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Afghans call for "Death to America." JALALABAD,
Afghanistan - Shouting "Death to America!" more than 1,000
demonstrators rioted and threw stones at a U.S. military convoy
Wednesday, as protests spread to four Afghan provinces over a report
that interrogators desecrated Islam's holy book at the U.S. prison at
Guantanamo Bay.
The last thing we expected was that in a country we helped liberate
from the fangs of the Taliban, people (some of them at least) would
call for death to their liberators. Why is it that Muslims behave
this way? The behavior of these Afghans brings to mind the murders of
Indian border wardens committed by guardsmen of the (BDR) Bangla Desh
Rifles. Apparently, it the conditioning all Muslims receive from the
Quran, to have perpetual enmity with Kafirs (non-Muslims) that makes
them behave in this ungrateful and ungracious way towards their non-
Muslim liberators. Now that some Afghans and Iraqis have shown the
way to repay their debt to us Americans, can the Bosnian and Kosovar
Muslims be far behind. Photo Credits: US
News ____________________________
What is surprising that mainly educated youngsters (students) are
leading these violent protests. So even though as Msulims they are
educated, they remain hidebound in their anti-Kafir beliefs. Police
fired on the protesters, many of them students, trying to stifle the
biggest display of anti-American anger since the ouster of the ruling
Taliban militia 3 1/2 years ago. There were no reports of American
casualties, but the violence left four dead and 71 injured in
Jalalabad, a city 80 miles east of the capital, Kabul.
Mobs smashed car and shop windows and attacked government offices,
the Pakistani consulate and the offices of two U.N. agencies in
Jalalabad. Smoke billowed from the consulate and a U.N. building.
More than 50 foreign aid workers were reportedly evacuated.
The protests may expand into neighboring Pakistan, where a coalition
of hard-line Islamic parties said it would hold nationwide
demonstrations Friday over the alleged desecration of the Quran.
Many of the 520 inmates in Guantanamo are Pakistanis and Afghans
captured after the Sept. 11 attacks. Despite both governments'
support of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, suspicion lingers in the
conservative Muslim nations about the American military.
Growing urban unrest could pose another security challenge for the
U.S.-backed Afghan government, which is already battling a
reinvigorated Taliban insurgency. About 18,000 U.S. troops are in
Afghanistan, fighting rebels and searching for Taliban and al-Qaida
leaders, including Osama bin Laden.
The source of anger was a brief report in the May 9 edition of
Newsweek that interrogators at Guantanamo placed Qurans on toilets to
rattle suspects, and in at least one case "flushed a holy book down
the toilet."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Flex Plexico said the U.S. military
was investigating. "This allegation is contrary to our respect for
cultural customs and fundamental belief in the freedom of religion,"
Plexico said.
Last weekend, Pakistan's government said it was "deeply dismayed"
about the report and registered its disapproval to Washington. Many
Afghans read Pakistani papers and understand Pakistani broadcasts;
access to satellite TV has mushroomed since U.S.-led forces toppled
the Taliban in late 2001.
The report of the alleged Quran desecration at Guantanamo has had
little impact in the Arab world, however. The news stations Al-
Jazeera and Al-Arabiyya reported the protests in Afghanistan and said
the U.S. was investigating. Little mention was made in Islamic Web
forums where militants often comment on news reports.
Violence spreads to Kabul University and Polytechnic
Between 200 and 300 Kabul University students shouted slogans
calling on US President George W. Bush to apologize to Islamic
countries and saying that proposals for permanent American bases on
Afghan soil could damage the country's independence.
Another similar demonstration started at the Polytechnic
Institute, northeast of Kabul, where protesters torched a US flag.
Police were at the scene but there were no Afghan or US-led coalition
troops present.
More than 200 mostly young people assembled in front of a dormitory
block near Kabul University chanting "Death to America!" and carrying
banners including one stating: "Who insults our Quran is insulting
all Islam." Dozens of police looked on without intervening.
Aid workers in Jalalabad suggested conservative clerics had been
agitating for days in the mosques of the city, which lies in a
Pashtun-dominated area that once welcomed the Taliban and al-Qaida.
"They take things like that (reported abuse of the Quran) and link it
to the U.S. presence here," said Phil Halton of the Afghan NGO
Security Organization. "It's a familiar theme."
The unrest in Jalalabad began Tuesday, when protesters burned an
effigy of President Bush. It flared again Wednesday, when more than
1,000 university and high school students marched through the city
and stoned a convoy of U.S. military vehicles.
The American troops fired into the air to force the crowd back and
quickly left the scene, provincial intelligence chief Sardar Shah
said.
U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore said American forces were
ordered to their camps but had no information on whether any of them
were caught up in the unrest.
Associated Press Television News footage showed Afghan troops firing
dangerously low over the heads of fleeing demonstrators. The bullets
were meant to miss their mark!
The Interior Ministry said only four people were shot and that the 71
injured included six police officers.
Deputy provincial health chief Mohammed Ayub Shinwari said most of
the injured were students. He said two of the dead had been shot and
many of the injured also had suffered bullet wounds.
"There is a lot of damage to the city, they have burned a lot of
things," Shah said. "These are the enemies of peace and stability in
Afghanistan who don't want people to be able to get on with their
lives in peace." Students held similar protests in three other
provinces — Laghman, Khost and Wardak.
Story Credits: Associated Press
writers Stephen Graham in Kabul and George Gedda in Washington
contributed to this report published in Yahoo News
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