US Soldier on Quran burning: It’s like the perfect storm of ignorant jackassery

Below are excerpts from a blog posting from a soldier currently based in Afghanistan. I thought it was incredibly poignant and well-written. He emphasizes the frustration felt by many in uniform over the willful ignorance and blovating of US politicians, the incredulity of how it's possible we didn't know burning the Quran would cause such a backlash, and the increasing isolation felt by our men and women in uniform who sense the lack of support from the American people for their efforts.


It's definitely worth reading in full.

…I read the comments on the news stories on dozens of outlets both liberal and conservative.  They blame the Afghans for the violence.  They cannot understand how a book can be worth the loss of lives, especially American lives.  They cry out in rage for our immediate withdrawal, as if their moral outrage is now an excuse for wholesale abandonment… failure… in an effort they have grown weary of and no longer… as if they ever did… understand.    Our moral compass has no point upon it where an idea, much less the physical repository for that idea, is worth lethal outrage.   They throw rocks and burn tires.   We throw comments and flame those who dissent.   It’s as much as we can care about anything.  

Of course, we have those in our country who will destroy property and endanger lives over the outcome of a sporting event, but that’s usually a local affair and not a national outburst. 

Of all the things one could do in this country with the demonstrated potential to cause such outbursts, burning the Quran tops the list.   We have inadvertently bombed weddings and suffered only a fraction the outrage that disrespecting the religion, even if “inadvertently,” has caused.   If there were one thing to avoid doing in this entire country, burning the Quran would be it.  We spend literally tens of thousands of man-hours and millions of dollars to avoid causing civilian casualties… as well we should… in order to attain our exceedingly poorly stated goals.  Yet we cause more chaos in ten minutes of book burning.   We can blame the Afghans all day, we can talk about how most of them can’t even read the book that was burned, we can spout off about hypocrisy and curse them as a backwards people.  

It solves nothing.   All we are doing is feeding the insurgents.  

How does it feel?  Frustrating.  

It’s frustrating to know that after ten-plus years, about a quarter of which I have been personally present, we still don’t have the discipline to not make such “mistakes.”   To us, burning a book by “accident” is an understandable mistake.  But in a country where our enemy is constantly telling the people that we are here to destroy Islam it may serve to some as confirmation, turning a skeptical observer into a rock-throwing rioter.   In this country, piety is respected as much as education, regardless of literacy.  It is a moral value…  

Our people took a careless action with the one thing that could possibly inspire such widespread rage, and over 30 people are dead, four of them Americans.   It’s like the perfect storm of ignorant jackassery… It is still an example of inexcusable ignorance of the environment in which you are operating.  That, my friends, is a clear sign of a lack of discipline, of attention to detail in what is important in this particular mission.  

The Afghans did not burn the books and blame us for it.  We did it; and we freaking knew better.    

It’s not like we didn’t know this type of thing had the capacity for such a nasty reaction when not even one year ago we saw such outrage when that “Christian preacher” in Florida decided to commit homicide by YouTube.  It is THE red button that you don’t press in this country.   My judging the red button to be inappropriate, backwards or hypocritical does not alter the value system here, and we are the ones who are seeking to gain security by working to stabilize Afghanistan.  Making the strong appearance of attacking their value system at its core does not help them to edge towards progress.  Following it up with a vitriolic reaction to their anger does not help me to avoid the problem in the future, only to feel justified in continuing to ignore and disregard the values of those I would help.  

With many of my veteran friends and 99% of all citizens who bother to leave a comment on a news site raging about how these people are barbarians and not worth our time and effort… and with months to go on my third tour… how do I feel?  

Isolated.  Outcast.  Alone…  

We have lost our national will to the point that the troops over here sense it.   It’s an underlying feeling, a sensing more than a feeling… that whatever we do, it doesn’t matter…  

If our efforts and sacrifices are not made… and sold… in the intelligent pursuit… the purchase… of sensible and well-stated goals and outcomes that favor the United States for not just an election cycle but for the following decades, then they are being sold cheaply.  This I resent with all my heart and soul…