Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church's Plan to Burn Qurans

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So there is no outrage over US Military Bible Burnings In Afghanistan or no ACOG sites allowed either but they have the rights to build a victory mosque at ground zero.

Petraeus Condemns U.S. Church's Plan to Burn Qurans

• Comments (1455)

By JULIAN E. BARNES And MATTHEW ROSENBERG

KABUL—The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a small Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.

Gen. David Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.


Protesters stage an anti-U.S. rally in Kabul after an American church says it will burn the Holy Koran on the September 11 anniversary. Video courtesy of Reuters.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," Gen. Petraeus said in an interview. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

Hundreds of Afghans attended a demonstration in Kabul on Monday to protest the plans of Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has said he will burn copies of Islam's holy book to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Afghan protesters chanted "death to America," and speakers called on the U.S. to withdraw its troops. Some protesters threw rocks at a passing military convoy.


AFP/Getty Images Gen. David Petraeus said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger.

Military officials fear the protests will likely spread to other Afghan cities, especially if the event is broadcast or ends up on Internet video.

Mr. Jones, head of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., said in a statement that "We understand the General's concerns. We are sure that his concerns are legitimate." Nonetheless, he added, "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam. We will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats."

Mr. Jones has been denied a permit for the demonstration, but has said he plans to go forward with the protest.

Rev. Stephanie Sapp, spokeswoman for the center, said no one from the Pentagon or other federal agencies had expressed concern or asked that the event be canceled. She did say that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had discussed security measures.

Pentagon officials said they were not aware that any Defense officials have reached out directly to Mr. Jones. But military officers said they hoped that Gen. Petraeus's statement—an unusual move since military commanders rarely get involved in politics—would convince Mr. Jones to change his plans.

Gen. Petraeus declined to elaborate on the nature of the threats or violence that could occur, but westerners in Afghanistan have been warned away from restaurants and other public places amid the rising tensions.

Other senior military leaders echoed Gen. Petraeus commentsMonday.

Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who oversees the effort to train Afghan security forces said he was informed of the planned Florida protests several days ago by a senior minister in the Afghan government.



Associated Press Afghans burn an effigy of Mr. Jones during an anti-U.S. demonstration in Kabul on Monday.

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• Muslims Protest Plans to Burn Quran

Gen. Caldwell said many Afghans do not understand either the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment or the fact that President Barack Obama can't simply issue a decree to stop Mr. Jones from his demonstration.

Military officials said they were not trying to deny Mr. Jones his right to free speech, but feared he was not thinking about the consequences of his actions.

"There is no question about First Amendment rights; that is not the issue," Gen. Caldwell said. "The question is: What is the implication over here? It is going to jeopardize the men and women serving in Afghanistan."


Zuma Press Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., says he will burn copies of the Quran

Military officials also fear that if video of the Quran burning is broadcast in Afghanistan, tensions could rise between NATO forces and the Afghan military and police. Allegations of mishandling the Quran have interrupted Afghan security training at least twice this year, Gen. Caldwell said.

In one instance, a Quran fell to the ground when an American officer opened a locker during an inspection of Afghan trainees' barracks. The rumor quickly spread that the officer had thrown it to the ground, angering the trainees at the camp. "He quickly apologized, but rumors took off like wildfire," Gen. Caldwell said. "It was so hard to get the misperception turned around we stopped all training for the rest of the day."

Reports about the Quran have set off violent protests before. A report in Newsweek, later retracted, that a U.S. interrogator at the Guantanamo Bay prison had flushed a Quran down a toilet set off riots in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

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From Drudge Report today:



Muslims Protest Plans to Burn Quran...

'Death to America'...

[American Patriot]

I suggest that we help the good Reverend.

I have a fireplace in my back yard and one in my house.

How about a spate of Koran burnings in our own homes on September 11th, and post them to Youtube.

What's everyone think?

[American Patriot]

Where can I get a muslim flag too.... I wonder

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Pastor Says Church Not Deterred by Petraeus Warning on Koran Burning

Published September 07, 2010
| FoxNews.com


Aug. 30: Rev. Terry Jones, seen here at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., says he plans to burn copies of the Koran to mark the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks despite the potential security threat it will create for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The head of a controversial church that plans to burn Korans to mark nine years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks says he is not deterred by protests, death threats or warnings by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, MyFoxOrlando.com reported Tuesday.

Gen. David Petraeus, head of Multinational Forces in Afghanistan, on Tuesday repeated his warning that any plans to burn the Muslim holy book -- considered a major offense in the Islamic community -- would jeopardize U.S. military efforts.

But Terry Jones, pastor of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., told MyFoxOrlando.com that he and the church's members feel strongly about their decision to hold the book burning despite being denied a permit from the fire department.

