Karzai said: “The American Congress and Senate must condemn this in clear words, show their stance, and prevent such incidents from happening again.” In other words: suppress free speech in the U.S. because they can’t control themselves in Afghanistan. The ideal response would be 100 senators standing and responding in unison: “NO.”
“Senators Consider Hamid Karzai’s Request to Condemn Koran Burning Amid Protests,” from Fox News, April 3 (thanks to Twostellas):
U.S. lawmakers said Sunday they would consider a request by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to formally condemn a Florida pastor’s decision to burn the Koran, after the act triggered deadly riots in Afghanistan.
The protests entered their third day Sunday as demonstrators battled police in the southern city of Kandahar and, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, blocked a highway and burned an effigy of President Obama.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid repudiated pastor Terry Jones for touching off the chaos with what he called a “publicity stunt.” Jones had earlier threatened to burn the Koran, but then shelved the plan until last month. The burning attracted little U.S. attention at the time but was used as a rallying cry in Afghanistan.
“Used as a rallying cry in Afghanistan,” by our good buddy in Kabul, Hamid Karzai. More on the use of passive voice below.
“This was an effort to get some publicity for him. He got it. But in the process, 10-20 people have been killed,” Reid said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“Have been killed.” The use of the passive voice helps to imply no free will on the part of the actors. Or if you prefer, no free will on the part of the actors is implied by the passive voice.
Asked whether Congress could pass a resolution condemning it, he said, “We’ll take a look at this.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested Congress should condemn the burning, but also stressed that one pastor’s actions should not excuse the subsequent killings.
“Burning a Koran is a terrible thing, but it doesn’t justify killing someone. Burning a Bible would be a terrible thing, but it wouldn’t justify murder,” he said. “But having said that, any time we can push back here in America against actions like this that put our troops at risk, we ought to do it.”
Obama had a similar message, saying in a written statement that Jones’ actions marked “an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry,” but that the violence must stop.
“To attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity,” Obama said….
And suppressing free speech would validate murder as a response to being “offended.” What are our forces and those of our allies fighting for again in Afghanistan? The inalienable right to build roads?