Adding to Major General Hammond’s abject apology from Saturday, Bush apologizes, although apparently without using the word “apology.” Whatever that means.
“Bush calls Iraqi leader about soldier’s Quran desecration,” from CNN, May 20 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — President Bush has apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for an American soldier shooting at a Quran, the prime minister’s office said.
President Bush called Nuri al-Maliki over the incident, al-Maliki’s office says. The leaders are seen in September.
Bush made the call to al-Maliki on Tuesday morning, the office said.
But National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the president stopped short of using the word “apology” in his remarks. […]
On Monday, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the movement of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, condemned what it said was a “blatant assault on the sanctities of Muslims all over the world.”
The party said it reacted to the news “with deep resentment and indignation” and wants the “severest of punishments” for the action.
“What truly concerns us is the repetition of these crimes that have happened in the past when mosques were destroyed and pages of the holy Quran were torn and used for disgraceful acts by U.S. soldiers,” al-Hashimi said.
“I have asked that first this apology be officially documented; second a guarantee from the U.S. military to inflict the maximum possible punishment on this soldier so it would be a deterrent for the rest of the soldiers in the future.”
Kill him?