Koran Used for Target Practice

Above: Ruins after bombing
A United States soldier has been accused of using a Koran for target practice. This AP file photo shows a Koran shot through during an assault by United States forces.

United States President George W. Bush has already apologized by telephone call to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. He also promised prosecution of the said United States soldier. PM al-Maliki told the United States president about the incident, saying that is had humiliated and angered Iraq’s largely Muslim population.

You think? No one in their right mind would disrespect anybody else’s religion – and doing it in such a way is humanly unthinkable.

“The American president apologized on behalf of the United States … promising to present the soldier to the courts,” said a statement from the PM to the Iraqi cabinet.

According to United States embassy sources, the United States president was deeply sorrowed by the “completely unacceptable conduct of an American soldier.” A copy of the Koran was found at a shooting range at the Radhwaniya police station near Baghdad, Iraq. It was almost completely destroyed from bullet holes. The Iraqi policeman who recovered the book said a target was written in the middle of the Koran. Some tribal leaders who saw the book said that the United States soldier even wrote offensive remarks on the book. The leaders consider this a “criminal act.”

United States military commanders based in Iraq held a ceremony after they found out about the incident. As a sign of apology and dismay over the event, the United States leaders presented a new Koran to the tribal leaders in the area. The military has described the incident as “serious and deeply troubling.”

“I come before you here seeking your forgiveness,” Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond said during the ceremony. “In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers.”

The soldier issued a letter of apology stating: “I sincerely hope that my actions have not diminished the partnership that our two nations have developed together.” The soldier describes his own actions as “shortsighted, very reckless and irresponsible.”

The United States military officials also reiterated that United States soldiers respect Islam and the Koran.

Do they really? Is that tiny ceremony even enough? Is an apology even enough? We think this tiny incident, although isolated, reflects the sentiment of most United States soldiers in Iraq.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh believes so. “We need to try this soldier since he committed a grievous crime. This is what the Iraqi government wants. It is not satisfied with just an apology.”

Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and his Iraqi Islamic Party called the incident a “blatant assault on the sanctities of Muslims all over the world.” The party wants the “severest of punishments” for the crime.

“What truly concerns us is the repetition of these crimes that have happened in the past when mosques were destroyed and pages of the holy Koran were torn and used for disgraceful acts by U.S. soldiers,” al-Hashimi said.

“I have asked that first this apology be officially documented; second a guarantee from the U.S. military to inflict the maximum possible punishment on this soldier so it would be a deterrent for the rest of the soldiers in the future.”

The soldier, a staff sergeant and sniper section leader, has already been removed from Iraq. He was relieved of his duty as section leader, was dismissed from his regiment and was redeployed back to the United States.

Is that it? I hope this is not the last we heard of his “punishment.”

Needless to say, this is an embarrassment to the United States and their supposedly “superb” military. Thankfully, there has been no violent (and I mean violent) reaction in Iraq, as there is no question as to how passionate the Islamic community is about their religion. There is no doubt that Muslims from all over the world are angered. Someone has to pay for this.

One of the main reasons why the United States military is still present in Iraq is to help the Iraqi people in their fight against the terrorist group al-Qaeda. But how can you say that you are there to help if in the outset you don’t even respect the people you are helping? Is that genuine help? Perhaps we must ask the question: are they really helping at all?

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