How Afghans View the Quran Burnings - Even before any Qurans have been torched, Islamic extremist leaders are fanning the flames of the controversy

Afghans protest in Kabul on Sept. 6, 2010, against a plan by a Florida church to burn the Quran on Sept. 11.

story by Newsweek
photo by AP
 
Even before any Qurans have been torched by Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center church in Gainesville, Fla., Islamic extremist leaders are fanning the flames of the controversy, taking advantage of a propaganda windfall. Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the U.S. has labeled as a terrorist, issued a statement this week saying the Quran burning is “part of the American war against Muslims.” “They started this war 60 years ago by occupying Palestine, and then invaded Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. He called on all Muslims to fight back. Already the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area are using the threat of the burnings in their propaganda. “We are telling the people that it’s not surprising that Americans are burning Qurans,” says a Pakistani Taliban commander in Wana who declined to be named for security reasons. “Setting fire to our holy book is just the latest part of American policy that burns the bodies of Muslims in B-52 and drone attacks.” The Quran burnings will serve as additional motivation to insurgent fighters to intensify their attacks against U.S. and Pakistani forces, the commander predicts. “The ultimate consequence of this act will be to create more suicide bombers who will hunt out Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he adds.

Jones's threats to throw Qurans into a bonfire at his church this Saturday, Sept. 11, marking the ninth anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist attacks on the U.S., have already led to widespread outcry both at home and abroad. It seems more and more likely that news reports and videos of the Quran burnings will shake Muslims around the globe and likely create a widespread, destabilizing, and violent reaction in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, as Interpol has warned.


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