"We understand the general's concerns, we are taking those into consideration," Jones was quoted saying. "We feel it's maybe the right time for America to stand up. How long are we going to bow down? How long are we going to be controlled by the terrorists, by radical Islam?"

On Tuesday, Petraeus said that even rumors of the possibility the church would hold a Koran-burning touched off protests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia.

"Images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan -- and around the world -- to inflame public opinion and incite violence," Petraeus said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."

Though the National Association of Evangelicals and the National Council of Churches have denounced the plan to burn the Koran, Jones indicated he had support from other churches around the country. He did not name any, however.

Jones said he and members of his church are taking seriously several death threats directed at them, but if something happened, it would not be their fault.

"We will not be responsible," Jones said. "We are only reacting to the violence that is already there in that religion."

[American Patriot]

We have US troops burning Bibles, and the "images of Americans burning" Korans would be "bad".

Give us a break, General P.

Prepare your men for the worst, hope for the best. And kill those who attack our troops.

Period.

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome,

[American Patriot]

Big-eared, fat-man Gibbs said, "...any activity like that [burning the koran] would put our troops at risk and is obviously a concern to this administration..."

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Gainesville Church Sparks Global Outrage (Black Panthers Threaten Pastor Over Koran Burning)
ActionJaxNews.com ^ | Monday, September 6, 2010 | Ilyssa Trussel
Posted on Monday, September 06, 2010 9:29:25 PM by kristinn



Members of the New Black Panther Party showed up in Gainesville Monday to let The Dove World Outreach Center know it is outraged by its plan to burn the Koran.

"I believe in peace but if you aggress me, I am going to fight back," said State Chairman of the New Black Panther Party Mikhail Muhammad.

The church plans to burn the holy book Saturday on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The pastor's plan has reached all the way to Afghanistan where Monday hundeds of demonstrators burned a cardboard effigy of the Gainesville pastor, Terry Jones.

"We are not surprised at all that they are responding in that way because that's the nature of Sharia law, that's the nature of violent Islam," said Jones.

SNIP

"We basically want to warn Pastor Terry Jones that if he burns this Koran, he's going to insight a wrath and chastisement on himself that he will not be able to bare (sic) and all he's going to do is add more division between Muslims and Christians when we should be sitting down at the table to resolve our differences," said Muhammad.

The New Black Panther Party say it will be back in Gainesville Saturday to show the church and the world they won't stand for religious hatred.

(Excerpt) Read more at actionnewsjax.com ...

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U.S. Military Commander Issues Warning Ahead of Florida Church’s Planned Quran-Burning on Sept. 11

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor


Afghans burn Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones in effigy during a demonstration against the United States in Kabul on Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

(CNSNews.com) – A week that culminates in the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the end of Ramadan began with angry protests in two Muslim countries over plans by a small church in Florida to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday.

On the eve of the planned event, President Obama will hold a relatively rare presidential press conference, where the heated debates surrounding the “Ground Zero mosque” and the Quran-burning plans will likely come up.

Tensions have been simmering for weeks over news that the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville intends to burn copies of the Quran “in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam.”

The non-denominational church says it plans to go ahead despite threats, the denial of a bonfire permit, and appeals by Christian organizations and others for it to reconsider.

Last month leading Islamic bodies issued condemnatory statements and small protests were held in Jakarta.

This week brought fresh protests in Indonesia and Afghanistan, a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and a warning from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan that the planned event may put American troops deployed there in harm’s way.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” General David Petraeus told The Wall Street Journal. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”

"Images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan -- and around the world -- to inflame public opinion and incite violence," Petraeus told The Associated Press.

In 2005, at least 15 Afghans were killed during a week of rioting after Newsweek reported that a copy of the Quran was thrown into a toilet at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The Pentagon said investigations found no evidence to support the claim, which the newsmagazine retracted.

Protests across the Muslim world in 2006 over the publication of newspaper cartoons satirizing Mohamed witnessed fatalities in countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya and Nigeria.

In a statement Monday, the U.S. Embassy said the U.S. government was “deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups.”


Afghan protesters stomp on a U.S. flag during a demonstration against the United States in Kabul on Monday, Sept. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

“Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject the offensive initiative by this small group in Florida,” it said. “A great number of American voices are protesting the hurtful statements made by this organization.”

Until now, the administration has remained mostly quiet on the matter. In early August, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe wrote a letter to U.N. human rights commissioner Navanethem Pillay, after Pillay had been approached by an envoy representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

“The United States government in no way condones such acts of disrespect,” Donahoe told Pillay. “To the contrary, the United States is deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups.”

