, four were wounded. Two civilians were also hurt in the blast, police said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Nadim Jabbar holds the body of his two-year-old son Abbas, who was killed in a mortar attack the night before, at their home in northeast Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 18, 2008. Sadr City hospital officials said four other children died when at least three mortars landed in the area. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush spoke to al-Maliki about the Quran shooting incident during a regularly scheduled videoconference on Monday. She said Bush expressed his "serious concern."
"He told the prime minister that we take this matter seriously, and he noted that the soldier had been reprimanded and removed from Iraq by his commanders," Perino said.
A statement issued by al-Maliki's office said Al-Maliki told Bush of the "disappointment and anger of the people and government of Iraq over the soldier's disgraceful action," the statement said.
Bush told al-Maliki that the sniper would face trial, it added.
Separately, the statement said an Iraqi Cabinet meeting Tuesday called for the "severest" punishment against the sniper and warned of "grave consequences" if similarly offensive actions were committed in the future.
It also called on commanders of U.S.-led foreign troops in Iraq to educate their soldiers on the need to respect the religious beliefs of Iraqis.
The U.S. military said Sunday it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used Islam's holy book for target practice on May 9. The copy of the Quran was found two days later by Iraqis on a firing range in Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad, with 14 bullet holes in it and graffiti written on its pages.
On Saturday, the top American commander in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, and other officers held a formal ceremony apologizing to tribal chiefs in Radwaniyah.
Bush's apology followed similar moves by the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq to placate the Iraqis, apologizing in separate meetings Monday with al-Maliki, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.
The U.S. military said Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III paid individual visits to al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, al-Hashemi and al-Mashhadani, both Sunni Arabs - moves underlining the American eagerness to make amends for the incident, particularly among Sunni Arabs who have become key allies in the fight against insurgents.
In their meeting in his office, al-Hashemi, the top Sunni Arab in the government, told Austin that "the feelings of bitterness and anger cannot be eased unless there is a deterrent punishment and real guarantees" such an incident won't be repeated, according to al-Hashemi's office.
Al-Hashemi expressed his appreciation for the visit but asked for a written apology from the U.S. military.
Austin underlined in all three meetings that "the soldier had in fact been removed from Iraq. He assured them that the matter was serious and that we hold our soldiers accountable for their actions," a U.S. military statement said.
Al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also issued a tough statement Monday saying that an apology alone was not enough and the U.S. military should impose the "severest punishment" on the soldier to ensure others do not repeat his act.
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See all 98 CommentsPosted by minnick8 at 11:02 AM : May 20, 2008
No one...meaning who exactly? The US military?
The ultra right wing nuts in this country would have gone into apoplectic fits of rage. It would be on FOX News constantly. All the little conservative media maggots would have had a field day with that kind of a story, so who are you trying to kid here?
And so f**king what.....some troop shot up a muslim comic book. These infidels need to grow up and get a life.
Yes, it is much better for the Islamic Terrorists to just use suicide bombers to kill hundreds of people, kidnap and behead people. I betcha none of them have ever shot at a Bible.
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This is why most of the American public is stupid. & why no one likes us. Yes thanks for serving your time soldier, but your actions of misconduct shamed us all. The Quran is an important part of Islamic culture, we should respect that since religion is their government (despite the crazy Libyans coming to Iraq to kill people, we should invade Libya! but that is just me). Anyways the point is it all comes down to the old saying of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," we don''t have to be like the rest of the morons in this country & go do something stupid like spit on a statue of Napoleon in France...
Bush needs to apologize to the world because his mother wasn''t smart enough to use birth control!
So which is it? Did he Appogize or not?
Why are you looking up here? the real Real joke is in the white house.
Food for thought: "They say there is just enough religion in the world to make men hate one another but not enough to make them love" -unknown
For underdogus: Put your quote from the Q''aran in context please. Mohammed (who is a Prophet only) originally wrote the Q''aran in the context of live peacefully with Christians and Jews. It was only after the Christians and Jews persecuted his followers, that he wrote the verses that you so lovingly quote. In other words, WE (Christians and Jews) brought this on ourselves about 1600 years ago.
Think of it like this. If the "Religious tolerance" that''s SUPPOSEDLY alive in the US was alive 1600 years ago, there probably wouldn''t be terrorists, and those words you quote wouldn''t exist.
A friendly reminder. A Muslim is a Christian who belives that Mohammed is the third great Prophet. They hold God (Y''weh or Allah) as sacred. They hold Abraham and Jesus as sacred-- just not in the same context that Christians do.
So, if you think that they''re wrong because Jesus isn''t the "Son Of God", then you think Jews are wrong also (and the Torah should be used as target practice), right? Since Jews don''t believe that the Messiah has come yet.
Have a nice day:-)
Patrick.
Wonder if Bush expects his oil friends the Saudi''s to have free and democratic elections any time soon? Maybe they ought to apologize for this? Or the fact that the 9-11 terrorists were Saudi''s, not Iraqi''s.
