Breaking News - Afghan protesters storm US consulate, 2 killed

Breaking News - Afghan protesters storm US consulate, 2 killed

rt.com

At least two people have been killed as protesters stormed a US consulate in western Afghanistan, outraged by a Koran-burning incident at a NATO base. The four days of violent anti-American protests have already left 13 dead and dozens injured.

Two demonstrators were shot dead in a bid to storm the US consulate in the city of Herat.

Also on Friday hundreds of demonstrators have surged to the presidential palace in Kabul. The crowd of angry men was throwing stones at police and chanting "Death to America!"and "Long live Islam!" after they left the city's Blue Mosque following Friday

(visit the link for the full news article)

Looks like things are heating up, hopefully this situation can be diffused somewhat before more people lose their lives. The US embassy are appealing for calm via their twitter.

Lets home this doesnt escalated further or I can see a lot of dead on both sides, perhaps the US will have to commit more ground forces. Who know, what do you all think?




rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Maponos


I fear this will get worse before it gets better. The Afghanis are enraged, and I don't think its just about the Koran burnings. I believe things have "come to a head," so to speak, and the burnings were the straw that broke the camel's back.

I hope common sense prevails, but common sense and religion don't often go hand in hand.

Prayers for the families and all involved.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Maybe it's lesson time. The peceful loving Korn readers have to be taught a lesson sooner or later. they are in every prison preaching why do you think they plead guilty ASAP when charged. So they can spread their hate to a captive audence. It's only going to get worse till they win or they ger removed.

reply to post by Maponos


This kind of news is a good lesson to any american that thinks that the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are justified.

Apparently, bringing "democracy" to other countries doesn't make them friendly.

Maybe another apologize will do?

Well what do you expect when you burn something that is sacred to them, it is like burning a cross on a black mans lawn while wearing a white hood. Did the dumb soldiers really think there would be no fallout? Oh forgot, just trained to follow orders, no questions asked.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I share those fears, I will be keeping an eye on events in Pakistan in particular as many there will be some desperate to stoke the flames.

Originally posted by Tifozi
reply to post by Maponos

 

This kind of news is a good lesson to any american that thinks that the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are justified.

Apparently, bringing "democracy" to other countries doesn't make them friendly.

Its also a good lesson that no matter what the Quran preaches, it will be used to justify death, destruction and the murder of innocent people, all in the name of Allah.

I think the real lesson is that no matter what you do, say or act, there is no way to get through to a group of religious extremist zealots who can't act civilized.

The manner in which Islam is taught currently reminds me of the middle ages. Where the church held the power simply because their people could not read or write, relying instead on the clergy. Im not suggesting Muslims can't read or write, however they rely a lot on their religious leaders to help guide their lives.

I think the other malfunction is the view of Islam as only a religion - Its also a form of government. Again when you rely on the religious leaders, and must follows those leaders or face death, it turns the entire mess on its head.

To me extremist Islam (in general) reminds me of North Korea but on a global scale. In essence once your a Muslim, you are trapped in the system. Trying to escape that system can result in death. The people are told what to believe, told what they can and cannot do, and failing to comply can result in death. The judicial setup can make it up as they go along, which can result in death.

Blood in... Blood out?

Another fundamental difference....

In america if someone burned the Bible, the ACLU would sue to protect their right to do so


If someone burns their religious scripture... They riot....



Not sure which is worse

They are used to blackmailing and anything one does is called "insult" and repercussions are due.

All this palaver over a few books

At the end of the day that is all they are - books.

If any good comes from this madness, it will be the withdrawal of our troops from there.

It would be a great day. I swear, I would celebrate the day all our armed forces return home.

worst case scenario, we send more people to die for BS

Maybe this one dumb little incident will be the catalyst to end our world. I hope it was worth it no matter how many people die. That's the price we pay for feeding the rich right? Our deaths and our worlds stagnation in the new dark ages, right?

This is our way?

Don't worry. Chinese Army will soon replace NATO. Time to expand...

Originally posted by smyleegrl
reply to post by Maponos

 

I fear this will get worse before it gets better. The Afghanis are enraged, and I don't think its just about the Koran burnings. I believe things have "come to a head," so to speak, and the burnings were the straw that broke the camel's back.

I hope common sense prevails, but common sense and religion don't often go hand in hand.

Prayers for the families and all involved.

I agree 100%. People wish to paint this as another "Muslims are savages, killing over a book" etc... picture but I think it's much more complex than that. The pro-USA-no-matter-what-crowd seem to ignore what's been going on in the past 11 years, which is us bombing the crap out of their countries, directly interfering with their government/election process, taking or bidding of their natural resources (their wealth) and spitting on their customs, culture and religious beliefs.

If the shoe was on the other foot and some country did that here, you bet I'll be a terrorist against the occupiers. Personally I think you said it best; that might have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

love the smell of napalm in the morning. Maybe it's lesson time.

How are you any different from Suicide Bombers that love the smell of explosives in the afternoon? You both are psyhopaths.

reply to post by Xcathdra

Its also a good lesson that no matter what the Quran preaches, it will be used to justify death, destruction and the murder of innocent people, all in the name of Allah.

Excuses exist in all countries, including countries in the Middle East with Islamic religion, including countries like the U.S. with other types of propaganda.

I think the real lesson is that no matter what you do, say or act, there is no way to get through to a group of religious extremist zealots who can't act civilized.

