Military burns unsolicited Bibles sent to Afghanistan (May 22, 2009)

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Military personnel threw away, and ultimately burned, confiscated Bibles that were printed in the two most common Afghan languages amid concern they would be used to try to convert Afghans, a Defense Department spokesman said Tuesday.The unsolicited Bibles sent by a church in the United States were confiscated about a year ago at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because military rules forbid troops of any religion from proselytizing while deployed there, Lt. Col. Mark Wright said.

Such religious outreach can endanger American troops and civilians in the devoutly Muslim nation, Wright said.

"The decision was made that it was a 'force protection' measure to throw them away, because, if they did get out, it could be perceived by Afghans that the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert Muslims," Wright told CNN on Tuesday.

Troops at posts in war zones are required to burn their trash, Wright said.

The Bibles were written in the languages Pashto and Dari.

This decision came to light recently, after the Al Jazeera English network aired video of a group prayer service and chapel sermon that a reporter said suggested U.S. troops were being encouraged to spread Christianity.

The military denied that earlier this month, saying much in the video was taken out of context.

"This was irresponsible and dangerous journalism sensationalizing year-old footage of a religious service for U.S. soldiers on a U.S. base and inferring that troops are evangelizing to Afghans," Col. Gregory Julian said.

The military says a soldier at Bagram received the Bibles and didn't realize he wasn't allowed to hand them out. In the Al Jazeera video, which shows the Bibles at the prayer service, an unnamed soldier says members of his church raised money for them.

The chaplain later corrected the soldier and confiscated the Bibles, Wright said.

Military officers considered sending the Bibles back to the church, he said, but they worried the church would turn around and send them to another organization in Afghanistan -- giving the impression that they had been distributed by the U.S. government.

That could lead to violence against troops or U.S. civilians, Wright said.

Al Jazeera English, a Qatar-based international news service, said its reporters tried to get a response from military officials for its story but were unable to do so.

The U.S. military air base at Bagram is home to thousands of troops from all branches of the U.S. military. The vast majority of the troops do not leave the base and are in various support roles for U.S. troops across Afghanistan.<BR _extended="true">

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/us.military.bibles.burned/

[^_^ 5,021]

Watch for Christian crazies in the US to act like pissed off retarded little children and start blowing ####### up.

Or not.

[sunsi 0]

We aren't there to proselytize and the fact that these Bibles were written in the native tongue proves this was the intention. We originally went to Afghanistan to get Osama but then Bush/Cheney saw oil money in Iraq and "Oooh, the money we can make there!" they thought but how to go to war in Iraq was the problem so.....why not lie and say there are weapons of mass distruction, yeah that's the ticket. Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan Osama is making a quick getaway and the American people are paying the bill for the Iraq war to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars! We had NO RIGHT to preemptively strike a sovereign nation such as Iraq it is an illegal war! Oh but you say, the world is a better place without Saddam well, than why didn't we attack Cuba or Venezuela or some of the countries in Africa if our blueprint for preemptive strikes requires that we dislike the leaders. With a user name of, "John Galt" we pretty much know where you're coming from anyway.....

[Danno 1,228]

We aren't there to proselytize and the fact that these Bibles were written in the native tongue proves this was the intention. We originally went to Afghanistan to get Osama but then Bush/Cheney saw oil money in Iraq and "Oooh, the money we can make there!" they thought but how to go to war in Iraq was the problem so.....why not lie and say there are weapons of mass distruction, yeah that's the ticket. Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan Osama is making a quick getaway and the American people are paying the bill for the Iraq war to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars! We had NO RIGHT to preemptively strike a sovereign nation such as Iraq it is an illegal war! Oh but you say, the world is a better place without Saddam well, than why didn't we attack Cuba or Venezuela or some of the countries in Africa if our blueprint for preemptive strikes requires that we dislike the leaders. With a user name of, "John Galt" we pretty much know where you're coming from anyway.....

Don't be offended but... are you on the White house payroll, we heard they had teams assigned to message boards

and with your (out of date) talking points, I just wondered?

[Peikko 1,575]

How does this ####### make the news, really?

[thongd4me 69]

You know military intelligence...

They wanted to keep all the stuff that "went down" before Mohammed was born a top military secret

[mawilson 2,133]

Military personnel threw away, and ultimately burned, confiscated Bibles that were printed in the two most common Afghan languages amid concern they would be used to try to convert Afghans

Why is that a bad thing? A converted Afghan is a better Afghan.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Watch for Christian crazies in the US to act like pissed off retarded little children and start blowing ####### up.

Or not.

How many Christian suicide bombers were there after this bible burning?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

How does this ####### make the news, really?

Because the Koran burning story needs some sort of parallel. Apparently.

How many Christian suicide bombers were there after this bible burning?

Why is this always your angle of response?

The koran burning is a non story, so is this one. Why add to the drama?