‘Eternal and timeless message’

The OIC has spearheaded a decade-long campaign at the U.N. to have what it calls “religious defamation” outlawed worldwide. Controversial plans to build a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero and the Florida Quran-burning event have received coverage in the OIC’s regular “Islamophobia” reports and are certain to feature prominently in future U.N. discussions on “defamation” resolutions.

The U.S. and other Western governments have pushed back against the “defamation” drive, which free speech groups and religious freedom advocates say is an attempt to shield Islam and Islamic practices from legitimate scrutiny.

In her letter, Donahoe touched on the freedom of speech issue.

“The United States strongly believes that the best antidote to intolerance is a combination of robust legal protections against discrimination and hate crimes, proactive government outreach to minority religious groups, and the vigorous defense of both freedom of religion and expression,” she said.


Muslims believe the Quran, in the original Arabic, to be the infallible “final revelation” of Allah to Mohammed. (Image: Iqra)

Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed to Mohammed over a 23-year period in the seventh century.

“The glorious Quran is eternal and a timeless message given by Almighty Allah to all human kind to stay on the path of goodness during the period of our mortal life,” OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said at a ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday.

Ihsanoglu cited the Florida church plans and Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders’ controversial 2009 documentary linking the Quran to terror attacks as examples of a “rising trend of Islamophobia in the West.”

“Unfortunately despite all the peaceful messages and lofty teachings of the Holy Quran, negative campaigns against Islam and the Holy Quran are increasing,” he said.

‘Idolatry, paganism’

On its Web site, Dove World Outreach Center lists ten reasons why it thinks the Quran should be destroyed, including its denial of the divinity of Jesus (Muslims view him as a mere prophet and reject the crucifixion narrative) and what it calls the inclusion of “Arabian idolatry, paganism, rites and rituals.”

Online searches for the church’s Web site have climbed significantly over the past month, according to the Web analytics site Alexa.com.

Almost half of the site’s visitors are located in the U.S., but the next biggest proportion (16.5 percent) is in Indonesia, a country where only an estimated 12 percent of the population has access to the Internet.

Canada, Britain, Egypt and Turkey also account for sizeable proportions of visitors to the Dove site.

Dove’s “International Burn a Koran Day” page on Facebook, with its tag line “Islam is of the Devil” – also the name of a book by Dove pastor Terry Jones – had attracted just over 8,000 fans as of early Tuesday.

Facebook does not make available statistics on overall traffic to individual pages but remarks are pouring in steadily – a combination of serious and abusive comments from people supporting and opposing the planned Sept. 11 event.

In Monday’s Kabul demonstration, hundreds of protestors chanting “Death to America” and other slogans were addressed by clerics and lawmakers who called for the withdrawal of coalition forces from the country. Protestors also hurled rocks at a passing U.S. military convoy.

Rallies in half a dozen Indonesian cities at the weekend were organized by the local branch of Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamist group working to establish an Islamic caliphate.

Islamic and minority faith representatives in Indonesia earlier issued a joint statement criticizing the Quran-burning plan and urging the U.S. government to intervene to stop it.

Christian leaders have voiced concern that their community may be targeted in a country where churches periodically face vandalism and the disruption of services by Muslim mobs.

Another radical group, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), in a statement warned of retaliation should the Quran-burning event go ahead. It did not elaborate.

FPI has been linked to the forced closure of churches, and is also known for threats against American and other Westerners, as well as raids on premises where gambling takes place and liquor is available.

‘All eyes will be on us’

This year, Ramadan ends on September 9 or 10, depending on where in the world Muslims are marking the feast of Eid al-Fitr, which traditionally involves three days of festivities.

A number of U.S. Islamic organizations are calling on American Muslims to use to anniversary of 9/11 “in service to your neighbors and your city.”

“All eyes will be on us this Eid and on 9/11,” organizers said in a statement.

“We can imagine what the headlines will be out of New York and Florida. But can you imagine the power of a headline or TV news story that features American Muslims as citizens, giving back to our country?”

[Ryan Ruck]

Weeeelllll now.... What happened to all that Freedom of Expression when burning things people don't like?

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Was listening to Savage yesterday on the way home about this subject; it was thought provoking!


Here's the broadcast.

[American Patriot]

WTF kind of journalism is this:

"I believe in peace but if you aggress me, I am going to fight back," said State Chairman of the New Black Panther Party Mikhail Muhammad.

"We basically want to warn Pastor Terry Jones that if he burns this Koran, he's going to insight a wrath and chastisement on himself that he will not be able to bare (sic) and all he's going to do is add more division between Muslims and Christians when we should be sitting down at the table to resolve our differences," said Muhammad.

incite and bear

If YOU aggress against US Muhammad, we'll burn you.

