They want the taliban back? Let 'em have the taliban.

If you wage war somewhere, you need to understand the local people. Stupid is what stupid does. Afghans know that there is ZERO accountability when it comes to people working for US government. This war should have ended 9 years ago. US politicians are beyond stupid to extend this war for so long - they are 100% sold out to the military industrial complex. We could have made peace with Taliban on much better terms 9 years ago.

And BTW, Karzai security is not provided by US special forces but by US paid mercenaries.

They made a mistake. They can deal with it. A trial? Not happening.

I say we leave that place and bring our people and our money back home. They stomp on liberty and freedom everyday, then get upset when someone burns a book.

Karzai had earlier accused a U.S. officer of "ignorantly" burning copies of the Quran, in an incident that has deepened anti-Western sentiment in a country NATO is trying to stabilize before foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014.

That should read "leave by the end of 2012...maybe sooner".

Max 108 - Add to that, Afghanistan did NOT attack us. We have no business being there in the first place.

No it's the US that wants the taliban out. Afgan's are a mixed bag but we declare that Afgans need to do what we want them to do.

Why is burning a Quran something we do?

I'm a Christian but I don't see why we could be so cruel to purposely or ignorantly do something with no real cause which we know well will significantly offend others. What is the gain or motive? hatred? arrogance?

Dog and pony show on behalf of Mr. Karzai. Anyway, we got the man responsible for 9/11, so let's start an orderly draw down and leave them to their religious life. You cannot bring Western Style Democracy to a society that is based on religious teachings. No matter how much you try and bomb it into their heads.

Next time who ever is incharge should send those radicalized holy books over to the States and dispose of them properly. How lazy do you have to be not to burn paper correctly?

Please...Please... Get our American butts out of that hole and let those people live their own lives and determine their own futures. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW.

I want our kids out of there. Let these people solve their own problems, as it seems we're only making it worse. It's not worth one more drop of American blood.

I don't think these people care nearly as much about the holy book as they are just looking for an excuse to be angry. By all accounts it was a mistake. I guess there's no word in Arabic for that. The amazing thing is that we still have US citizens who think you can reason and negotiate with these people. They are just plain crazy.

Time to leave this uneducated ilk to their own demise. As soon as my stepson gets home from Afghanistan in March, I will be happy. He says the Jordanians that are there are decent people but lousy soldiers. He says the Afghanis have progressed as far as we can carry them and they arent going to get any better in his opinion.

Time to leave with the little credibility we have left and give our soldiers a great coming home party with a much deserved ticker tape parade in New York for both the Iragi and Afghani veterans. These uneducated peasents will never be happy. Stupid is as stupid does. (Thanks Forrest for the saying).

I say they can try our soldiers only after every f---ing muslim who burned an american flag gets tried. Bring our troops home they don't need to die for these a--holes.

We need to destroy all bases and equiptment that can not be removed and leave the country NOW!!

Ok, for the ones whom aspire to live in the Stone Age, let them! Our fear of the opium market and growth into our society along with enrichment of the bad guys is easily defeated. We send out our buyers for the opium and use it to manufacture opiates used in our health care, under the care of the drug comapanies. It keeps it out of the hands of those refining it for heroin, keeps the money in the hands of the Farmer and out of the hands of the bad guys.

Or, we can continue to fight with pretended allies that are actually enemies, crooks, thieves or whatever you want to call them. Let China have Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Afghanistan People want to be led by leaders aspiring life in the Stone Age, why stop them. We need to pull out of the region and leave nothing of value behind. When we first entered it was for Bin Laden, he's dead. There was nothing to win, only an act of retribution. Our leaders have lost focus and encumbered us with human loss, debt, and ill will among the peoples of that region. Time to leave!!!!

Bring our people home NOW and leave this barbaric wasteland and its thankless people to rot in their own ignorance and hate……enough is enough.

Isn't the guy up front that thing that lives in the trash can on Seasame Street?

I agree. People need to take a look at who we are fighting for in Afghanistan...

Take a good, long, close look.

It makes me wonder who is in charge of the monkey house at this zoo.

Clearly, our troops are not worth the risk. One cannot change a feudal society in 10 to 20 years.
People who are living in the ways of 300 to 500 years ago, cannot change unless they actually desire change. The Soviet Union learned that, and at great loss of life and millions of $$.

Yet, there we (U.S. and NATO troops) are, in the thick of things, trying to bring order to the mob mentality that erupts into violence when one of our troops accidentally burns a Muslim bible.

There ought to be a better way to deal with this entire situation.

I am in full support of the members of our military, but there must be a time to cut our losses and call it a day. The sooner the better.

This whole thing is absurd and Obama should be impeached if he allows anyone to be put on trial for what as an honest mistake. They put some books in the trash that were defaced with anti-American rhetoric and messages of hate and were no longer needed or wanted. In fact, it was Afghani nationals who actually put the book in the fire, not Americans. The Americans only mistakenly place them in the trash. This was not done as any kind of religious statement or to piss anyone off. since they no longer house large numbers of Muslim prisoners at the base the Korans were no longer needed. As a result they were put in the trash to be disposed of. The laborers on the base then took the trash to be burned as they always do. This was a routine disposal of trash, not some religiously motivated incident. It is completely absurd to get so upset over something like this. It is also the height of hypocrisy for any of them to protest this when they routinely do things like burn the bodies of our soldiers and the American flag in clear attempts to inflame passions. Tell Karzai that we will consider a trial after he puts every person in his country who has burned an American flag, desecrated the corpse of an American service member, or killed an unarmed American civilian on trial.

It is time to stop the nonsense and just pull our troops out. Let these backwards fanatics have their wars with each other and kill each other off. There is no reason to risk any more American lives trying to save them from themselves. Just make it clear that any attacks on American interests coming from the country will result in our carpet bombing the whole place. Maybe if we make it clear that they will all be out at risk if they continue to tolerate the action of the fanatics, they will do something to put an end to the fanatics themselves.

Bring all of our troops home - NOW! Enough of this is enough. Every other country that has been their, has learned this lesson, yet we are still there. Just pack up and go. Bring all of the combat troops back to Kabul, load everyone up and bring them home.

Take the generators with you and don't leave a 'light burning'.

Isn't the guy up front that thing that lives in the trash can on Seasame Street?

Lolz! Good one!

And look at that pathetically ugly crowd in those pictures. It'd be a great place to drop a cruise missile.

Bring our troops home Obama has WON his battle. Long live the Muslim!!!!

