Obama: Quran-burning a 'bonanza for al-Qaida'

[IDemo]

Source: msnbc.com news services

President exhorts Florida pastor to call off plan; says it will endanger troops

President Barack Obama said in an interview Thursday that the Quran-burning plan by a Florida pastor was a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida."

Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview broadcast Thursday, Obama warned that Rev. Terry Jones' plan would endanger U.S. troops and could lead to serious violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president called it a "stunt" and exhorted Jones to "listen to those better angels" and call off the protest this weekend.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39074573/ns/politics/

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. Well, it's certainly a bonanza for Terry Jones

Too bad the moron is getting all this free publicity.

[Kringle]

4. Quran salesmen, are not complaining either .nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Like used-car salesmen in Baghdad - business is booming

I got a Quran free (paperback, of course). Someone left it in a plastic bag hanging from the doorknob.

Like my bible, it sits on a shelf, gathering dust.

:hi:

[Turborama]

2. BBC: US President Obama condemns plans to burn the Kora

US President Barack Obama says plans by a small church to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 are a "recruitment bonanza" for al-Qaeda.

Mr Obama's comments come as Pakistan called the plan "despicable" and said that if it went ahead, it could inflame Muslim sentiment across the world.

The plan has drawn widespread international condemnation.

The pastor behind the threat says the burning would be a way to stand up to terrorism.

Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11243711

Analysis

Jonathan Marcus
BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

This episode risks undoing all of the Obama administration's patient efforts to reach out to the Muslim world, and the irony is that Mr Obama has made his own distaste for the burning crystal clear. So too have representatives from all of America's major religious groups.

But the reality is that distaste for a proposed course of action is not necessarily sufficient to have it stopped. America's freedoms and the separation of church and state make it very difficult for the federal government to do much except to appeal to the Church's pastor to change his mind.

This episode also underlines the decentralised structure of this particular branch of US Christianity. Each church - however tiny - is largely independent. There is no central religious authority that can demand a particular course of action.

One possibility is that the local authority in Gainesville, Florida, may be able to halt the burning by finding some regulation that it infringes. It might be a peculiarly parochial answer to a problem that could send shockwaves around the world.

[Bragi]

3. Sadly, he failed to send a message to the "retaliators"

It is regrettable that the President made this statement without apparently even acknowledging that Jones' right to free speech means that he cannot be stopped from expressing his idiotic religious views and publicly insulting the Koran and Islam.

Why this bothers me is this: Obama and anyone with an internet connection knows now that the Muslim world is being told that this planned Koran burning could be stopped by the U.S government -- if it wanted to -- so that when the burning event takes place -- and it looks like it certainly will -- Muslims will see it as an insult from all Americans, an insult that must be retaliated.

The only way to counter this propaganda is to start making it clear now that, in America, freedom of speech trumps the right of anyone, Muslims included, not to be offended. That's what America is, freedom means idiots are free to express themselves in idiotic and offensive ways.

Yet so far, everyone in the administration from Obama on down have talked about tolerance, which is fine, but no-one in the administration (that I can see) has yet acknowledged the reality about freedom of speech, or countered the claim that the government could stop Jones if it wanted to.

So when do you think it might be appropriate, Mr. President, to start to tell it like it is? After the embassies are ablaze?

- B

[Rebubula]

8. A-FREAKING-MEN!!!!

I agree that President Obama missed an opportunity to talk about how wonderful freedom of speech\thought\press is in this society.

Moreover, I do not think that the President of the United States should be getting involved in local issues such as these.


Also, I thought of this too late, but a great idea would be to donate a Quran to the new Islamic Center in NYC for every one that is burned by this moron.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. it is not exactly a local issue

[Ratty]

18. I think that's a good point

And it would have been a fine thing for the president to point out. Personally, I take a bit stronger view. I'm sure this Terry Jones fellow is a reprehensible human being and stands for everything I despise. And as somebody who has worked in libraries all my life I take a dim view of all book burning. The act carries with it an unfortunate history and usually expresses the view that some knowledge should be forbidden, which I do not agree with. Yet I have enthusiastically supported the Draw Mohammad Day protest because nobody ought to think they have some right not to be offended and that their right trumps my right of artistic, religious, and political expression. And isn't this the same thing? They plan to desecrate something most Muslims consider sacred to make a point. I may not agree with that point - which is, I presume, Islam is evil and Christianity is superior - but I can't make myself get worked up about the way they're going about it.

I do see a bit of a double standard here. As much as I hate to parrot RW talking points it's true that you wouldn't see the same outcry over, say, some gay rights group "desecrating" a church by staging a kiss-in or even burning the Bible or the Book of Mormon to protest some institutions' histories of active repression and intolerance.

[TomCADem]

20. Odd That The President Is Being Condemned For Criticizing Hate Speech

If the President were to ban the koran burning, then we have an issue, but I see no problem with the President using his first amendment right to comment on the koran burning.

