Let’s worry about propaganda…
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the planned burning of Qurans on Sept. 11 by a Florida church could put the lives of American troops in danger and damage the war effort.
Gen. David Petraeus said the Taliban would exploit the demonstration for propaganda purposes, drumming up anger toward the U.S. and making it harder for allied troops to carry out their mission of protecting Afghan civilians.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Gen. Petraeus said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”
I’m not saying he’s 100% wrong, but his rationale really does suck. Everyone is so afraid of everything being used against us for propaganda purposes, and I won’t even deny that will happen. But if this burning doesn’t happen, will it even matter? The reality is that it won’t because we still have Israel as an ally, we still have military on the ground in two Muslim countries, we still are perceived as infidels, and we don’t prosecute people or kill them when they say something we don’t like.
It’s not that I don’t understand where the concern comes from, but for me it’s an issue of scale, and if the media was so concerned about the impression the Koran burning would create, they wouldn’t be reporting on every word coming out of the mouth of some backwoods mouthbreather in Florida who wants to take a match to a book. They’d just ignore it.
I know, that’s asking a lot.
Military officials fear the protests are likely to spread beyond Kabul to other Afghan cities. In interviews with various media outlets, Mr. Jones has denied his protest will put troops in danger. Mr. Jones has been denied a permit for the demonstration but has said he plans to go forward with the his protest anyway.
Mr. Jones leads a tiny church of just 50 people, but his threat to burn the Muslim holy book has been condemned around the world and has garnered him international attention.
50 people. In backwoods Florida. Yet every media outlet is covering this like it’s the Roman Catholic Church in New York City.
Perspective, please.