The Americans should know that such incidents are not going to go win Afghan hearts and mind.
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: First it was General John Allen, American commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, who apologised over the recent burning of copies of the Holy Quran by US soldiers at the Bagram air base. Then the apology came from Leon Panetta, America’s secretary of defence. Finally, US President Barack Obama also offered his “deepest regrets” over the incident in a detailed letter to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
The question to ask is that how could the Americans not have trained their soldiers in such things? Do they not know what kind of reaction would happen, anywhere in the Muslim world, if such a thing was done? As expected, Nato has tried to hide behind routine excuses: that it was an act on the part of a few individuals who did not know any better, that it was unintentional, and that the soldiers were actually trying to dispose off some religious texts and books which prisoners at Bagram were using to pass clandestine messages to each other.
The Americans should know that such incidents are not going to go win Afghan hearts and mind and in fact only serve to undermine any good work that they may have done in Afghanistan during the past ten years.
However, all this is not deterring a number of Americans making good money out of this war. As per media reports, the value of contracts only to engage the interpreters for the US forces has reached $2.3 billion! Let’s forget those thousands of Afghans and western soldiers who have lost their lives in this war on terror, at least a good number of high-profile politicians and contractors in the US and Afghanistan have amassed great wealth in their bank accounts with the tax money of ordinary Americans. Let’s forget the display of disrespect for other religions and its long-term impact in the occupied lands; at least the pockets and egos of some arrogant people are being filled to the brim.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2012.
