Gen. Betray-us?

(Note: this is a revised version of an entry I posted and then removed yesterday.)

Writing at National Review yesterday, Andrew McCarthy is disgusted by the statement issued over the weekend by Gen. David Petraeus and NATO Ambassador Mark Sedwill:

KABUL, Afghanistan (April 3, 2011)—In view of the events of recent days, we feel it is important on behalf of ISAF [i.e., the International Security Assistance Force] and NATO members in Afghanistan to reiterate our condemnation of any disrespect to the Holy Qur’an and the Muslim faith. We condemn, in particular, the action of an individual in the United States who recently burned the Holy Qur’an.

We also offer condolences to the families of all those injured and killed in violence which occurred in the wake of the burning of the Holy Qur’an.

We further hope the Afghan people understand that the actions of a small number of individuals, who have been extremely disrespectful to the Holy Qur’an, are not representative of any of the countries of the international community who are in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people.

About which McCarthy comments:

Notice he condemns the moron who torched the Koran—um, I’m sorry, the Holy Qur’an (including all its holy verses that command Muslims to strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers)—but not a word of condemnation for the sadistic jihadist killers who struck terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. Rather, there is just an expression of sympathy for the families of those who were slain. And, of course, there is not a word of condemnation for our great ally, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the jihadi-pandering sleaze who did more to incite murder than the nutty Florida pastor did.

Let me sum up what I think has happened here. Pastor Terry Jones’s moral, upright, and visionary act of burning a copy of the Koran, as a way of expressing our total rejection of that monstrous book which commands our destruction, set off the savage murderous rampage by Afghans against UN workers, which in turn triggered Petraeus to suck up to the Muslims rather than condemn their savage behavior; and that nauseating act of dhimmitude by a respected American military leader has revealed as never before the depths of American accommodation to this murderous religion.

Sadly, McCarthy joins the universal kneejerk chorus that calls Jones a “moron,” a “nut,” etc. But without Jones’s “nutty” act, would McCarthy and everyone have seen what they now are seeing? Terry Jones, The Great Clarifier, not only brings out the evil of Islam, he also brings out the evil of Western surrender to Islam, and thus is helping inspire, in reaction against both those evils, a sane and realistic stance vis a vis the Islam threat. Let us have more such morons.

- end of initial entry -

Bill P. writes:

“Terry Jones, The Great Clarifier, not only brings out the evil of Islam, he also brings out the evil of Western surrender to Islam, and thus is helping inspire, in reaction against both those evils, a sane and realistic view of what the West should do about the Islam threat.”

I went to the link at VFR to Terry Jones’ website and read through the material regarding the judgment of Islam. The burning of the Koran is not an isolated act on Jones’s part but comes after a “trial” was held judging Islam and the Koran. The “prosecution” of Islam and the Koran was quite rational, documented and detailed (with testimony of witnesses). This was not a random, isolated, emotional act.

Sophia A. writes:

Completely agree with you on the principle of burning the Koran. But I don’t agree that Pastor Terry Jones’s act was a “moral, upright, and visionary act.” I think it was exhibitionistic and intentionally provocative.

And, so what? It’s our constitutional right to be exhibitionistic and provacative. Curtailing the right of pranksters is curtailing freedom of speech. Period. If the Muslims can’t deal with that, either we should usher them off the planet Earth, or separate from them. I advocate the latter.

Paul Nachman writes:

I saw that Jones’s church has a website through which you can send him a message. Have you been sending him what you’ve been writing? I expect he would appreciate it. [LA replies: I haven’t; I should.] But I can’t get to his site right now … Heavy traffic? Hacker attack?

Hmmm … he’s quite clear-sighted. Here’s a quote from this article from last September:

“Of course it’s insulting, of course it’s not a nice thing to do,” Jones, a former hotel manager, told “Nightline’s” Terry Moran. “But this is a very dangerous religion. If we don’t do it, when do we stop backing down?”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 05, 2011 10:13 AM | Send