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September 8, 2010, 10:25 am
A Pastor of Public Relations

By ROBERT MACKEY

A video report from The Gainesville Sun about members of a Florida church asking its reporters to leave their property. (Note: At one stage in the video, a reporter for The Sun, which is owned by The New York Times Company, cites an affiliation with The Times as he tries to discover why only his newspaper is being evicted.)

Updated | 12:11 p.m. If nothing else, Terry Jones, the pastor of a tiny Florida church with just three or four dozen members, whose every stray thought on the subject of Koran burning is now reported each day by thousands of news organizations worldwide, has proved himself to be a master of public relations.

On Wednesday, Mr. Jones — currently the subject of 4,102 news stories linked to by Google News — told the world that he would press ahead with the publicity stunt he announced in July on “The Braveheart Show,” a series of his YouTube rants with viewing figures in the hundreds and inflammatory or poorly spelled titles like “Obama Is President Because He Is Black,” “Haiti Must Repent,” “Is Islam the Anti-Christ?” and “Why Are We Loosing?”

As the 236 viewers of the Sept. 12, 2009, episode of the show may recall, Mr. Jones staged an anti-Islam protest on the last anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but the few reporters at that event, also attended by about 30 members of his church, were from local newspapers like The Gainesville Sun and The Independent Florida Alligator.

That was last year, when the world’s most famous Terry Jones was still a member of Monty Python who was once accused of blasphemy for his role, as the mother of a man mistaken for the messiah in the comedy troupe’s “Life of Brian.”

This year, thanks to the attention generated by the promise of a more televisual form of protest — the burning of about 200 copies of Islam’s holy book — national and international news crews and their satellite trucks are lined up on the lawn of the church Mr. Jones calls the Dove World Outreach Center.

The video embedded at the top of this post, showing members of the church telling reporters from The Gainesville Sun (which is owned by The New York Times Company) that the newspaper’s unflattering coverage of the planned protest had cost them a prized camera position, gives a sense of the media frenzy and of how much attention the church is paying to what is being said about it.


Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press On Monday, Afghans burned an effigy of Terry Jones during a protest against his plan to burn Korans on Sept. 11.

In an article on that media frenzy, “All Eyes on Dove World,” Kimberly Moore, a reporter for the Gainesville paper, asked “how did what most call a tiny, fringe religious group garner global attention?” She reports that Giovanni Gallucci, a social-media consultant based in Dallas told her:

It’s a case point of this guy using the traditional news to have something go viral. … This is nothing more than a publicity stunt — someone waving their arms saying, “Hey, look at me! Look at me!” And guess what, we did.

Tuesday night in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned a church’s plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11.

Tuesday night, during a State Department dinner to observe Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly condemned the church’s planned stunt — joining a host of public officials, including Gen. David Petraeus, who said a videotape of burning Korans “could endanger troops” working with Afghans, and Attorney General Eric Holder, who called it “idiotic and dangerous.” In her remarks, Mrs. Clinton echoed George Washington’s famous statement to a group of Rhode Island Jews in 1790, whom he assured:

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it was the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

On Wednesday, Reuters reports, both the Vatican and Angelina Jolie added their voices to the global choir expressing dismay at the Florida church’s protest.

As my colleague Damien Cave reported from Florida, several groups have announced plans for nearly a dozen counter-protests against the Koran burning.

Update: Thanks to a reader for reminding us to mention that the outsized attention paid to Dove World Outreach Center should be compared to that previously given to protests at the funerals of American soldiers by members of the even-smaller Westboro Baptist Church.

In the comment thread below, another reader draws our attention to an American pop cultural treatment of the subject of book burning in an episode of “The Waltons” from 1976.

A reminder to readers who may not post comments on this blog frequently: unlike the pastor who is the subject of this post, The Times has a policy against inflammatory remarks, which will not be published if they are submitted.

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Fla. minister: Sept. 11 Quran burn still planned

By MITCH STACY (AP) – 8 hours ago

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy said Wednesday he was determined to go through with his plan to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite pressure from the White House, religious leaders and others to call it off.

"We are still determined to it, yes," the Rev. Terry Jones told the CBS Early Show.

Jones says he has received more than 100 death threats and has started wearing a .40-caliber pistol strapped to his hip since announcing his plan to burn the book Muslims consider the word of God and insist be treated with the utmost respect.

The 58-year-old minister proclaimed in July that he would stage "International Burn-a-Quran Day."

Supporters have been mailing copies of the holy text to his Gainesville church of about 50 followers to be incinerated in a bonfire on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Gen. David Petraeus took the rare step of a military leader taking a position on a domestic matter when he warned in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence."

