They're a permanently enraged, tiresome, one-trick pony. From McClatchy:
WARDAK, Afghanistan — Protests are sweeping the country in the wake of allegations that American troops burned copies of the Quran during a patrol in a province near Kabul, a charge strongly denied by U.S. military officials.
In addition to demonstrations in Kabul, protests have also been reported in Wardak, Jalalabad, Khost, Logar and Kandahar provinces.
The incident that sparked the unrest allegedly occurred on Oct. 15, during a routine patrol by U.S. forces near Khwajagan village in Wardak province after a roadside bomb struck an American armored vehicle.
Villagers said that the soldiers began an unsuccessful house-to-house search for insurgents. The troops then reportedly burned copies of the Quran they had removed from one of the houses.
"The soldiers went to Khwaja Fazlurahman's house," said Khwaja Qandol, a resident of the village. "There were only women there at the time. When they did not find anybody, they took six copies of the Koran from the bookcase and burned them in the center of the room." American officials denied any U.S. involvement in such an event and instead suggested the Taliban may have been behind the incident.
"There was no incident in which (U.S.) forces burned Korans in Wardak," said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military. "Coalition and Afghan forces conducted an investigation of the incident and determined that the 'enemies of Afghanistan,' as reported by local authorities, were responsible for the burning." Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the governor of Wardak, suspected that local hooligans, rather than insurgents, may have been responsible for the incident.
"Holy Korans have been burned in (Khwajagan)," he said. "But it was not the American forces. It was drug addicts from that village, who have since run away." Meanwhile, Mathias said that U.S. forces had enlisted the aid of a local religious leader, or mullah, to help quell the rumors.
"In his comments, the mullah described how the Taliban has used this tactic of burning the Holy Quran, then blaming international forces to inflame the public in several provinces," she said. "(The mullah also) said that these actions disrespect Islam and Afghanistan." However, the growing anti-foreigner sentiment in the country appears to have given the rumor a life of its own.
The first demonstrations were held in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Wardak, just one day after the alleged incident. Hundreds of students and local residents blocked the main road and chanted slogans, such as "Death to the Americans!" and "Death to the enemies of our religion!" Similar scenes have been repeated throughout the country; on Sunday, Oct. 25, in Kabul, police fired warning shots in the air as students clustered outside the parliament building, burning an effigy of President Obama and shouting angry anti-American slogans.
Students in Nangahar also staged rallies, and issued a resolution demanding that the Afghan government prosecute those responsible for the Quran burning. They called on the authorities to make foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan, and urged the Muslim world to support them by responding to the perceived disrespect to their religion.
"American forces show contempt for everything that is sacred, and this is not acceptable for us," said one of the demonstrators in Nangahar. "Muslims defend their religion with their lives, and we will continue to do so." It is not the first time a rumor regarding Americans' treatment of Islam's holy book has sparked outrage in Afghanistan.
