Deadly Protests In Afghanistan, US Embassy Is On Lockdown; Reporters Killed In Syria *Updated*

Once again, there are deadly protests going on in Afghanistan in a number of cities. What prompted these protests? Well, I am sure you can guess – the burning of Korans by US military personnel.

And just why did they burn these Korans, you might ask? Because they were being used to exchange extremist messages. The burning is being described as an “accident” by the White House, which was quick to apologize, as was the top US military official there:

[snip] “We apologize to the Afghan people and disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms,” they said in a statement quoted by the embassy on Twitter. “”This does not reflect the great respect our military has for the religious practices of the Afghan people.”

U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, ordered an investigation into the incident, which he was “not intentional in any way.”

“These kinds of incidents, when they do occur, will be corrected in the fastest and most appropriate manner possible,” Allen said in a statement quoted by the embassy on Twitter. “We’ve been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them, and we want to give them a bright future.”

Allen thanked the local Afghans “who helped us identify the error, and who worked with us to immediately take corrective action.”

“We are thoroughly investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again,” he said in a statement. [snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

As a result of the protests against the US following this action, the US Embassy was in lockdown, and warned people of the violence there, as the article highlighted.

Wow. Seven people dead now, and a number of others injured.

Meanwhile, two reporters were killed in Syria, including one American, Marie Colvin, and a French reporter, Remi Ochlick. Colvin has long been a highly regarded war correspondent:

[snip]Colvin, from Oyster Bay, New York, had been a foreign correspondent for Britain’s Sunday Times for the past two decades, making a specialty of reporting from the world’s most dangerous places. She lost the sight in one eye during an ambush in Sri Lanka in 2001 — but promised not to “hang up my flak jacket,” and kept reporting on the world’s most troubled places.

“Marie had fearlessly covered wars across the Middle East and south Asia for 25 years for The Sunday Times. She put her life in danger on many occasions because she was driven by a determination that the misdeeds of tyrants and the suffering of the victims did not go unreported,” Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Sunday Times said of Colvin.

“So, was I stupid? Stupid I would feel writing a column about the dinner party I went to last night,” she wrote in the Sunday Times after the attack. “Equally, I’d rather be in that middle ground between a desk job and getting shot, no offense to desk jobs.

“For my part, the next war I cover, I’ll be more awed than ever by the quiet bravery of civilians who endure far more than I ever will. They must stay where they are; I can come home to London.”

Easily recognizable for her black eye patch, Colvin was known for focusing on the plight of women and children in wartime. In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, she vividly recounted the death of an infant in Syria.[snip] (Click here to read the rest.)

What a tremendous loss, for Colvin’s family, friends, and colleagues, as well as for the family of the French photographer, Ochlick. The sacrifices these reporters make to get news out to us is extraordinary in the regular course of events, but especially so when their lives are lost as they try to do their jobs. What a sad day.

And a troubling day. It is frustrating to see the level of vitriol directed at the USA in Afghanistan, especially over the burning of a book. I certainly understand the importance of religious texts, but in the end, a book, as much as I cherish books, is paper and ink. Surely the actual book is not worth someone’s health or life, is it? What is important is the content of the book, of the Scripture, which ultimately, is carried in one’s heart. That is all to say, it seems like an extreme overreaction to stage deadly protests over the removal of books being used to exchange messages among dangerous people. But that’s just me.

Again, my heart goes out to the families of these reporters, whose lives were lost in the course of their dedication to their work…

And just so you know, tonight is another Republican Debate at 8:00pm (EST), on CNN. It could be worse – it could be on a NBC-affiliate channel, or ABC. Ahem. This one takes place in Arizona, which should be particularly interesting.

UPDATE: WaPo had an article detailing the proper way to dispose of religious texts. Again, minister here, I very much appreciate the importance of sacred texts. But despite the appropriate manner that should be utilized with, say, the Koran, it is NOT worth a human life, in my estimation, if one is burned instead of buried.

In case you are keeping score, Protestants and Catholics aren’t so rigid, even including burning, though Catholics say the ashes should be buried, the article claims. But a former Lutheran Bishop says pretty much what I said: [snip] “Dispose of it as you would any other book. Recycle the paper if you can,” writes former Lutheran bishop Wayne Weissenbuehler on TheLutheran.org. “It’s how the Bible is used and treated when it is working that matters most.”[snip] (Click here to read the rest.)