Gen. Ray Odierno, the former top commander in Iraq, said Wednesday he fears that extremists will use the incident to sow hatred against U.S. troops overseas.

"This feeds right into what they want," Odierno said on NBC's "Today Show. Odierno now heads of U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Jones responded that he is also concerned but is "wondering, 'When do we stop?'" He refused to cancel the protest at his Dove World Outreach Center but said he was still praying about it.

"How much do we back down? How many times do we back down?"

Jones told the AP. "Instead of us backing down, maybe it's time to stand up. Maybe it's time to send a message to radical Islam that we will not tolerate their behavior."

Jones gained some local notoriety last year when he posted signs in front of his church declaring "Islam is of the Devil." But his Quran-burning idea attracted wider attention. It drew rebukes from Muslim nations and at home as an emotional debate was taking shape over the proposed Islamic center near the ground zero site of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.

His actions most likely would be protected by the First Amendment's right to free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear in several landmark rulings that speech deemed offensive to many people, even the majority of people, cannot be suppressed by the government unless it is clearly directed to intimidate someone or amounts to an incitement to violence, legal experts said.

The fire department has denied Jones a required burn permit, but he said lawyers have told him he has the right to burn the Qurans, with or without the city's permission.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during a meeting Tuesday with religious leaders to discuss recent attacks on Muslims and mosques around the U.S. called the planned burning idiotic and dangerous, according to a Justice Department official. The official requested anonymity because the meeting was private.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton added her disapproval at a dinner in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," Clinton said.

Local religious leaders in this progressive Florida city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus also criticized the lanky preacher with the bushy white mustache. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in the city have mobilized to plan inclusive events — some will read from the Quran at their own weekend services. A student group is organizing a protest across the street from the church on Saturday.

Gainesville's new mayor, Craig Lowe, who during his campaign became the target of a Jones-led protest because he is openly gay, has declared Sept. 11 Interfaith Solidarity Day in the city.

David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama told CNN Wednesday morning: "The reverend may have the right to do what he's doing but it's not right. It's not consistent with our values ... I hope that his conscience and his good sense will take hold."

In Afghanistan, Jones' planned burning continued to provoke outrage.

"It is the duty of Muslims to react," said Mohammad Mukhtar, a cleric and candidate for the Afghan parliament in the Sept. 18 election. "When their holy book Quran gets burned in public, then there is nothing left. If this happens, I think the first and most important reaction will be that wherever Americans are seen, they will be killed. No matter where they will be in the world they will be killed."

Kabul resident, Rajab Ali said, "If this (burning of the Quran) happens there will be chaos in Afghanistan and being a Muslim, if we don't defend the Quran then what else we can do?"

The Quran, according to Jones, is "evil" because it espouses something other than biblical truth and incites radical, violent behavior among Muslims.

Muslims consider the Quran along with any printed material containing its verses or the name of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad to be sacred.

Any intentional damage or show of disrespect Quran is deeply offensive.

Jones' Dove Outreach Center is independent of any denomination. It follows the Pentecostal tradition, which teaches that the Holy Spirit can manifest itself in the modern day. Pentecostals often view themselves as engaged in spiritual warfare against satanic forces.

The world's leading Sunni Muslim institution of learning, Al-Azhar University in Egypt, accused the church of stirring up hate and discrimination, and called on other American churches speak out against it.

Last month, Indonesian Muslims demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, threatening violence if Jones goes through with it.
Jones dismisses the response of the other churches as "cowardly."

[Luke]

Yes it is offensive to have our flags and bibles burned.

I have to agree with the statement,

Prepare your men for the worst, hope for the best. And kill those who attack our troops.

However I can't help but relate this "pastor" to be similar to the Phelps kooks out in Kansas. Also a small congregation of 50 or so members. If not for the "media" coverage most people wouldn't even know of this "event."

The problem isn't all Muslims, it is Islamic Extremist. There are extremes in all religions. Should we have all Muslims wear a yellow crescent patch? I think that has been tried before.

It was the Catholic Chuch that was resonsible for the Spanish Inqusition. Religious extremists.

The Mountain Meadows massacre, Mormon extremist.

I dare say there isn't an organized religion on earth that doesn't have a few extremists. Maybe Buddahists? Oh wait I remember it was Buddists Monks setting themselves on fire in the 60's.


It just doesn't seem right for one religion to dictate it's beliefs by force or coersion on others. Which is why I have no faith in "organized" religion. I suppose that is how religions have operated throughout history, still seems wrong.

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Koran Burning And Bible Burning Treated Differently In America?

