By Steve Hynd
Well, wingnut Pharisee Terry Jones may have backed off his threat to conduct a book-burning, but someone died for his moment in the media spotlight.
As thousands of Afghans across that country protested Jones' moment of Nazi-wannabeism, a group of the more hot-headed began throwing stones at a NATO base in Farah province. German troops on the base opened fire, killing one and wounding three. That's one 24 year old who won't have a chance to achieve the potential of his life and three others who'll have to deal with the physical and mental trauma of being shot before they can do so.
Now, both the populace of Afghanistan and US/NATO troops there must deal with the second order consequences of Jones' idiotic media-whoring. Each of those protestors saw rocks (stupidly) answered with bullets and will draw their own conclusions about the willingness of Westerners to understand Afghan hearts and minds, let alone "capture" them. Many other Afghans will hear of this incident and by angry that their occupiers care so little about their heartfelt beliefs or about "population protection". An undeterminable but non-zero number will be further radicalised, and may well go on to kill other NATO and US soldiers - or worse, decide to journey to the West for revenge.
Each person has free will, and so must bear the responsibility for their own actions - the protestors and German soldiers both. But Pastor Terry Jones must bear some responsibility as the proximate cause of a massive "hearts and minds" failure and the death and destruction that will follow from it.
Update: Another 11 Afghans injured at a demo in Kabul, while 4 protestors and five policemen were injured in Badakhshan.
One Way To Marginalize A Media Whore
ReplyDeleteWhat is the best way to approach an interview with crazy potential-Quran-burning, fantastically-mustached Pastor Terry Jones? There�s Meredith Vieira�s method, which pressed Jones hard and had him stumbling and exposed.
Then there�s the Morning Joe plan � have him on, don�t let him talk, say goodbye.
�We�ve really been debating whether to do this,� said Mika Brzezinski to start the segment. She introduced Pastor Jones, but before he said anything, she gave the floor to Jon Meacham. �The central message of the New Testament is forgiveness and to put oneself in the place of another,� he said to Jones, urging him to cancel the Quran burning as a fellow Christian.
And with that � with Jones having uttered exactly zero words � Brzezinski said, �Pastor Terry Jones we appeal to you to listen to that, and we don�t really need to hear anything else, so thanks.� ... (includes video of the segment)