Posted by Rightnright
Really?? I am nauseated by people like yourself who go ape-sh_it if a politician doesn''t wear a flag pin, or anything is done to the precious US flag. The fact is, American troops are in "Eye-Rack" and they need to at least pretend to respect the people there. Not doing so puts us all at risk. And it makes a total mockery of the notion that American troops are there as "liberators". Sorry if you don''t understand that. I suspect you''d be outraged if an Iranian soldier was found using a bible as target practice.
And if you want to talk about "forgiveness" and "value of life", why not campaign against the death penalty in the US?? Don''t be so arrogant as to think you and your buddies can go to some other country, uninvited, and desecrate their religion and their religious icons.
hey constantly are looking for apologies from us...Where are their apologies??...for 9/11?...USS Cole?...African Embassy bombings? Madrid train bombings?..London trian bombings?...blah, blah, blah
Posted by guadalcanal3
Even the moron-in-chief acknowledged that "Eye-Rackeys" had NOTHING to do with any of the above. Are you a wind-up or just plain stupid?
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 02:57 PM : May 20, 2008
Or a movie... Fahrenheit 911.
Posted by Bigot3 at 02:16 PM : May 20, 2008
Are you including Paul Wolfowitz who spits on his comb and then combs his hair with it? Loser? Indeed!
The Monkey should also apologize for the "Mission Accomplished" banner he originally denied putting up, they finally admitted to putting it up just a month a go. Also for the "Surge", if it was working, why are we still over there in the same numbers as the start of the whole freakin'' fiasco?
This country is full of pathetic, ill-informed, gullible sheep and that''s an understatement.
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 04:00 PM : May 20, 2008
Did you see Fahrenheit 911? Of course you didn''t but I forgot...you know it all without having to see it. Now that''s REAL HOGWASH! I did read ''Cosmos'' but that has nothing to do with the story above. When my wife and I went to see Fahrenheit 911 at the theater, we arrived late expecting to have our choice of seats because we didn''t think that many would show up. Boy, were we surprised! The place was packed and we were lucky to find a couple of empty seats. At the end of the movie EVERYONE in the theater stood up and applauded. As we left the theater , there was a long line of people waiting to get in for the next showing. It sure made us feel patriotic and good about seeing so many loyal Americans show what they think of bush and his fellow Republicons. Now that''s TRUTH!
As military leader---CIC---he should have made the first, formal apology to Iraqi leaders! He did not.
Instead, he had a general do the ''dirty work'', so as to avoid any appearance of responsibility on his part.
So, his apology comes at least a ''day late, and a dollar short''! And appears at best, insincere!
I won''t address the issue of what Mr. Bush needs to apologize to the American public about, because an itemized list would be very lengthy!
But, apologies on the list items would be insufficient; no apology tendered could EVER make up for the damage, pain, suffering, loss, and EVIL he and his actions have rained on the American public!
Only trial and severe sanction would suffice!
He has much to be held accountable for!
Posted by Bigot3 at 02:16 PM : May 20, 2008
Right...those baggy pants, hat on backwards people are the downfall of America. The war, the housing crisis, fuel prices, food prices, NAFTA, all caused by those people in baggy pants, and backward baseball caps. I say turn those GD hats around and get some tight pants and we can get back to being the strong Nation we once were.
Right...those baggy pants, hat on backwards people are the downfall of America. The war, the housing crisis, fuel prices, food prices, NAFTA, all caused by those people in baggy pants, and backward baseball caps. I say turn those GD hats around and get some tight pants and we can get back to being the strong Nation we once were.
Posted by vmcneal2 at 04:34 PM : May 20, 2008
Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha! That was the ''come back'' of the day! Excellent!
Posted by Bigot3 at 02:16 PM : May 20, 2008
Oh I forgot..Let''s pass a law that the minimum age for beheading someone is 18 unless they have written permission from a parent or legal guardian.
Posted by Republic1776 at 04:54 PM : May 20, 2008
Of course it was! Don''t you know that the Liberals control the world? That''s why there''s earth quakes in China, cyclones in Burma, and bush in the White House!
Posted by guadalcanal3
I spell "Eye-Rack" the way the moron-in-chief and his supporters (like yourself) pronounce it. I assume if you say "they" never apologized for past atrocities, you''re talking about the Iraqi people, or Muslims. Either way, it''s a silly argument to make. The people who commit the terrorist attacks you mentioned are not state-sponsored. They''re fanatics, not dissimilar to the kind of people who blew up the government building at Oklahoma City. You would expect the state of Oklahoma to apologize that that atrocity, would you??
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 05:11 PM : May 20, 2008
You thought most Texans were right wing like YOU? That says a lot about how much you know. Know what I mean?
SHRUB had to Appologise,
How soon they Eat Their Own Words !!
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