By Adam Kirk - Morning News Producer @ September 8, 2010 5:56 AM Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

In a matter of weeks, a small Gainesville church holding services in an unassuming steel building has become a national phenomenon; and the national media can't get enough of it.

Pastor Terry Jones did not gain international stardom until recently despite a long list of controversial protests. His playground, a city of 125,000 covered by the sprawling University of Florida campus and one-time home to college football hero Tim Tebow, Gainesville is hardly a backwoods 'burb. But Jones and his 50-or-so followers have routinely been seen on the side of the road, holding up signs reading "Islam is of the Devil" and even targeting the city's newly elected openly gay mayor, Craig Lowe.

In fact just last year this same church gained attention in Jacksonville for handing out t-shirts with the same slogan. A student was even sent home from school for wearing one, yet the needle on the dial of the national media barely moved. It wasn't until Jones threatened to burn the Muslim holy book that he drew the ire of people around the world, dozens of religious leaders, the New Black Panther Party and the Obama administration.

Now at least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in the city have mobilized to plan events _ some will read from the Koran at their own weekend services. A student group is organizing a protest across the street from the church on Saturday.
But just last year, when the pastor of a 14 member church in Canton, N.C. promised to burn all translations of the Christian Bible it considered evil, only a handful of reporters showed up. The church did gain national attention, but never to the degree of the Dove World Outreach Center.

And as far as we can tell, the top General in the war on terror, the Secretary of State, and the President never weighed in. The church backed down in the end, after threats of fines for violating local statutes, but their ultimate ceremony was even ignored by the local paper that covered their area.

This increased amount of media coverage puts the Obama administration in a tough political position. Just a few weeks back the President said he supported the "right" of an Imam to construct an Islamic community center just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, but would not comment on the "wisdom" of doing so.

However, the President's spokesman hasn't said whether the President supports the "right" of the Gainesville church to burn a Koran.

This disparity may highlight a sharp break in the way different Americans think about the virtues of turning the other cheek. Were the President to come out in favor of the church's right to burn the holy book, he could be criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike in an already contentious election season. When the President made his statement on the proposed Islamic center, even some top Democrats expressed their opposition to that position. However, if he stays silent on the issue he could be attacked for being biased toward the constitutional rights of Muslims and not those of other faiths.

This morning on NBC's "The Today Show" senior political advisor to President Obama David Axelrod said when asked whether the Gainesville church has a right to burn a Koran, "it's not a matter of whether they have the right, it's a matter of whether it's right."

Burning a Koran is considered by Muslims among the most offensive actions taken against Islam. 15 people died and scores were wounded in riots 5 years ago in Afghanistan sparked by a story in Newsweek magazine claiming that interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention center flushed a Koran down the toilet to get inmates to talk.

Newsweek later retracted the story.

Just this week a group of 500 protesters chanted "Long live Islam" and "Death to America" a world away in the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan.

In a blog on the website of the Dove World Outreach Center, writer Fran Ingram offered the groups' reasoning for burning the Koran, arguing that it is not God's word and denies Jesus is the son of God, that Islam is totalitarian and that the religion teaches idolatry, paganism, rites and rituals.

Jones said he now carries a .40-caliber pistol on his hip, because of the level of response and death threats his church is taking seriously. He also said he's praying about his decision to go forward with the burning, and that he could change his mind if he gets a sign from God.

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Jolie speaks out against Koran burning

ABC Online - ‎4 minutes ago‎
Actress Angelina Jolie has joined a growing chorus of opposition to plans by a US pastor to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11 ...


Clinton slams Quran burning as 'disgraceful'

TODAYonline - ‎21 minutes ago‎
GAINESVILLE (Florida) - An evangelical pastor insisted his plans for a mass torching of the Quran in Florida would go ahead even after United States ...


Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman Denounce Florida Pastor's Planned Quran Burning ...

CBS News - Lucy Madison - ‎2 hours ago‎
"It's regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Fla. with a church of no more than fifty people can make this outrageous and distressful, disgraceful plan ...


Romney: 'Burning the Quran is wrong'

Politico (blog) - Andy Barr - ‎3 hours ago‎
David Petraeus, who said the planned burning would endanger military personal stationed in Muslim countries. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also ...


Quran burning an 'abhorrent act': United Nations

Hindustan Times - ‎34 minutes ago‎
PTI Describing the act as "abhorrent," the United Nations has urged the organisers of the Quran burning in Florida not to proceed with their plan on 9/11, ...


Church slammed over plans for 9/11 Koran burning

Sydney Morning Herald - ‎33 minutes ago‎
Florida pastor going forward with Quran burning plan on the anniversary of 9/11, despite international condemnation. The planned mass burning of copies of ...