If our government puts these soldiers on trial for burning a few fiction books, the military should retailate by launching a coup.

WhistleBerries, I agree 100%. I suspect the destruction of these Quran was accidental and therefore without malice. But, I must ask, do you think any of the protesters in these photos (lacking a more explicit description because I don't want this deleted) ever burned or would even before this, given the chance burn a bible? My suspicions are not yes, but hell yes.

They're just bored. They have nothing else to do. All the goats are in from pasture and the poppies are not blooming. Soon the poppies will be ready for harvest and they will be producing heroin to sell around the world to make money to fund their loving war lords. Isn't that what good, Allah-fearing Muslims do, produce illicit drugs to fund world-wide destruction of people, families, create corruption and incite murder?

Nice front page picture! It looks like the 15th century!

Get all our troops out of Afghanistan, and take all the women and children. Leave this pitiless country to these macho lunatics to fight it out themselves.

Seems like every other month we have these people somewhere saying death to America well they can kiss my Azz, that is why we should not help anyone but our own citizens .....

every officer in the company should be reduced to enlisted rank; every NCO, should be reduced to e-1; every solider involved should be sent to Northern Alaska to guard the seals; how dumb and stupid can the army be, for allowing this to happen, do not tell me it was just a couple of grunts, no way.

as for any trials, no way could the U.S. agree to such a thing, if Obama did agree , the army would overthrow the government in Washington right away.

I suggest we remove ourselves completely from that God forsaken area!

An open question to Karzai and His Countrymen,

If it was OK (i.e. NO public outrages, riots or death) for detained Islamic fundamentalist terrorists to use your Holy(?) Book to send messages to each other.....then whats the friggin' problem if we burned 'em? Do the fine Afghan people not have the word 'Hypocrisy' or 'Hypocrite' in their esteemed language? If not, perhaps it should be introduced. Oh...thats right....cant do that: Karzai would be the first entry of definition. Ya, much better for POTUS to apologize, again, for such perceived barbaric behaviors. Anybody ever apologize to Daniel Pearl? Nah.....didnt think so.

Sure, you back-assward retards: We'll be happy to put these 'criminals' on trial... just as soon as you agree to the same for crimes against humanity.

Good luck with that one.

Now, buy a razor, admit your 'god' is a delusion, and grow the f**k up before the world has to erase you from your petty existence in order for the rest of us to survive.

Saxon,

The burning of the Quran was on purpose. But who cares. They were taken from the prison where the extremists that were held there were writing messages in them to other prisoners. What would you have them do with these book? Put them in a storage facility at the pentagon? No, you destroy them.

We really need to pull our people out now. Bring them all home as soon as we can leave. Start the planning for the pullout now, and as soon as the plan is done, get them out of there.

We will never change these people. We could stay there another 10 years and nothing, NOTHING would change.

Well at least between Russia and ourselves, there is a lot less of them !

There must be this huge stash of Korans somewhere since you apparently cannot destroy them once they are damaged.

Silly Muslim children,

Leave your most cherished, precious Koran lying around, and it will end up with the garbage!!!

Otherwise, I know of a safe place you can "PUT IT"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to remind some posters here that even if you don't agree with a public trial, it is immature and counterproductive to call an entire nation names and insult them.

Judging from the looks of the herd of sub humans in the picture I can just imagine what the smell was like. These animals deserve to drown in their own mindless religous hate..... Get our troops out ASAP.

Or, we can continue to fight with pretended allies that are actually enemies, crooks, thieves or whatever you want to call them. Let China have Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Afghanistan People want to be led by leaders aspiring life in the Stone Age, why stop them. We need to pull out of the region and leave nothing of value behind.

The value of Afghanistan (and Pakistan) is in their ground. They are sitting on proven reserves of trillions of dollars worth of rare earth minerals. When India slammed in the Asian continent and raised the Himalayas, it also pushed closer to the surface many of these minerals that are locked deep down in the earth's crust.

Sorry but I don't see how you accidently burn a book. Whoever did it is a jerk for endangering our troops. My son deploys tomorrow for Afghanistan and I guess he's going to get a real warm welcome now (sarcasm). If you break the law in someone else's country you are subject to their laws. And no, I'm not a sympathizer - I find terrorism abhorrent. Watch the 3rd Jihad on youtube now. Scary stuff.

Karzai, 2 words for you sir. F--k You. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Let there be no misunderstanding between us.

These 'holy books' had writings from inmates in them. The desecration occurred by the prisoners. There should be no writing or desecration. The prisoners were writing notes to each other using these books to pass them along.No trial needed

@ Chris from Yucaipa,

Although I may have disagreed with some of your postings from time to time, on this one, you have my FULL agreement and support. Thank you and voted.

BigMowma: You said Afghanistan didn't attack. You may be unaware that the attack on 911 came directly from Afghanistan. The Taliban were fully complicite in the Al Qaida effort to train in their country and to destroy American lives and bring down her monumental architecture. The word accessory comes to mind. Had the Taliban cooperated and extradited the perpetrators We wouldn't be there.

What more appropriate reason to go to war?

Since they refuse to submit even having lost every battle, by the rules of self defence America has a right to be far less self restrained.

Out in the Woods: I don't know if you have read all the blogs here but I can assure you there is one very common thread running through all of them. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW! As far as your comment about ".....it is immature and counterproductive to call an entire nation names and insult them" you obviously have not been following the news.....THEY DO IT TO US ALL THE TIME! They bite the hand that is trying to help them and spit in our faces. We are fools to continue to try to do anything in that country. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW! Do not pass go, do not collect $200, get the heck out of Afghanistan NOW! Am I clear on this?

Islam is a cult and the people are brainwashed into these mob frenzies.. They most certainly burned bibles and flags but that is OK because they are Muslim.. When will people learn that you can't help these people because their cult mentality is self reinforcing that all outsiders are evil and must die.. Stop payment on those aid checks and walk, cage em in and let them go back to killing each other..

wasnt usa in afghanistan years ago,it seems when russia isnt there,we are,billions spent for what,what has actually been done their to change things?they dont even want usa their?the taliban is training in other countries,are we going to invade them also,how much money will continue to be spent while our economy continues to nose dive!!!!

So, whose law did they break? An Afghan religious law? Can burn the American flag, the Bible, etc but damn, if you burn the Quran you are going to get tried? If NATO troops go to trial over this, I will head to Afghanistan and burn more than just the Quran!

Trial hell, give them a medal

Karzai's security detail needs to take a night off. Just one night, that's all it will take.

They are in no position to "demand" anything!

