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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Afghanistan: WTF? What Was American Military Thinking Burning Religious Books?

Traditional definition of the Middle East G8 d...
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From Denny:  Who would think a little house cleaning would create such an uproar in the Middle East?  As usual the military is so action and task oriented they forgot to use their brains.  Book burning of any kind is bad news in my mind.

But when you are burning books that are in a foreign language you can't read, don't you think it would have been smart to consult a few locals to sift the books for you, instead of indiscriminately burning everything?

They would easily spot the religious books and set them aside.  But no, the military employed their usual stupidity, need for speed and just marched onward.

Yet another reason why America should not be at war for over a decade now.  Soldiers lose their common sense for the obvious because they are emotionally worn out staying in physical survival mode around the clock.  Sometimes, you really do have to be more diplomatic with other cultures, especially if you want them to respect your culture in return.

At least to their credit, this generation of American military was actually willing to apologize for their cultural and religious gaffe.  What a milestone.  The Afghans do not realize what a powerful difference they accomplished.

So, to our friends in the Middle East and Afghanistan, sometimes, governments are just not wise or respectful or get it right 100 percent of the time.  This will not happen a second time now that they have learned from the blowback.

This may be the perfect "teaching moment" for both the West and the Middle East.  We all need to get serious about respecting the other person's culture and religion.  Just think about it.  Peace might break out and we all could live happier more productive lives, enriching our cultures and stabilizing our societies.







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