Vatican, Anti-Defamation League join forces to blast Pastor Terry Jones' Sept ...

New York Daily News - Lukas I. Alpert - ‎1 hour ago‎
Do you agree with a Florida church's plan to burn Korans in protest on the anniversary of Sept. 11? Who cares what one tiny church in ...


US embassies brace for Quran burning demos

Washington Post - Matthew Lee - ‎57 minutes ago‎
AP WASHINGTON -- The State Department has ordered US embassies around the world to assess their security ahead of a Florida church group's ...

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Should Petraeus have weighed in on Koran burning? General defends himself.

Did Gen. David Petraeus cross a civil-military dividing line when he commented on a church's Koran-burning plans? Scholars are divided. But Petraeus tells the Monitor he is obligated to give his assessment of a situation that could endanger US troops.


Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of ISAF and US forces in Afghanistan, speaks to the media at his office in Kabul on Aug. 31. Petraeus has said that a Florida church's Koran-burning plan could put US troops in Afghanistan in danger.

Mustafa Quraishi/AP

By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / September 8, 2010
Washington Was it a good idea for Gen. David Petraeus, US commander of the war in Afghanistan, to comment on the Koran-burning plans of a small fringe church in Florida? That is the debate quietly making rounds among Pentagon officials and military analysts after Petraeus told the Wall Street Journal that the move “could endanger troops, and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan.”

Skip to next paragraph Related Stories

• Petraeus: Dove World Outreach Center's 'Burn a Koran Day' endangers troops
• Why the planned Koran burning causes outrage and alarm
• Koran burning a distraction, says GOP leader Haley Barbour

At issue, they say, is whether a top military commander should weigh in on free speech matters involving American citizens and, what’s more, whether doing so crosses a civil-military dividing line.

Petraeus argues that it does not. “I’m not commenting on an issue of free speech. I’m providing an assessment of the likely impact of an action by a fellow American citizen on the safety of our troopers and civilians,” he says in an e-mail to the Monitor Wednesday. “I think I’ve got an obligation to those I’m privileged to lead to provide such an assessment.”

Government officials are entitled to express their views – and these views can be valuable in lending moral weight and providing practical feedback, says Eugene Volokh, a first amendment law professor at University of California Los Angeles. “It really is him trying to use his moral authority, and his expertise, to opine on what people ought to be doing.”

At the same time, one possible problem, adds Mr. Volokh, is that by jumping into the national debate, “It may be that General Petraeus may be inadvertently exacerbating the problem by encouraging people to restrain what they are saying for fear of extremist violence” waged against US troops by radical insurgents overseas.

What Afghans expect of the US

It also plays into expectations in some parts of the world that American officials can and should control the legal, if undesirable and ugly, behavior of its citizens.

“It could be that these statements from American government officials could quiet at least some critics who will say, ‘Look, at least the American government is saying the right thing here, so we shouldn’t retaliate,’ ” Volokh says.

But, he adds, such statements could also anger some Afghans even more.

“They could say, ‘Even the American government is acknowledging that it’s a bad thing, so why isn’t it stopping them?’ " he says. "There’s reason to say that whatever the practical benefits might be of accommodating your action to the demands of violent extremists, there are also practical costs.”

But there is a difference between stopping or threatening to retaliate against free speech and simply pointing out its possible effects, says Christopher Swift, a fellow at the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. “It’s perfectly fine for a four-star general whose mission depends on developing goodwill to say that the action of this small group of extremists in Florida is going to undermine what we’re trying to do.”

That doesn’t mean, he adds, “that they are going to shut down these folks. Whether General Petraeus has stepped over the line or is trying to chill free speech – I don’t see that happening. He’s concerned about an 18-year-old private running into an 18-year-old Afghan. How is that Afghan going to give the American soldier the benefit of the doubt when he has pictures of Koran-burning on his mobile phone? Petraeus is right to call that out.”

The spirit of civilian control

But while such remarks from military officials do not violate any tenets of civilian control of the military, they may violate their spirit, particularly if such statements are sanctioned or encouraged by the Obama administration, says Michael Cohen, senior fellow at the American Security Project.

“What worries me a little is that I don’t think the administration minds that the general is out front on this. They think, ‘Look, he has credibility.

It has weight coming from Petraeus,’ " says Mr. Cohen. "To me that’s very dangerous. It puts a national-security cast on what is unfortunately protected free speech, and I think there’s something deeply inappropriate about a general doing that.”

Even as the Koran-burning designs of a 50-member Florida congregation threaten to imperil US troops, such a prospect, he adds, is no less than the high price of democracy.