Who cares why these books were burned? They're just books, regardless of the importance the Afghan people place on them.

The burning took place on a NATO base, which means it was legally not done on Afghan soil. Karzai has no business "demanding" anything, since no NATO laws were actually broken.

President Obama should use political piloteness, remind Karzai who put him in power and how quickly that could change, and remind him about respecting the laws of others, which so many Muslim groups refuse to do.

Afghanistan: Would you PLEASE stop your crying??? FFS...

Karzai is a bigger problem than all of Pakistan. This time he's played both ends against the middle once too often. I want the priviledge of cutting his throat from ear to ear, and then we can donate all of the foreign aid funds that he has looted to a non-Islamic charity.

Afghanistan....stuck in the dark ages 20 years before it began. lol

Put someone on trial for burning a book? Seriously? Does anyone realize how stupid that sounds?

We are not "guests" in that country. We are occupiers. So until whatever little army you have tries to take us on, a successfully manages to remove on US/NATO soldiers from it's country, we make the rules. Not the other way around. We don't invade a country and hope to be politically correct.

Obviously our mission there has failed. If they're still putting people on trial for burning books, then we haven't made a dent in trying bring them to the 21st century. And theocracy still rules.

Saxon - hope that was satire. If not.... words fail me.

Islamic practice is to burn or bury defaced Korans, I am told - these were defaced by prisoners writing political rhetoric in them. Karzai needs to be trying to suck up to his people; he must be terrified that he won't survive the week.

An iinteresting culture - I read that the Taliban just beheaded 4 people for using sat phones (in an area where only sat phones work) - kind of an oopsee moment? Where's the outrage against Taliban for beheading innocent people? Right with the outrage against suicide bombers who kill ten or more of their own people for every foreigner they kill.

Bottom line... they are freakin' savages. Not because they are Moslem, just because they are freakin' savages. Time to test the neutron bombs.

Saxon - hope that was satire. If not.... words fail me.

Islamic practice is to burn or bury defaced Korans, I am told - these were defaced by prisoners writing political rhetoric in them. Karzai needs to be trying to suck up to his people; he must be terrified that he won't survive the week.

An iinteresting culture - I read that the Taliban just beheaded 4 people for using sat phones (in an area where only sat phones work) - kind of an oopsee moment? Where's the outrage against Taliban for beheading innocent people? Right with the outrage against suicide bombers who kill ten or more of their own people for every foreigner they kill.

Bottom line... they are freakin' savages. Not because they are Moslem, just because they are freakin' savages. Time to test the neutron bombs.

I am not worried about this matter. Our President has already apologized. I am sure the terrorists have accepted his apology with open arms. Now I am going to go throw up.

We went into Afghanistan for good cause. The Taliban were harboring a group that had attacked the USA and killed 3000 innocent people of many nationalities and religions in a brutal and despicable terrorist act.

The Taliban were unrepentant regarding their complicity and told the world to f___off! We did what we had to. We toppled the Taliban government, economy, infrastructure, and barbaric rule in a matter of days/weeks. These fundamentalist Islamic turds scurried into holes like rats.

That should have been the end of it, but we decided that we needed to help "the people" over there. That was our mistake! We should have let them fight amongst themselves for control of their dung-heap. If they chose to allow the Taliban to re-emerge we could have flown back in pounded the sh_t out of them again and left. Again they should have been left to again fight it out amongst themselves to straighten out their dung-heap. If they failed again we could have again flown back in pounded the sh_t out of them .......

Each time they failed to learn their lesson the degree of the pummeling could have been increased by degrees. If they are too stupid to learn their lesson then eventually the lesson will reach a Darwinian tipping point where they can chose extinction or membership in the community of the world. That is the only way of "helping" them that I can imagine being effective. We should have no interest in occupying that dump.

We need to pull out with a warning that they can understand. IF YOU DON'T SHAPE UP, WE'LL BE BACK, AND YOU REALLY WON'T LIKE US NEXT TIME.

Karzai : How can you seek trial for burning koran when you guys dont even follow it's laws?

US knows better what goes on if Koran is burned, why in the hell would you do something stupid like that? whom ever made this decision must love making problems that could of been prevented.

it'is already enough hit going on there! why add more to it dum dum

Why can't our government actually listen to the people? We all want our troops out of there.
Leave them all to feed on each other.

I see, obama does not defend his soldiers, go figure and saying sorry go figure, obama bow to Saudi king , something wrong with this picture. all he does say sorry for what, ,Muslim burn churches, Muslim kidnap Christian teenagers girls and convert them to Muslim in the middle east, you can not build a church in saudi Arabia, Muslim abuse Christians in the middle east why we do not act like them and make a big deal of it. USA give Afghanistan it is freedom and that what USA get, if a mistake from a solider happened why they make it a big deal , and i hope it is true and it is not a lie.

There is only one candidate for President who will bring our troops home now.

Obama could have done it at anytime. He hasn't. As a matter of fact, he put soldiers on the ground in 4 new African Nations this week alone.

At SEATAC last week, a reporter asked Ron Paul when he would bring the troops home.

Ron Paul: "As soon as we can get the ships over there!"

The crowd of Ron Paul supporters started chanting "Bring them home! Bring them home!"

No more dead soldiers for corporate interests.

No more "nation building" unless it's in America.

Liberals for Ron Paul 2012

@AmericanDefender9

Thanks. And voted.

I see, obama does not defend his soldiers, go figure and saying sorry go figure

You can look at it that way, most Obama-bashers would. Considering there has already been US soldiers killed because of this incident, if he chooses to apologize via a letter, or even get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness, I will support him 100% if it calms the situation and keeps our soldiers from dying because of it. At the moment I could care less how the rest of the world feels about him, only what we Americans do.

They are all like children from broken homes. Outrage is the only empowering action they know. They are stuck in a cycle of fear, ignorance, and violence.

Pity them.

I once got beheaded for burning the Christian bible.

Basically we are dealing with a feudal tribal society that has been brutalized by war since 1973 without a break. All it's infrastructure has been destroyed. It is really just exactly like Somalia. It has no functioning government. It's people are uneducated and can't even read their own native languages. Those in charge are just drug dealing thieving warlords. Even the clergy are drug dealing thieves. Time to leave and just wait until Al Qaeda comes out of their holes and use drones to wack'em. The officer in charge of this burning detail should have known better. While not a punishable offense he/she should have known better than to burn a Koran. Once we are gone we should sit back and watch Pakistan and Iran squabble and maybe go to war over who is going to control it. Iran won't put up with the drug running into it's territory for long.