It's ignorant to call them uncivilized. Even thinking that way is a statement about the lack of understanding and comprehension for other cultures.

You don't need to like or agree with other cultures to respect them.

It's their culture, it's their country. Who is there who isn't a part of the region? If you don't want to deal with their problems, don't go there.

If I don't like a X culture, and I can't stand the way they think, I don't go there. As an example, I like animals. I love my pet dog. Would I go to China where is a cultural thing to eat animals that in the West are pets, and then label them as uncivilized?

That's being a xenophobe.

For instance (and I would like for mods to bare with this example, it's just an example of cultural bias), in the U.S. it is illegal to have or consume drugs like Marijuana, whatever the arguments. But it is legal to obtain and consume alcohol.

But in countries like India, they see alcohol exactly the same way we see drugs. Who is uncivilized in that manner? You see, cultural opinions are just that. Opinions. Calling someone uncivilized is terrible poor taste and a lack for understand of what a culture is.

The manner in which Islam is taught currently reminds me of the middle ages.

Are we forgetting the debate within the U.S. about creationism and evolution? Yes, I know... The evolution theory has gaps and all that...

...but, it's based on science, not religion. So, you are labelling this people as medieval-thinking kind of people, yet in your own country that also happens.

How goes the U.S. saying? "In God we trust" ?

Where the church held the power simply because their people could not read or write, relying instead on the clergy. Im not suggesting Muslims can't read or write, however they rely a lot on their religious leaders to help guide their lives.

Because they are the only ones who teach them. If they control knowledge is obvious they control the knowledge those countries have.

If you have such a problem with that, why not support investment in those countries in areas like education, and watching the long-term effects come into play, instead of having military operations for "democracy" forcing them to accept YOUR ideas?

I think the other malfunction is the view of Islam as only a religion - Its also a form of government. Again when you rely on the religious leaders, and must follows those leaders or face death, it turns the entire mess on its head.

It's fairly easy to do that when countries that have alternatives to that (like western countries) concern them-selfs more about bombing the crap out of those regions, instead of actually supporting development and growth.

The western countries complain about the mentalities and hate in regions like the Middle East, without not even making an effort to understand why those people have that stand in the first place.

They hate, because countries like the US give reasons to hate. Or are we going to argue that families that see their loved ones die in bombings don't have a right to be outraged by western actions?...

To me extremist Islam (in general) reminds me of North Korea but on a global scale. In essence once your a Muslim, you are trapped in the system. Trying to escape that system can result in death. The people are told what to believe, told what they can and cannot do, and failing to comply can result in death. The judicial setup can make it up as they go along, which can result in death.

(my bold)

How is that any different from the U.S.?.......

By the way, my above post isn't anti-US.

I'm pro-west and pro-US. I live in a country that belongs to NATO and is part of the EU.

However, I think that as long as people continue to have views on the world that are influenced by ignorance, lack of comprehension and instigate hatred, fear and racism, we won't get anywhere productive or peaceful.

I'm not calling anyone a racist, nor xenophobe. I'm just stating that there are two sides to the same coin.

All that 'peace-keeping' effort has now gone to hell.

God forbid anyone actually use their brains. This was inevitable, I guess the only good point that comes from it - this unexpected event might tie up the Americans strategically so they have to repair the damage, as opposed to fighting with Iran.

Let's hope so.

Peace

Hoisting The White Flag Of Opportunism

Just my personal opinions here...

Putting aside the question of whether Western military forces should be occupying Afghanistan (I tend to be rather unfavorable toward military adventurism), or whether Taliban militants from Pakistan (with rather obvious support from the ISI) should be invading Afghanistan either, I think it's important to avoid hasty generalizations because of this particular incident.

For one thing, based on the numbers reported, only a very tiny minority of the people of Afghanistan (a nation with a population of roughly 30 million) are actually out protesting over this. While many more are no doubt upset (much like many Christians were upset over "Piss Christ"), they are rather pointedly not trying to kill anyone and are peacefully going about their lives as best they can.

Characterizing all the people of Afghanistan or Islam in general as "violent" or "savage" over this, or advocating genocide (what the hell?!?) under any circumstances, would be nothing more nor less than ignorant bigotry of the first order. Dangerous bigotry, where it is thoughtlessly used to promote mass murder, whether literally or figuratively.

On top of that, the Taliban is openly encouraging violence and a large percentage of the protesters, particularly the most violent among them, openly support the Taliban. Given that, much of the impetus here is using this incident as a pretext to commit acts of violence in the guise of "religious protests".

Considering the history of the Taliban and their behavior in Afghanistan, it's not exactly surprising that they would take advantage of this opportunity to pursue their political/religious/military campaign under "civilian" auspices.

In other words, in light of what is actually going on, characterizing all this as "Koran desecration protests" may be partially right, but is ultimately misleading if the rather transparent agenda underlying it is ignored.

And using this as an excuse to mischaracterize over a billion and a half people around the world would be just plain wrong-headed. That would be like describing everyone in South America (which has about 385 million people) as terrorists because of FARC militants in Columbia, or everyone in the United States as murderers because roughly 15,000 murders are committed a year in the U.S.

In other words, it's patently absurd.

The Taliban isn't keeping their involvement in this a secret. Heck, their agents and sympathizers are raising flags in an effort to capitalize on this. Big hint there.

Again, just my opinions, and YMMV, but I do suggest anyone who missed that part take note, and anyone advocating the slaughter or slander of innocent people over something like this take time to slowly and carefully read the site motto.