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FBI Says Retaliation for Koran Burning 'Likely'

Intel Bulletin Cites 'High Confidence' of Backlash

By PIERRE THOMAS and JASON RYAN

Sept. 8, 2010—

The FBI is concerned that Islamic extremists might attack and retaliate at this Saturday's Koran burning planned by radical Florida pastor Terry Jones, ABC News has learned.

"While the FBI has no information to indicate a specific attack has been planned against the United States or U.S. assets in response to the 'International Burn a Koran Day' event, the FBI assesses with high confidence that, as with past incidents perceived as acts of desecration against Islam, extremist actors will continue to threaten or attempt to harm the leaders, organizers, or attendees the event," an FBI intelligence bulletin notes.

The FBI is concerned not only about the potential for an attack at the event -- but also about retaliation going forward. The Aug. 19, 2010 intelligence bulletin out of the Bureau's Jacksonville field office is entitled, "Extremists Likely to Retaliate Against Florida Group's Planned 'International Burn a Koran Day.'"

The intelligence bulletin states that Jones' advertising of the event drew an immediate response from a known terrorist website frequented by radicals. Postings on the Al-Faloja website included a forum member writing, "I wish to detonate myself in this church now. ... I want to become a martyr and detonate myself in this filthiest filth."

Another member warned, "Oh you Americans, I swear by Allah if you do this deed await a war that you have not witnessed ... we will not rest until we kill tens of you in place of every letter in the book of Allah. ..."
Word of the memo first was posted on the blog ********.com. FBI officials would not publicly comment on the intelligence bulletin but confirmed its authenticity.

Though other officials spoke without being named, the FBI spokesman in Jacksonville, Special Agent Jeff Westcott, declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.

However, FBI officials told ABC News that FBI agents from Jacksonville have met with Jones to inform him of the intelligence and potential threat. FBI agents from the Jacksonville field office are planning to have assets at the ready in case of an attack at the church.

The FBI bulletin further observes that INSPIRE, a new online terrorist propaganda magazine, specifically instructs "home-grown extremists to conduct small scale attacks" and "attacks on persons who disrespect symbols of Islam."

The FBI's bulletin notes serious implications of the burnings taking place.

"This attention will most likely have political and national security implications which could involve the boycott of American goods and services, violent demonstrations within the United States and abroad, threats and/or acts of violence from terrorist organizations and/or lone extremist actors, and further segregation between the Muslim and non-Muslim American communities," the bulletin notes.

The FBI suggests history is its troubling guide.

The bulletin cites the recent case of Muslim convert Zachary Chesser, who made death threats against the creators of "South Park" after the program mocked the Prophet Muhammad and notes that INSPIRE mentioned that Molly Norris, a cartoonist who created "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" should be targeted for killings.

There have been other instances. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated in 2004 after he made a controversial film about women living in Islamic countries. Here in the United States, the woman dubbed "Jihad Jane" was part of an alleged conspiracy to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who drew the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.

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Top U.S. General: Gainesville Koran Burning Hurts War Effort

By Adam Kirk - Morning News Producer By @ September 7, 2010 5:22 AM Permalink | Comments (23)

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned today that a Gainesville church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book the Koran could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

"Images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan _ and around the world _ to inflame public opinion and incite violence," Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement.

Petraeus also warned images of burning Korans could be used to incite anti-American sentiment similar to the pictures of prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Graib prison.

"I am very concerned by the potential repercussions of the possible burning. Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday," Petraeus said in his statement. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."

His comments come 4 days before the pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center said he plans to hold a "burn the Koran" day to mark the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States that provoked the Afghan war.

"We think the message is that important," said Pastor Terry Jones. "We can not back down just because of fear, because if we back down, it won't make Islam any more moderate," said Jones.

The church's plans have incited multiple threats of violence from the Muslim world; the latest Monday in Afghanistan. Hundreds of Afghans rallied outside a Kabul mosque, burning American flags and an effigy of Jones and chanting "death to America." Some also held signs threatening President Obama. Members of the crowd briefly pelted a passing U.S. military convoy with stones, but were ordered to stop by rally organizers.

Postings on a Islamic extremist website also threatened suicide bombings in Florida in response to the planned burning.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a statement condemning the church's plans, saying Washington was "deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups."

The New Black Panther Party plans a counter-protest at the church on Saturday. Spokesman Mikhail Muhammad said "I believe in peace, but if you agress [sic] me I'm going to fight back." "He's going to incite a wrath and chastisement on himself that he will not be able to bear," said Muhammad.

Jones, though, said he's not surprised at the threats of violence; "That is the nature of Sharia law, that is the nature of violent Islam."