Good People Behaving Badly

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that General Petraeus has stated that the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a small Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.  I totally agree.

The article reports:

"Hundreds of Afghans attended a demonstration in Kabul on Monday to protest the plans of Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has said he will burn copies of Islam's holy book to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Afghan protesters chanted "death to America," and speakers called on the U.S. to withdraw its troops. Some protesters threw rocks at a passing military convoy."

Burning Qurans is simply not smart or constructive at this time.  Admittedly, the current wave of terrorism seems to be rooted in extreme Islam, but burning Qurans is not the way to solve the problem. 

Unfortunately, the church involved has other ideas:

"Mr. Jones, head of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., said in a statement that "We understand the General's concerns. We are sure that his concerns are legitimate." Nonetheless, he added, "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam. We will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats.""

Do they understand that they are putting American soldiers in danger?  I realize that there is some overreaction on the part of some Muslims to anything they consider a slight against Islam.  I am not saying we should give in to that, but I think we have to think about the consequences of our own actions.  Until the moderate Muslims take over the religion of Islam, there are going to be certain problem areas.  I recently watched the South Park episode that involved Mohammed where Comedy Central cut a few frames out of the show because they did not want to offend Muslims.  I did notice that they have not done that for any other group.  I also do not regard it as a coincidence that the Times Square bomber was planning to set off his bomb close to the offices of Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central. 

I think we need to let our military deal with the problem of militant Islam.  We need to be vigilant as citizens, but we don't need to stir up the pot--the pot is stirred up enough already.