You want a public trial?? We get a public trial for our Troops being killed helping your sorry a$$!! F them, they can rot for all I care.

Just see how ungrateful most Muslims are!

Karzai, a liability and curse on earth, has been put in his chair by NATO forces, kept there by NATO forces and now he wants some of them to be tried! Many lost lives keeping this liability alive.

Karzai does not control much, know much and he only knows how to blackmail and steal our tax monies.

Is it much different in other Muslim nations?

With lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, let us not get into more mess by meddling in Syria and Iran.

Let us mind our own business.

Let the Sunni Saudi bigoted beasts and their puppets go to hell along with their Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques.

We can't save them for long!

Notice how that @!$%# didn't mention anything about a trial for the uniformed Afghan police officer or soldier, I can't remember which it was, that shot several US soldiers during one of the riots! Why the hell are we protecting this corrupt excuse of a "leader"? We already kicked the Taliban's ass for harboring and protecting Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. We are well past the "mission accomplished" stage and we need to leave that sandbox behind immediately and let those idiots kill each other off!

These troops put America and NATO in an awkward position. Without a trial, yhings will worsen and the Taliban will have an opening to woo Afghans into their corner. With a civilian trial in that barbaric, Dark Ages society, yhe punishment will exceed the offense.

I can understand the Afghans' anger, but not the unrestrained vehemence. Do those people ever stop to consider what we have done for them and are doing for them now? They shout "death to America" protesting against us in the very streets we made secure for them to gather and march in.

There must be a middle ground on how to handle this situation. The justice must be commensurate with the offense. I argue that if we turn these troops over to the Afghans, then when we leave we write off Afghanistan and leave them to their own cruel devices.

Afghans need to stop being so thin-skinned and fickle. They need to decide whether burning a few Korans is worth jeopardizing the very security America provides that country.

And they never burnt a Bible? How many of them are rotting in jail or were decapitated? None!

US troops are working under most adverse circumstances. It is possible that some mistakes might have been made.

It is also possible that some Afghan soldiers might have planted burnt Quran.

SO: NO APOLOGIES FOR THE BURNT QURAN AND FOR NONE.

NO SOLDIER IS GUILTY!

I was going to burn a Quran, but then I took an arrow in the knee.

Yes- can we please leave already???????

T...ttt.....tt....tt.t...Today Junior... Let's get out.

And while were at it, let's put in a President like Ron Paul who won't look to kingdom build around the world... where we are not wanted and have no buisness being.

I agree but for the record, Afghanistan is not in the Middle East. It's in South Asia.

Put in a president who won't bow or apologize to these psychotic beings.

It is in South Asia, but it is consider Middle East vs. the Far East where Korea's are.

By the way, has anyone seen the front page picture? Where do people like that come from?

Is it from some kind of terrible disease?

why?? so murderous ignorant dick-ta-tors can kill and rape more innocent people because they don't agree with the policies that are in place. Nuke the @!$%#ers and see how they respond.

The President is doing what he thinks is best to try and maintain the high ground for our country and protect the lives of those serving in Afghan. Every time WE do something stupid to insult the locals we put our servicemembers at risk. You would understand what that if you had actually been there. It's tough enough to try and do your job there and incidents like this only make it more difficult and more dangerous. Again, if you are one of the many chair force soldiers serving on your sofa please reframe from further negative comments out of respect for those whose lives are on the line.

Well, first Obama writes an apology to Karazai.

Let me ask...is he going to give the familes of the two dead members of OUR military the same courtesy?

Another amusing question....is the Commander in Chief going to permit these creatures to put members of our military on trial in their bass ackwards country?

I have an idea, pull out all our troops and then none of them will be at risk.

American, so how exactly are we putting our troops in danger by asking that we leave that dung heap? Most Afghans can't read and even if they could sure wouldn't be on this POS vine

I agree, but the problem is, with our delusional PC open-door immigration policies and blind eye to illegal immigrants, the west is letting the Middle East the Hell INTO their own countries.

Brutal theocracies and civil wars in two generations, mark my words.

Although I suppose the sooner we turn them into consumers, the sooner they'll abandon that ridiculous 'faith'.

All of this over some paper and ink, it is so sad when we hold holy bits of paper when they are nothing but just that bits of paper.

Only one candidate for President will enforce our immigration laws.

That same man is the only one who will bring our troops home now, right away.

Liberals for Ron Paul 2012

Alil: Ron Paul is also the only man who would govern America as Coolidge did in the '20s' when The U.S. followed a near isolationist foreign policy. Good luck with that.

I do like his thinking, but it just will not work in this day and age.

Are you sure? Before we are out, many (Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists) want us in Syria and Iran.

Unfortunately Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and the two other mediocraties running for the GOIPnomination for president are all living in the dead past. How nice to return to a much earlier "isolationist" policy as Ron Paul wants to do. Won't work. Did that work when the World Trade Center was brought down by foreign hijackers? If we were sitll in the age of sailing ships, no aircraft no bombs, missiles or other toys that can reach pretty much anywhere even across the oceans, might work. Same goes for Rick Sanitarium who has had his head up a wooman's ass for lo his many adult years. His obsession with "cultural" values, i.e. making sure American women don't get birth control pills or other contraceptives, and otherwise return to the dfark ages is a travesty. If this dip@!$%# were elected President, how would he govern in tyhe 21st century? Better hope it's Obama. At least he knows how to act like a grown up. Santorum hasn't a clue. His tragedy was not being sacrificed to the Catholic priesthood by his ever lovin' parents. If he were just in a m onastery somewhere preaching to his fellows we'd all be bettter off. He's got a m orbid streak and a totallyh sick mind, a.m. Glen Beck. And we know what happened to him.

You mean the US military personnel who burned Koran books with trash in a Muslim country? I agree 100%.

So 2 dead soldiers don't mean anything in your world?

This is a typical case of "but he started it" .. "but he was teasing me" .. "but he hit first" .. "but you kicked first" ... bla2x

In this case the US started the whole thing. Afgans over retaliated which ended up killing 2 soldiers. Both actions are not justifyable and should be punished accordingly as independant incidents.

Afghan math is simple: Quran > infidel's life

@Max, I'm not sure what you're trying to get at, but you know as well as I, they did that in ignorance. It would be no big deal if they burned bibles, so it's only natural that they think the same thing about the Koran.

We need to pull our troops out, and stop wasting taxpayer dollars trying to drag this backward nation into the 21st century.

Not one more drop of American blood needs to be spilled protecting people who neither want our protection or even understand why we are there. As a matter of fact, I don't understand why we're there, either.

