US Soldier Uses Quran for Target Practice

I wish that I were only making this story up. However, the US military has admitted, perhaps a few days late, that the incident is true.

There is no way that the US can win a military victory in Iraq. All of the “hearts and minds” rhetoric in the world can not over come the damage that is caused in US Iraqi relationships due to an incident of this sort.

Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, apologized to leaders in Radwaniyah, in the western outskirts of Baghdad, for the staff sergeant who was a sniper section leader assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment who used a Quran for target practice. The bullet riddled Quran was discovered by an Iraqi policemen after the shooting incident.

“I come before you here seeking your forgiveness,” Hammond said to tribal leaders and others at the apology ceremony. “In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.”

And as for what the Iraqis had to say about the incident the following quote pretty well sums it up.

“As the Association of Muslim Scholars condemns this heinous crime against God’s holy book, the Constitution of this nation, a source of pride and dignity,” the groups statement said, “they condemned the silence by all those who are part of the occupation’s agenda and holds the occupation and the current government fully responsible for this violation and reminds everyone that God preserves his book and he [God] is a great avenger.”

Keep in mind that the US has been occupying Iraq for over five years. The longer we stay the worse it will get. Indeed God will be a great avenger if we continue to occupy and destroy a country that our leaders do not understand or really care about.

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