American pastor burns Koran, massacres happen in Afghanistan

[Kuya]

This is what happens when the internet meets two opposing groups of religious fanatics.
First story:

Kandahar, Afghanistan - Nine protesters were killed and more than 70 injured Saturday when a protest against the burning of a Koran turned violent in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar, officials said.



The incident came a day after a similar protest that turned violent in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif left seven UN workers and five Afghan protesters dead. Two of the UN workers were beheaded.

He said police had arrested 16 men including seven armed 'enemy opportunists' who had penetrated the crowded and led the peaceful demonstration to violence.

The recent protests were held in response to an incident in which a US evangelical Christian preacher burned a copy of the Koran on March 21 in Florida in the United States.



Four Nepalese security guards and three Europeans were among those killed Friday in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province. Police said the protesters overwhelmed security guards at the compound and barged in, torching the office and throwing stones at police who arrived at the scene to control the mob.

Second story:

(Reuters) - At least 10 people have been killed and 83 wounded in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, officials said on Saturday, on a second day of violent protests over the burning of a Koran by a radical fundamentalist Christian in the United States.


A suicide attack also hit a NATO military base in the capital Kabul, the day after protesters over-ran a U.N. mission in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and killed seven foreign staff, in the deadliest attack on the UN in Afghanistan.

The attacks were driven by anger at the actions of extremist Christian preacher Terry Jones who supervised the burning of the Koran in front of about 50 people at a church in Florida on March 20, according to his website.

The burning initially passed relatively unnoticed in Afghanistan, but after criticism from President Hamid Karzai, and calls for justice during Friday sermons, thousands poured into the streets in several cities to denounce Jones this weekend.


Afghan and U.N. officials suggested provocateurs had sabotaged peaceful protests. Marches in Kabul, western Herat city and northern Tahar province ended without violence.


But the Taliban denied any role in the Mazar attack or Kandahar protests and analysts warned against underestimating the depth of anti-Western sentiment in much of Afghanistan, after years of military presence and many civilian casualties.

Third story:

Enraged by a Koran burned 12 days ago by Florida pastor Terry Jones, halfway around the globe, about 1,000 angry people attacked United Nations guards Fridaystationed in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, killing at least 20 U.N. personnel.


Riled up by mosque preachers at Friday prayers, the most important of the Muslim week, this was the deadliest attack on U.N. members in Afghanistan.

Some are noting that this use of force was more grass-roots and emotional, and quite different from aggression organized by the Taliban.


"Foreigners have been killed in Afghanistan before, and today's attack was not the first fatal attack on UN staff. But it was different than previous fatal attacks. Very different," Una Moore wrote on a website called UN Dispatch (unaffiliated with the United Nations) claiming the killers were not part of the Taliban, but average unarmed residents who stormed the U.N. compound and wrestled weapons from U.N. guards who were then killed.

Terry Jones, the pastor behind the controversial Koran burning, condemned the violencein a statement he posted online.

"In regard to the riots that have just taken place in Afghanistan at the UN headquarters, the actions of breaking in, setting on fire, and killing of at least 10 individuals so far is highly unacceptable for the government of the United States," Jones wrote on the Dove World Outreach Center's website.


"We, at Stand Up America Now, find this a very tragic and criminal action," Jones wrote. "The United States government and the United Nations itself, must take immediate action. We must hold these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities. The time has come to hold Islam accountable."

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/ne...st-in-Kandahar

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7310FK20110402

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/wash...-un-staff.html

When a single person from halfway across the globe can lead to the deaths of dozens of people in another, what hope do you have of actually succeeding at nation building?

[Correction]

How do you say 'don't feed the trolls' in Dari?

[Dantrag]

Man, people are fucking stupid.

[Alleya]

Religion of peace, etc.

Christian tolerance, etc.

Turn the other cheek, etc.

lol religion, etc.

[archibaldcrane]

Is this the same pastor that talked about burning the Koran for a few months until talked down by the Secretary of Defense? I know he was in Florida too.

[Dantrag]

Sounds like the same dude.

[Kuya]

I heard that he wasn't the same dude.

