U.S. Soldier Uses Qur’an for Target Practice
CNN has breaking news about a sniper in Iraq that used the Qur’an for target practice. Naturally, this didn’t go so well with the Iraqis.
Undoubtedly, many bigoted pundits will attempt to argue either that the Qur’an deserves to be shot up because its a barbaric text or they will argue that no religion is free from scrutiny under the theory of freedom of speech or under the theory of the establishment clause of the Constitution.
Concerning the first view, even if one were to assume for the sake of argument that the Qur’an IS a violent text, it behooves a so-called “rational” person to realize the sheer hypocrisy of condemning the purported violence of a text through violence itself. Now, one can argue that violence against a text harms no one . . . but it establishes a slippery slope to other forms of violence that may ultimately be directed against humans. Shooting a Qur’an for target practice, to me, is analogous to Nazi book-burnings. If the war is one against terrorism and not Islam, then why fire a weapon at the Qur’an? Why not fire it at a poster of Osama bin Laden or any other multitude of terrorists? The military did the right thing by relieving this imbecile of his duty immediately and apologizing to Iraqi tribal leaders.
Concerning the second view, that somehow this soldier’s actions are protected by the Constitution, this is ludicrous as well. Soldiers have limits on their first amendment freedoms. They cannot always just say whatever they want to, they cannot always have a protest whenever they want to, even their religious rights are limited in ways that ordinary citizens are not. Shooting the Qur’an in a volatile country where the key to political stability and saving soldier’s lives is in alliances between various religious groups and the military smacks of immaturity and bigotry. Such behavior provides fuel to the opponent’s fire, enrages the populace, and weakens moderate voices. Moreover, the underlying argument in claiming that this soldier had a Constitutional right to attack the Qur’an is irrelevant as Iraq isn’t under the Constitution of the United States of America, but rather, it is under the constitution of Iraq (which happens to be the Qur’an). Just like the average American doesn’t appreciate it when other nations or people impose their will upon them, it is not fair for American’s to impose their understanding of law, ethics, and morality upon another sovereign nation. In Iraq, the Qur’an is more than a religious book, it is the governing legal document of a sovereign nation and as such is the supreme law of the land; if the Iraqi constitution-Qur’an compels respect in its country, then an army viewed as a foreign occupying power should respect that document. If the US army doesn’t respect the Iraqi constitution-Qur’an, then the question arises as to whether it is truly trying to establish a stable government for a sovereign nation or if it is an occupying army that declared war on a sovereign people and imposed its will upon them through the force of arms (making them fascists). If US soldiers don’t like the legal system, then they are more then welcome to leave Iraq - or any other Muslim country seeking to implement the Shari’ah - for that matter.
Sphere: Related ContentPublished May 18, 2008 . Filed under: Iraq
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This isn’t the first time bullets have pierced through the Quran in Iraq.
When people like Rep. Tancredo defend bombing Mecca and claim, “[Muslim] would be trying to kill us, because it is a dictate of their religion” along with the Savages on the Right, it’s understandable what must be going through the mind of a layman (soldier).
This type of behavior is further legitimized by people who are actively engaged in dehumanizing the official enemy — the cartoonists, hawkish politicians, orientalist academics, and those in between (e.g. nightly show hosts with their sexual jokes about Arabs and camels, etc).
May 18, 2008 @ 5:02 am
Subhanallah, this is so disgusting. When I first read it I was enraged. How can people be so pathetic and disrespectful of other peoples rights/books? Especially when they are foreign occupiers and know that the Qur’an holds deep sentiments in the heart of the Muslims.
May Allah
subhanna wa ta’ala remove the occupiers off from Muslim Lands and give our brothers’ and sisters’ sabr. Ameen.
May 18, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
ENRAGED!!!!! STFU Thats stupid. You know what. After I read the Koran I wanted to shoot it too. Its all lies anyways. I dont practice I have just read all the books. I like to have an opinion. And the bible is far more accurate then the Koran. respect should go both ways though. and it never does from the musilms to the christians. They are all one way. They are not allowed to question anything in regards to their religion. they are forced to believe this blasphemy. I will tell you now. as an american tax payer. I say pull all the troops out. leave the country cold. let them kill eachother. Who cares. they kill children babies and women anyways. maybe we can arm them all and they can just shoot eachother between praying 4 times a day.
May 18, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
You’re right truth. And indeed, your opinion does appear to be both highly educated and respectful.
May 18, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
Truth, you’ve proved my point. An average US soldier does share your outlook:
“A senior British officer has criticized the US army for its conduct in Iraq, accusing it of institutional racism, moral righteousness, misplaced optimism, and of being ill-suited to engage in counter-insurgency operations.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0112/dailyUpdate.html
May 18, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
The Truth,
Your comment was wracked with the same generalizations and bigoted statements that you accuse extremists of having. Assuming for the sake of argument that the Qur’an is wracked with inaccuracies and that it preaches violence, that doesn’t justify treating it in a violent manner in a foreign country that reveres it. If Iraqis came to our country and disrespected our laws, that would not be fair, would it? So why should American troops who are guests in a foreign country infringe upon the sovereignty of another country?
The people that were offended were not run of the mill terrorists, but our government’s allies in the region that were actually fighting against the terrorists. The action of this soldier were incredibly damaging to the image of America overseas.
Your thoughts are immature, I suggest you spend some time and reflect on what its like to be someone else. Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before you critique them.
May 19, 2008 @ 12:18 am
The only thing the Koran is good for is to be riddled with bullets since it was written by a false prophet.
May 19, 2008 @ 4:06 am
Panda Power,
So you believe that violence is justified against Islam and Muslims due to the falsity of its beliefs?
That seems incredibly fascist to me (not to mention simple-minded)
May 19, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
[…] Posted by Jinn Was a Man U.S. Soldier Uses Qur’an for Target Practice CNN has breaking news about a sniper in Iraq that used the Qur’an for target practice. […]
May 21, 2008 @ 7:30 pm