Leave them to their destiny. It was huge mistake to stay after Bin Laden was killed. A huge mistake --- just ask the Russians.

...who burned Koran books with trash in a Muslim country?

When you say the books were burned with "trash", do you mean that some locals were also burned with the books? Because that would just be really sad. Anyway, you cant really expect much else from a country that burns the American flag and the US President in effigy, then has a temper tantrum and kills people when their little book gets burned. Hypocracy at its finest.

Max, what is your problem? Insane is what the Afghan people are if they are so insecure in their religion that they have to resort to this over the burning of a book! They accept the mutilation of girls for trying to get an education, they accept suicide bombing of innocent people, they accept the killing of people for not believing as they believe. Yet the burning of a book results in this display of ignorance and insanity. Their holy book just like any other book is a bunch of paper with words put in a binding. Their religion is so weak that it cannot endure even the slightest influence of different thought. It hard to say what the circumstances are behind the books being burned, but it's almost certain that it wasn't meant as an insult to Islam. It most certainly wasn't an act of insanity. The reaction of the Afghan people on the other hand most definitely resembles insanity.

Sorry Max but the first two meetings of my ancestral people with Islam were when they were invading us. They killed my people for not believing in their religion. So I don't fell any shame or any reason to apologize over a book getting burned.

Hooly 75

Your being kind calling them people, I think we found the missing link and it lives in Afganistan........

bear in mind that the books were burned because prisoners were using them to write notes and pass them back and forth. They were not burned because they were the quran, they were burned because of the threat to security. Absolutely justifiable. riots, dead Americans? not at all justifiable. For those who say bring our troops home, I totally agree. There was good reason to go in, but there is no longer any reason at all to stay. I think we should reinforce Israel and let the rest of the middle east/central asia rot.

Then what does that say about Americans that burn the American flag and a Supreme Court that upholds that as a Constitutional right . . . so, whose crazy?

The real problem here is that not ALL of these "books pf peace" were burned.

Max^108. Is it dark where you are at? If so, just pull your head out of your butt and see the light. The entire population of that miserable country isn't worth another American life. Since you have such a disdain for the USA and the Military would you please relocate to a more suitable enviroment. Turn off Jerry leave your trailer and get some fresh air sport, you need it.

its a book, written by fallible men. this is what is wrong with organized or in this case, chaotic religion. how can anyone put a books importance or any other object over the life of a human being. that being said, how stupid that the us military allowed these books to be seen by anyone not vetted or by anyone in the general population knowing how fanatical these sheep are to their koran's. its funny in a country with low illiteracy rates, the whole country gets up in arms. it is time to start targeting the imams and the rabble rousers of these backward ass countries. the imams are telling the masses to attack and are telling falsehoods about the west's intentions. tell them to stop fomenting hate or suffer the same fate as iranian nuclear scientists. religion needs to be outlawed in its entirety and shown to be the crutch that it is, and the cause of every war dating back to millenia.

You that are saying "leave the middle east" are wacked. You don't understand what is going on and probably spend your time living off the government and/or waiting for handouts.

To all of you high and mighty US military apologists: Ignorance kills, carelessness kills, stupidity kills. So DON"T be ignorant, careless, and stupid, when you are fighting a war. That is what my gunnery sergeant always said. Yes, we have no business being in that country, and yes, Afghans are ignorant and fanatical. So quit supporting this costly and pointless war! It is because of your support that this dirty war has been dragging on for a decade. Remember Vietnam? This war is just as stupid, and just as costly. And back then there were plenty of morons who believed that war in Vietnam is all about stopping communism. Now the morons believe the war in Afghanistan is about stopping terrorists from attacking US cities. Wake up and smell the cordite in the air...

Max, how do you know they were soldiers who not only threw but burned this so called holy book? Do you know how many foreign nationals work on that base? The reason why we are still there is because we were told we left to soon last time. What we need to do is take out Karzai and the poppy fields

@Max^108 - Nobody's arguing that we should be there. Did you not read any of these posts? The topic is about ignorant cults who kill people over paper. You know, the ones you're defending here. It's a blessing you are no longer serving in my beloved military and I'm surprised you made it out without any "accidental friendly fire". The Corps I knew would never stand for your kind.

@Max - easy for you to bark out orders hiding behind a computer keyboard.

Have you been over there as a soldier or otherwise?

It looks as if we need to treat the Koran like Hitler's "Mein Kamf" and BURN a copy three times a day.

Fundamentalist Islam is so primitive a cult that the United Nations should ban it worldwide, and throw any extremist cleric they find straight into a wood chipper.

We should do the same thing to the fake bible and the taurat. Very studip.

karzai is nothing with out the us .

i wish we could pull out now .

If you're tired of the endless wars, if you're tired of seeing dead soldiers coming home in body bags,

Ron Paul 2012

Why have we not heard a peep from that clown Karzai about bringing to justice those responsible for killing two U.S. service personnel?

It seems to me our debt for this incident is paid in full and then some. Two Americans for a few Korans?

When I served, there was a culture of responsibility in US military, and very few 'private contractors' interested only in lining their own pockets. Now all I see and hear is excuses, and private contractors (mercenaries) guard US generals and diplomats overseas, as well as stand on guard at the top secret military installations here in US. Blame US politicians and top brass who is in bed with the owners of military industrial complex for this insane scam. And yes, the commander of the base used to be responsible for everything that happens on the base, including trash disposal. If you can't find the right people and supervise them properly through an effective chain of command - you have no business commanding anything or anyone. Problem with you folks is blaming Afghans for our own stupidity. I don't expect anything out of those tribal morons, but I expect a lot more from US military.

I served overseas but in peace time, not long after Vietnam.

@Max^108 - Yes, we have established that this war is fueled by polical interests and money. The problem is that 2 US soldiers were killed over a book that most of them probably cant even read. But you justify it because it was our own stupidity? I fail to see any logic in that whatsoever and most importantly, it is sad to see a fellow veteran have so little compasion for 2 fallen soldiers. In fact, it is completely disrespectful.

That is bull - I don't justify killing anyone! Least of all two completely innocent US soldiers. What I want to see is more RESPONSIBILITY by US government people for CREATING such dangerous situations. Who got the rap for the Abu Grahib monstrosities? Low level grunts only. What kind of message do you think it sends? That there is no accountability in US government? That is exactly right. And here is the bitter fruit of this cowardly approach: more US soldiers KILLED FOR NOTHING!

