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Iraq
Iraqi VP demands action against U.S. soldier over Koran
2008-05-20
Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president called on the U.S. military on Monday to make an example of an American soldier who used a copy of the Koran for target practice, demanding he receive the "most severe punishment".
The most severe punishment he can receive under our laws is a good talking-to.
Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said he had received an official apology from the top U.S. general in Iraq, General David Petraeus, in a meeting with Lieutenant-General Lloyd Austin, the number two U.S. military commander in Iraq. The soldier was disciplined and removed from Iraq after a copy of the Muslim holy book was found pocked with bullet holes at a shooting range, the U.S. military said on Sunday.
I'm guessing the dumbass was removed for his own safety and that of his comrades.
Hashemi said he had raised what he called past "crimes" committed by U.S. troops, such as the destruction of mosques.
Is it a crime to store explosives in mosques? Is it a crime to use them as firing positions?
"This time I requested an official and written apology. I also asked for the U.S. military to carry out the most severe punishment so that this punishment will be a warning to all the other U.S. soldiers in the future," Hashemi told reporters. "One of the guarantees I received from General Austin is that they are committed to showing respect to holy sites and traditions of the Iraqi people ... But I don't believe that is enough." Such an act of desecration of the Muslim holy book could inflame anger against the U.S. military presence in Iraq, but an Iraqi community leader told Reuters an apology by senior American military commanders had helped calm tensions.
Posted by:Fred

#24  I think that's about what my little brother makes in Iraq, also I think it's about what my dumbass little sister made at taco bell as an assistant manager.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-05-20 22:32  

#23  His only mistake was allowing the Koran to be found.
Me thinks he should have burned all evidence.

I sent my son photos of terrorists and others such as Kerry, Reid, Pelosi, Sheehan etc. as target practice for a dart board, while he was over in Afghanistan. I worried about them getting him into trouble, but knew he was smart enough to not display them all shot up.
Posted by: Jan   2008-05-20 15:19  

#22  I really, really, really, really hope I'm totally wrong about the effect this event will have in Iraq. I have no affinity for the Koran, but I do care that this one kid's STUPID action is foreseeably likely to get people killed.

So far, it seems to me that the reactions of his superiors and the CIC have been totally appropriate. I wonder, though, how much follow through the Iraqis are expecting in terms of court martial and punishment . . .
Posted by: cingold   2008-05-20 15:19  

#21  Damn but this Pappy is a cold one.

Real-world, George.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-05-20 14:36  

#20  OldSpook, If I were in the chain of command, I'd issue him more ammo and schedule more range time, you've seen the picture of the Jihadis holding the Koran in front of their heart, If you can't shoot the Koran, they go safe.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2008-05-20 14:32  

#19  "This time I requested an official and written apology.

OK, we're sorry you're a murderous dumbass, good enough?
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2008-05-20 14:25  

#18  Muslims are required to believe that Jewish and Christian texts were distorted by Satan. Generally, only a Muslim imam with 6 years of schooling in Islamic studies, may even touch either the Old or New Testaments.

Try to hand a Muslim co-worker a Bible and see what happens. The Saudi government torches thousands of Bibles and tracts each year. So why did President Bush personally apologize for the Koran shooting? Muslims are generally persons of color, and whites defer to same. Who dares to call Barack Hussein Obama anything but a black, even though he is half white? Illogic will kill Western Civilization.
Posted by: Mad Eye Gluck2704   2008-05-20 14:11  

#17  Damn but this Pappy is a cold one.
Posted by: George Smiley   2008-05-20 14:06  

#16  Is it a crime to store explosives in mosques? Is it a crime to use them as firing positions?
Thank You Fred.

This is the issue that really rubs.. We have a US soldier in big trouble for shooting up a Koran AT a Firing Range..

OTOH: There have been Tens of Thousands of murders in and around mosques by knives, pistols, revolvers, rifles, machine guns, carbines, rockets, IEDs, VIBEDs, grenades etc.

Mosques are used as Al-Qaeda Headquarters,
Mosques are used as Armories,
Mosques are used as Observation Towers,
Mosques are used as Look-outs,
Mosque Muezzin callers broadcast coded messages out in "prayer" calls,

Mosque are used as firing positions,
Mosque are used as sleeping positions,
Mosque are used as supply depots for Terrorists
Muslim Clerics using Mosques rally Iraqis/Terrorists to fight the Gubmint, Coalition etc.
etc.

side thought: If I built a gun range opened to the public or the Armed Services etc.

the last thing I would do would be to install objects I wished to remain bullet-hole-free.