[ronin sparthos]

Religion rears its ugly head yet again.

People protesting are upset about the entire US presence and are looking for just about anything that can give them cause to protest against the US, burn flags and ultimately kill some people. Terry Jones is just the scapegoat here for a far larger problem.

Karzai should be ashamed of himself for bringing this up after it had went under the radar for so long and Jones can add himself to the list of holy men that cause bloodshed in the name of his God.

[archibaldcrane]

I wonder if more Afghans know that a pastor in Florida burned a Koran than know that 9/11 occurred.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_1...51-503543.html

[BaneTheBrawler]

It is the same guy. He put the Quran "on trial," found it guilty, and burned it. Because apparently, burning is a legitimate sentence in the United States. If you ask me, he should be put on trial (and found guilty by a jury of his peers, because thats how we roll) for these deaths. Trolling on the internet is one thing, trolling in real life is quite another.

Edit: Since people seem to be only reading the first page:

I never defended their actions. Not once. Some of you seem to have this idea that blame is limited to one person. It's not. Just because I think Terry Jones should be held accountable for the actions of the people he taunted doesn't mean that absolves them of any blame. I've said this explicitly several times already.

[Yugl]

Come on now, it's in the article:

After first promising to not burn the Koran, Florida Pastor Terry Jones sat as judge at a 'trial' for the holy book last month. The Koran was 'found guilty and a copy was burned,' a church press release said. That news apparently incited the attack on a U.N. compound.

"We will definitely not burn the Koran, no," he said, adding that he would "absolutely guarantee" that there would never be a Koran burning at his church.

In an email statement released Friday, Jones did not say why he changed his mind yet again. He condemned the violence in Afghanistan, calling it "a very tragic and criminal action," and called on the U.S. government and United Nations to "call these people to justice."

Come on guys, he had a trial. That makes it legitimate and secular. Yep.

[archibaldcrane]

"Foreigners have been killed in Afghanistan before, and today's attack was not the first fatal attack on UN staff. But it was different than previous fatal attacks. Very different," Una Moore wrote on a website called UN Dispatch (unaffiliated with the United Nations) claiming the killers were not part of the Taliban, but average unarmed residents who stormed the U.N. compound and wrestled weapons from U.N. guards who were then killed.

Most interesting part of the article IMO.

[Mizango]

Man, people are fucking stupid.

Religion of peace, etc.

Christian tolerance, etc.

Turn the other cheek, etc.

lol religion, etc.

Right on both fronts.

[archibaldcrane]

Also lol florida.

[Dimmauk]

It is the same guy. He put the Quran "on trial," found it guilty, and burned it. Because apparently, burning is a legitimate sentence in the United States. If you ask me, he should be put on trial (and found guilty by a jury of his peers, because thats how we roll) for these deaths. Trolling on the internet is one thing, trolling in real life is quite another.

This guy will hide behind Freedom of Speech.

THEY BURNED OUR FLAG, WE BURN THEIR BOOK!! EYE FOR AN EYE!!

Fucking religious retards.

[archibaldcrane]

When people told him they'd die to protect his freedom of speech, he wasn't supposed to take it literally.

[aurik]

Time to get the fuck out of Afghanistan. The people clearly don't want our help. So let them suffer their own brutality.

[Demosthenes11]

Religion of peace, etc.

Christian tolerance, etc.

Turn the other cheek, etc.

lol religion, etc.

this thread requires no other posts.

[BaneTheBrawler]

This guy will hide behind Freedom of Speech.

THEY BURNED OUR FLAG, WE BURN THEIR BOOK!! EYE FOR AN EYE!!

Fucking religious retards.

Freedom of Speech is wonderful, but inciting a riot is still a crime. He knew from his previous threat and subsequent withdrawal that burning a Quran WOULD result in violence. And then he chose to do it anyway. Criminal activity is criminal, etc.

[Yugl]

Freedom of Speech is wonderful, but inciting a riot is still a crime. He knew from his previous threat and subsequent withdrawal that burning a Quran WOULD result in violence. And then he chose to do it anyway. Criminal activity is criminal, etc.

He didn't CHOOSE to do it. The book was guilty.