Max - I would also like to see more accountability by our government. I would also like to see more accountability by the Afghans but we both know this will never happen. This still doesnt negate the fact that an Afghan degenerate killed two US soldiers because his toilet paper was burned. We Americans have a tendancy to blame everyone else but the perpetrator who committed the crime. By blaming the US and not the Afghan responsible for the crime, you are advocating the very same thing that you complain the government is doing...not taking responsibility.

More BS from US military apologists. The US military was simply unable to catch the killer of these 2 soldiers. Nobody is questioning his guilt. Still, there is a REASON behind this killing, and there are people responsible for providing that reason.

Furthermore, US has promised to follow Afghan law while on Afghan soil. You are now saying that US personnel is immune to this law. That is not even close to being fair and that makes Afghans mad as hell. Imagine the same thing happening in US (foreign soldiers immune to US laws) and try to be objective.

You are now saying that US personnel is immune to this law

Max - At what point did I say US personnel is immune to their laws?? As far as following their law, the proper way to dispose of their Quran is by burning it. There were also coded messages in these books which makes it a security risk. Aside from the fact that they should have burned it in a secure are, what part did they not follow?

Imagine the same thing happening in US (foreign soldiers immune to US laws) and try to be objective.

It does happen here on US soil. How many times have these creatures demanded that their religion supercede our laws?

Still, there is a REASON behind this killing

So as long as there was a REASON for this guy to kill, I guess it's ok then since they're mad as hell? You would make a great attorney.

I'm guessing a lot of people have difficulty discussing anything of importance with you. Do you even read what people write before responding or do you just interpret things to suit your cause?

Able - burning Koran books with common trash is considered illegal under Afghan law. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/24/147321213/how-to-properly-dispose-of-sacred-texts

The rest of your arguments are also twisted misrepresentations. You would not make a decent attorney anywhere outside US.

Max - I should hope I wouldnt make a good attorney. My common sense would be a conflict of interest. I also work for a living and served my country proudly. You cleary have not.

As far as obeying their laws, if it is illegal to burn it with trash then I agree, they should be held responsible. But that doesnt justify the deaths of two Americans because they are "mad as hell" as you stated earlier. I was "mad as hell" this morning when I was cut off but I refrained from committing murder.

I'm guessing by the lack of response from all the other statements (other than generalizing that they are all twisted misrepresentations) that this is difficult for you or maybe you just like to troll, so take care and try not to hurt yourself.

You constantly twist and misrepresent what I write, such as above, where you suggest I consider killing two US soldiers by Afghans justified because they were mad as hell. NO, I don't! - and I have clearly said that before.
And Afghans are so mad because Americans do not respect their laws, their culture, and do not hold Americans in Afghanistan accountable for these transgressions.

wait, they burn flags and people, so they should stop bitching..also, these protesters should just get Karzai, and make him pay...he's the US' puppet..

I am just amazed to hear such things from a veteran. You need to get your facts straight Max and stop sounding like a little kid who has to have the last word. I believe every veteran should be thanked for their service, especially if you didn't not or could not serve yourself, but you make it difficult Max. I guess you have your reasons for being the way you are and I won't ask why, but I can't bite my tongue on this topic....sorry.

First of all, the soldiers collected what was considered to be "ruined, unusable and a possible security risk to the remaining prisoners"; the Korans for disposal. Knowing the process for disposal was a large fire pit it is entirely possible the soldiers felt they were dealing with the situation properly. It is also more than possible that they were ordered by their commanding officers to dispose of them in this manner considering the "security risk" they suspected at the time. Irregardless, the disposal bags are then handed off to the Afghan personnel who take care of the disposal process by checking the contents, safety measures and such. So if the truth be told, technically it wasn't the American soldiers who burned them, but the Afghan personnel who failed to check the contents before they actually burned them. But I guess if you wanted to start some trouble and get the people on your side it would be better to say the Americans did it....they don't care about us....they don't respect us. You know I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that Afghan man or men are breaking bread with high ranking Taliban figures as I am typing write now. You know the ones I am talking about....those amazingly talented opium farmers.

The point is Max, you don't have the all the facts, neither do I, no one does. All I do know beyond any doubt is we have the bravest, strongest, smartest and CRAZIEST (with love) soldiers in the world and they need our support. Our soldiers deserve better than what this country has given them in return for their service. Hell, Iraqi soldiers were finally home and not one single state did a damn thing to give them special recognition yet the GIANTS win the Superbowl and practically all of N.Y. shows up for the parade. Shame on all you N.Y. Somebody explain that to me. Better yet, explain that to my son who was 11 years old when he saw the second plane hit on 9/11 and today he is a Soldier in the United States Army . I have no doubt he understands the meaning of patriotism. When he took his oath he swore many things that day, but there a couple you need to be reminded of Max.

AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FORIEGN AND DOMESTIC

I will do so in opposition to those who are hostile to its provisions and who seek its change by threat or revolution, whether they be citizens of this country, or aliens from other lands seeking to impose a form of government or philosophy contrary to our laws and beliefs.

AND THE ORDERS OF THE OFFICERS APPOINTED OVER ME

I acknowledge that the officers appointed over me are responsible for maintaining the order and discipline necessary in a military environment.

"The Oath of Enlistment"

You see Max those protests and assaults on our soldiers over there do not need a debate because at the end of the day our military took responsibility for their part (if there even was one) and sincerely apologized for their mistake starting with our Commander in Chief and ending with the General on site. Our soldiers follow orders, that's what they did. Our soldiers protect against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that's what they did and are doing right now!

They are in the worst position possible because now they can't tell who the enemy is anymore. For all they know it could be the Afghan soldier that they have been training for the last six months. So no more negative posts about the military Max...they need our support more now than ever until our government gets their brave butts out of there.

the qurans were used by detainees previously and they were in trash that was being burned instead of being thrown in a landfill. it was truly an accident, albeit a stupid one that never should have happened and someone just wasn't thinking about what they were doing. someone needs to tell karzai though that we have no law against burning the quran or other holy books(not that i agree with burning it) so there will be no trial.

Is it possible that those books were infected ? I imagine some of the detainees who used these books may have had TB or something like that. Also, if these books were so precious, why did the detainees not insist on taking them with them when they were released ?

I'm sure also that they have burned bibles and torahs. In fact according to my religion the only way to dispose of a bible that has fallen apart in your hand is to burn it. The same thing is true of a flag that needs to be disposed of by the flag code of the US. It is the only respectful way to handle the disposal.

news flash. Everything in islam is punishable by death.

