Is the military TRYING to make things worse in the Middle East?

In a shocking turn of events, Afghanis are rioting in the streets this week. They are protesting vehemently against the U.S. because U.S. interrogators at Gitmo were allegedly desecrating the Koran as a means to break the spirits of prisoners. Okay, if this has been happening, did the military expect this to not get out?

Because if they thought they could do that with impunity, they’re nuts. Who do they think these prisoners are, Americans? Those people don’t cotton to that kind of religious tolerance. You can desecrate the Bible here, call it art, and possibly get an NEA grant for it. Not over there.

This is precisely what critics of Gitmo and Abu Ghraib are talking about. We can only win the war on terrorism if we win the hearts and minds of Arab fence-straddlers, those who can swing either for peace or for war against the U.S. It doesn't matter whether the military has a written policy of reverence for the Koran if even one interrogator can be shown to have ignored it. This kind of debacle will definitely be used to push those undecided people against us.

According to the story, the mood in Afghanistan is sour against the U.S. installed Kharzai's government. One commentator on NPR suggested that remnant Taliban supporters might be behind the protests (or at least fanning the flames). Afghanis are already upset that rebuilding has slowed to a glacial pace. So there is a growing opportunity for Afghanistan to return, possibly by violent revolution, back precisely where it was pre-9/11--a haven for anti-American terrorists. All because the country (and the war on terrorism) is being grossly mishandled.