[rasputin1952]

6. The media was complicit in making this clown a household name...

Other than the fact this clod is a bigot, his tiny "flock" and he are seen as nothing more than that which they say the detest...bigots.

Purveying intolerance under any religious guise is risky at best, and sinful at worst. Having read the Bible, the one thing that is condemned fr mo often than anything else in the tome is hypocrisy, and for some reason, that is what these fools always fall into. They perpetuate evil and hate, when they should be expounding love, tolerance, peace, understanding, empathy, compassion and above all, forgiveness. It baffles me how they cannot see this...regardless of the religion involved.

If there is a hell...many of these people have punched their ticket to take the Express Train there.

[roxiejules]

7. Agreed -

[LibDemAlways]

9. The media is responsible for this mess. Jones and his tiny

band of morons don't deserve one second of media exposure. Who gives a shit what some lowlife bigots plan to do? Apparently all Jones had to do was alert the media whores and they came running faster than a pack of starving dogs toward a juicy steak.

It's all sensationalist bullshit and no media outlet worth the name should be giving this guy any publicity at all - which is all he wants.

An idiot plus an idiotic "press" = how far this country has fallen.

[Brickbat]

10. I find it embarrassing that the president would do this. Why not use it to show how powerful our

recognition of human rights is?

[Nihil]

22. Oooh ... subtle! (n/t)

:evilgrin:

[kpete]

12. dupe

Source: Talking Points Memo

TPMMuckraker
Obama: Koran Burning 'Stunt' Could 'Greatly Endanger' Troops (VIDEO)
Rachel Slajda | September 9, 2010, 8:45AM


President Obama urged fringe pastor Terry Jones not to burn Korans this Saturday, saying it would be "completely contrary to our values as Americans." Further, he said, it could lead to a "recruitment bonanza" for al-Qaeda.

"If he's listening, I just hope he understands that what he's proposing to do is completely contrary to our values of Americans. That this country has been built on the notions of religious freedom and religious tolerance," Obama said on Good Morning America. "And as a very practical matter, as commander of chief of the Armed Forces of the United States I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan. We're already seeing protests against Americans just by the mere threat he's making."

Obama also said he hopes Jones "listens to those better angels."

He went on to say "we are a government of laws" -- an acknowledgment that the government cannot legally stop Jones from burning Korans.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/obama_koran_burning_stunt_could_greatly_endanger_t.php?ref=fpa

[msongs]

13. this from the man who is responsible for the troops being in a dangerous position in the first place

[seafan]

14. This will endanger our troops also, Mr. President.

US soldiers 'killed Afghan civilians for sport and collected fingers as trophies', September 8, 2010


It happened this year, under your watch, Mr. President.




Obama: Koran Burning 'Stunt' Could 'Greatly Endanger' Troops, September 9, 2010

[LibDemAlways]

16. Our continued presence in Afghanistan and Iraq endangers American

troops on a daily basis. The well publicized stunt by Jones only adds fuel to an already raging fire.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. GOP's response to uptick in global violence:

"It's Obama's fault that he didn't do something earlier. His silence led to the deaths of US troops, his inaction caused attacks on US embassies, his refusal to act turned our raghead allies against us."

[Romulox]

17. I find the President's position cowardly. He has a right to burn the books. That's the end.

It's not subject to approval by the President's "better angels". :eyes:

[TomCADem]

19. I Guess Condemning Cross-Burning Is Also Cowardly?

The President isn't banning the Koran burning, but it is obvious that the stunt is designed to generate attention and inflame passions much like a cross-burning.

[Romulox]

21. It would be if the fundamental right to do so were not acknowledged.

"The President isn't banning the Koran burning"

OK.

[Gecko6400]

25. Sadly, I must agree.

[Iowa]

23. He should just STFU about this, IMO...

Jesus H Christ. He's the President of the United States. A President shouldn't feel the need to comment about the planned actions of every mental patient who says/does something crazy. If he absolutely must comment, it should be to re-direct attention to important issues, and away from minor distractions like this.

[TomCADem]

24. Disagree

In the middle east, it would be spun as the U.S. endorses this event like an Iran sanctioned pro government rally. Free speech is not the norm, and it would be stupid not to make clear that this heavily publicized event is not the US position.

[indypaul]

26. Evil triumphs when good men do nothing

and TV covers it.

[gratuitous]

27. Actually, the bonanza for al-Qaida came from the Ninth Circuit

The Ninth Circuit ruled yesterday that torture victims did not have a right to ask for redress from the federal court system because of a pre-emptive claim of state secrets and national security asserted by the Executive branch. This odious argument was first promulgated by the Bush administration, but has been continued and refined for the last 18 months by the Obama administration. If there's a tool for recruitment of people to extralegal causes, it's that decision, not some nitwit down in Florida.