Innnfeeeedellls!

peanutgallerytheater: Not true!! It's perfectly ok to beat the sh*t out your wife if she shows more than her eyeballs in public or talks back to you!!!

I Keel You!!!!

Perhaps we should have Koran toilet paper - with random verses embossed on each sheet. That way we can assure Karzai that lots of azzholes in the US read the Koran regularly and mark important passages.

What you say sounds good. Except, please remember, we are not there for them. We are there for us.

Ray of hope... How's that? What do we possibly have to gain there? And further, if we were successful enough to completely clear that country and initiate fireworks celebrations for democracy tomorrow, the second that we stoped pumping money and troops into that dump, they would revert back to their old ways...

They don't want to change... They don't think like we do... They have a different philosiphy on life... One that does not have anything to do whith living as we do.

That is why I am against foreign aid or heaven forbid sending weapons to "freedom" fighters in islamic regions. 2 years from now those weapons will be turned on us. Haven't we learned that lesson yet. We armed the Afghan freedom fighters against the russians and they turned those weapons back on us already. Leave them to herd their sheep and bring our soldiers home.

We went into Afghanistan because the Taliban supported Bin Laden. We went there to get him. Then later it became an attempt to stabilize and bring democracy to the area. Much like Iraq, originally it was for WMD's (not there), then it was to stop Al Qaeda (not there), and then it was to bring freedom to the Iraqi people.

@msgfromme:

@Ray- I hope you'r not offended that I defended your point with a quote from W.

And now we are training solders which can turn to be enemy any time. Isn't it smart.

Not really have you seen them fight?

lee land...

I am amazed that you believe that crap. The Muslim people hate that we are anywhere upon their "holy soil" and do not want us there period. We were attacked because of our presence in their part of the world.

By your thinking, we should be in almost every pocket of the world killing people, because we have created many enemies... The fact is, we never should have been in Iraq, or Afghanistan, nor should we have had one damn thing to do with this BS Arib Spring.

Quoting G.W. or supporting Obama does nothing to shore up your thoughts... Wrong is wrong... we need to bring our troops home, praise their amazing sacrifices, mourn our dead and build our own country.

Better idea! Public trial for those who burned the Koran, public DISMISSAL of the charges since the burning took place on a NATO base and therefore did not break any laws, and a public "DEMAND" to Karzai to respect the laws of others who don't see the Koran as anything more special than any other book!

When the Taliban cut Karzai's throat in front of 1,000's of cheering 'faithful' in Kabul's soccer stadium I hope that NATO freeze the funds Karzai has looted from the international aid agencies and distribute the proceeds to non-Islamic charities.

P.S. I'll be cheering just as noisily as these 7th-century cult fanatics, when they drag Karzai's corpse around the stadium behind a 'liberated' aid agency pick-up truck while screaming, "God is great!"

They deserve the taliban.

We kicked the Taliban out once, they welcomed them right back in with open arms. Not only do they deserve the Taliban, they WANT the Taliban. Leave this sh!thole and let them have what they want.

They don't deserve the taliban, they are the taliban.

I agree John as long as you agree to quit asking federal judges for gag orders against teenagers like the one SA district court ordered for kid in Midland Tx. Your freedom (from) religion does not include restricting the freedom of religion of any other citizen not to mention the freedom of speech of any other citizen.

Lonereb,

I'm unfamiliar with the decision you're talking about. So long as all you're asking for is freedom of speech, I'm fine with that. However, keep religion out of public school curricula, course instruction, and school sponsored events. Keep it out of our laws, and our government in general.

Not everyone believes in Islam, nor in Christianity/Judaism/Buddhism. People can practice as they wish - but our country shall not favor one religion over another, and the only appropriate and possible way to remain neutral is to remove it from government altogether. In essence, religion simply has no place there.

About 2 weeks ago I watch a series on the History channel called "How the States Got their Shapes". In the hours and hours of this series the host repeatedly said that most all states East of the Mississippi got their shapes as a result of dividing land to accommodate the deeply religious beliefs of the different Christian religions. These men and women were NOT leaving England and Europe and coming to America to get away from God and religion but coming to worship as they please. In England and Europe the "State" had a "church" of choice (force). If the King were Catholic then the country was Catholic. If he were Christian then the state was Christian. They NEVER expected for religious morals, ideas and beliefs to be separate from the government. They wanted to keep the "state" from telling them what religion they HAD to be. Thus, separation of church and state. The state could not require you to "be' a certain religion. To bad we have turned down the road of uneducated people because no one teaches the truth about our DEEPLY religious roots anymore. It is a shame the secular History channel has to be the voice that tells the truth about American History.

Why can't we just give them a Bible, a Torah, the Bahgavad-Gita and any other religious book, give them a torch and say, "Here. Burn these books and we'll call it even."

Do you honestly think that would appease these primitives? I remember when the Taliban blew up the Buddhas in Afghanistan that had been there for many, many years. They didn't care about blowing them up, 'cause they were considered idols of another religion. Many Afghans in the region felt like the Buddhas were protecting them, somehow, but with the Taliban, there were no majority rules. Unfortunately, wherever there is poverty, there is ignorance. Afghanistan appears to be full on both counts.

Bottom line, we need to get out of there. I feel badly for the Afghans who supported us and were helped by our presence there, but as one poster stated, there will be no change unless the desire is there. Doesn't sound like that will happen even in the 21st century.

Kim, and what exactly is happening now? You've got everything going in reverse, with Christian groups attempting to legislate their dogma, thereby forcing their church INTO the religion of the State.

If this continues, the State will effectively be requiring you to be a certain religion by legally requiring you to live according to religious edict.

Turning down the road of the uneducated? No, miss. We have gradually turned down the road of enlightenment, by acknowledging that one does NOT need to hold to a religious dogma to be a decent person, and that preaching a religious dogma does NOT automatically make a person one of the "righteous".

And what "truth" isn't being taught, pray tell? The Crusades? The Dark ages? How about something more recent, like the "Christian" groups in the south who lynched black people and desegregationists during the 50s and 60s? Historically, religion has been the cause of more wars, murders, bigotry, and intolerance than anything else.

You want to teach the "truth" about our religious roots? Fine. But first, you take away the self-righteous sugar coating and you teach the WHOLE truth, INCLUDING the parts the apologists and revisionists try so hard to deny or hide.

Kim,

I hope you noticed why your own point was self defeating. Of course it's true that many of the people that initially settled here did so to flee the tyranny of the state religions back home, enforced by the local monarchies.