Or In other words: In a short amount of time I would expect everything within a shooting range to be full of holes, a US Flag, or a Bible, or the real 'Mona-Lisa' etc..

btw, the kid did a stupid thing.. Kids have always done stupid things and will continue to do so.
Punishment; a stripe and a swift kick in the A$$!
Posted by: RD   2008-05-20 13:10  

#15  Yeah, repeated opportunities to spit in Omar's chalupa. That's the ticket!
Posted by: M. Murcek   2008-05-20 12:20  

#14  For $20,000 a year, I think I'd tell the army to stick that stripe up their ass and cut me loose

In your case, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Posted by: Pappy   2008-05-20 12:18  

#13  For $20,000 a year, I think I'd tell the army to stick that stripe up their ass and cut me loose. Get a job a taco bell, make more money, and get more thanks from the people you serve.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-05-20 10:16  

#12  So they've got one idiot politician in Baghdad. Nobody else seems to be overreacting. Or reacting at all. This is good news.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-05-20 10:07  

#11  thought it is an Arabic translation of Mein Kampf

Close enough, though I'd reverse the order - MK is a loose translation of the Koran, given that the Koran was considerably earlier. (Kampf = struggle = jihad)

The problem was not that what he did was 'wrong' (assuming it was his Koran) - it is that it was STUPID. 'Stupid' gets people killed. He needs to be educated, and it will likely be an unpleasant experience.

Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713   2008-05-20 09:53  

#10  the Iraqi govt just sent 5000 troops into Sadr City. Theyre running an apparently successful op in Mosul at the SAME TIME, and are still holding and building in Basra. They are the means of winning this war, and of freeing up US troops for elsewhere, if needed. It is not in our interest to undermine this Iraqi govt in any way.

Petraeus knows that, and will respond appropriately, I believe.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2008-05-20 09:50  

#9  Proc, like I said before, a company grade Article 15 should be enough. What he did was detrimental to the good order and discipline of the unit, and damaging to the entire campaign over there.

Art 109 might be the Company grade violation they can bag him for.

Art134 (the catch all) is the violation they can use if they want to kick it above company grade.

If I were in the chain of command, I'd ahve his CO pull a stripe, forfeit a month's pay and a month of confinement to quarters with extra duty (i.e. still does his military job but no recreation or other stuff), and reassign once done so he can get a fresh start someplace else and earn back his stripe if he has the guts to do so.
Posted by: OldSpook   2008-05-20 09:37  

#8  Art. 109. Property other than military property of United States—Waste, spoilage, or destruction

Any person subject to this chapter who willfully or recklessly wastes, spoils, or otherwise willfully and wrongfully destroys or damages any property other than military property of the United States shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Art. 116. Riot or breach of peace

Any person subject to this chapter who causes or participates in any riot or breach of the peace shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Art. 134. General article

Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.


Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-05-20 09:29  

#7  you are supposed to be a vice president for Gods sakes. Concentrate on your country.

Should he have burned it like 300,000 pakis did after the earthquake, you would have said the same thing.

Leave the soldier alone.
It is only a damn book, and the sole reason for all your misery.
Posted by: newc   2008-05-20 09:22  

#6  ... for hiking in the area near Ramallah without military permission. Not for shooting the MF.
Posted by: Spike Uniter   2008-05-20 09:02  

#5  On a related issue
3 IDF soldiers who shot terrorist sentenced to 10 days military prison
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2008-05-20 07:12  

#4  McZoid, whether they want a blasphemy law or not is not an issue. The issue is that there are some people that are unable to say simple NO, let alone NO WAY.
Posted by: Spike Uniter   2008-05-20 06:57  

#3  Muslims - even our own - want global enforcement of blasphemy laws. Savages with that mentality shouldn't be permitted to live on Secular soil.
Posted by: McZoid   2008-05-20 06:10  

#2  The UCMJ has punishments that can be imposed BUT the military had better play this one carefully : soldiers do NOT lose all their rights under the US Constitution and going too far with this is liable to have the soldier invoke the 1st Amendment about Establishment of Religion - NO Sharia is permissible under that provision of the Constitution. And if some general thinks otherwise, he/she would do well to review the Nuremburg decisions about what constitutes legal and illegal orders (including directives to court martials or other military justice proceedings).
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2008-05-20 02:47  

#1  Dunno, but does the soldier read Arabic? He may have thought it is an Arabic translation of Mein Kampf. Possibly.
Posted by: Spike Uniter   2008-05-20 01:55  

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