That's why, here, it was necessary to have the freedom of religion - which is ensconced in the 1st amendment of the bill of rights. However, freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion are two different sides of the same coin. You're not free of religion if the government is captured by a certain religion and legislates in accordance with that.

Government in the United States is secular, not religious. We can (and certainly do) teach about the religious roots of our country in schools. What we don't teach, and should not teach, are those religions themselves. If you want that for your child, do it at home, on Sunday in church, in bible school, or pony up and send your child to a religious school.

To say that our forefathers were comprised of immigrants fleeing different countries and different mandated religions, and then to conclude that they never meant for religion to be separate from our government here - and that it's a shame - is to defeat your own point.

Sounds like Kim has an axe to grind. As well as a lot of required reading, judging from those last few sentences.

America may have been founded with a primarily Christian population (although, to be fair, many different denominations), but it was not founded as a Christian nation. Google 'Treaty of Tripoli' if you want a source.

Also: Jefferson & Franklin, along with several other founders, weren't exactly buddy-buddy with Christianity. They might take issue with that "they NEVER expected" remark.

We should leave for two reasons it is their country let them suffer under the master of their choice and we are BROKE we don't have the money to keep policing the whole f---ing world.

Exactly.

Sadly, there likely WILL be a trial, and the people involved likely WILL be punished, simply for the political expedience of making nice and bowing to the demands of the Afghans.

I'm not saying it's RIGHT, just that it likely WILL happen, because standing up to Karzai's blustering and pointing out that he has no grounds to lawfully demand ANYTHING would only incite further violence.

As an independent voter, I will definitely not vote for Obama if he allows any member of our military to go on trial for this, especially a NATO trial. There are many other important issues to consider, but this would be the final straw.

Then all you would be doing in bombing sand.

Stinkier bigot!

so you defend the muslim savages? if you do then move there and be just really happy

Put one soldier on trial and I'll be ready to lead the protest march on Pennslyvania ave. Mr president when you bow to leaders of other countries you are representing me. I do not bow to anyone I have no master.

RRuin, I am afraid you are right. Also, will set a precedence and every Westerer looking sideways at a Quran in any Islmaic country will be "publicly tried."

That's because most of them can't read...

yes they are a bunch of ignorant people... but that is not all of them you see... there are alot of working people as well that want peace, but what you see is the result of a 'special' news company to report the one sided story.

That's right ICKelly....most of the news they want us to see purposely incites riots due to one-sidedness. They love negative news because people love negative news. When's the last time the Breaking News story made you feel good about people? People suck ( sorry, that was negative)

Accident? I don't think the person burned the book by accident.

WHO CARES!!!! These pigs, this "religion of peace" murdered two American soldiers today in retaliation. Is this "peace".

Don't apologize for me Barack!!!

I agree but how do we get the idiots who think the can impose the religion of democracy on people who don't want it to do it.

wlockridge #21,

Let our people and all our allies depart Afghanistan as quickly as possible, leaving behind a going away gift that we fail to remember to tell them about __— enough buried nukes that can totally irradiate Afghanistan for the next thousand years.

Then they will not be a future problem and Iran might get the message.

Why do we always allow he!! holes like this to get out of control? It always means the loss of American & coalition lives, needlessly?

I think the apology is appropriate - we did something, on accident, that greatly offended a lot of people. The president put pride aside and copped to this with an apology. That's the correct course of action when you deeply offend someone.

However, if the person you insulted is acting totally irrational and violent? The buck stops there. You've done your best you can by offering an apology and past that, it's up to them to get over it. Our presence there is a mess. Why people of a certain ideology begin to bark when we talk about withdrawal from Afghanistan puzzles me.

I agree with the apology, but now let's move up the timeline for withdrawing and bring all our equipment and personel home. Also, no more money from the government to support security by private firms.

John I would normally agree with you about apologizing for transgressions, be they intentional or not, but the fact remains that this was a predictable outcome of that apology and he and his advisors should have known that. The people in this region are not rational when it comes to such matters.

We should apologize for things like this to people who call us infidels. For all you atheists that means you too. In fact these people will kill you before they kill the people of the book meaning torah and bible. Real nice people you support.

KristinaJensen: "John I would normally agree with you about apologizing for transgressions, be they intentional or not, but the fact remains that this was a predictable outcome of that apology and he and his advisors should have known that. The people in this region are not rational when it comes to such matters."

Kristina, this outrage is the result of book burning, not an apology from our president. Our president's apology, just like Afghani outrage, is a symptom of the book burning. Obama is right to uphold our values (apologizing when you've done wrong) despite full knowledge that the Afghani outrage would continue anyway.

John the acting General in charge had already apologized, that should have been enough. Does anyone want to sign my apology card, I'm hoping with a couple million signatures and some pictures of burnt flags it will stop the needless slaughter of Innocent Afghans.

wlee,

I'm unsure how you arrived at the conclusion that an apology from the 'acting General in charge' was enough, or why it would be poor form for our president (the constitution's designated sole arbiter of foreign relations) to write a letter of apology to the president of another country that feels we just greatly insulted it.

There's nothing wrong with our president apologizing to another nation. Apologizing isn't some form of weakness - I don't get the reluctance toward it.

John does that mean you'll sign my card?

If you'll sign deez.

The US is the one who put Karzai in power there. BTW, he was a player for Unocal, the oil company that wants to build a pipeline across Afghanistan. He has to play the part.

Then get Unocal to hire mercs if they want the pipeline and bring our troops home. The armed forces of the US are not meant to support multi-national companies.

Arizona, nothing a lethal dose of heroin couldn't fix

Agreed.

Mary J. Well stated, what the hell is it with these low life muslim scum. So someone accidentally burned the cheap, poorly written, dime a dozen paper packs. Get our people out of that scum bag nation now! This entire event only proves to the world what an ignorant, hate filled culture we have in islam. Let these muslim scum rot.

Karzi and all of afgan should be destroyed, each and every quran lover.

Well, I wouldn't go that far, seahawk. Not into the idea of genocide so much. BUT:

1. I'm more than happy to let them wallow in their own feces - if that is what they want.

2. I'm more than happy to stay out of their way if they stay out of ours.

3. And finally, I'm more than happy to hammer them if they don't hold up their end of the "stay out of each others way" bargain.

Yeah Elvoid!

I once had a copy of the Christmas message to the troops at (the Bulge) Nuts to Karzai and the whole Islamic world.

Nuts!!!! Long live Karzai when the US and NATO pulls out and takes its $$$$ and security along with it. He'll have to worry about more than people burning a book.