Death Before Dishonor Redux

Before I begin, I must apologize for my lengthy absence. My computer decided to take a little vacation without me, but everything should be fixed now and we can continue.

Last April, I wrote about the fundamental disconnect between the traditional Western ideal of personal honor and the Islamic ideal of collective honor. At the time, the conversation was relevant because of the reaction of militant Islamists to "Pastor" Terry Jones' burning of a Koran. Well, the past is seeming to repeat itself with a renewed series of terrorist attacks and violent riots sparked by the burning of a Koran at a NATO base in Afghanistan. But there are some new elements to this story that bear a closer look.

First, while Jones' act was an intentional insult, the incident at the NATO base was an accident. A collection of books, including Korans, from a prison lending library were being used by prisoners to pass messages to one another by writing in the margins. When this was discovered, the books were discarded and the soldiers responsible for disposing of the trash were told to get rid of them. Of course, these men are soldiers, not Koranic scholars, and they threw the whole collection of books into a fire pit. It was Afghanis working at the site that spotted the Korans in the flames and rushed to spread word of the Americans' "insult," which led to a series of attacks and riots that have left six Americans and thirty others dead. Gee, what great allies we have. Why didn't the Afghanis tell the soldiers not to put the Korans in the fire in the first place? Because that would deny them an excuse to kill and maim, and that's just how a lot of Afghanis like to get down. What is interesting is that disposal of desecrated Korans by fire is the accepted practice by Islamic scholars. So, in essence, the militants are rioting and murdering because we followed the crazy rules they put in place.

Now, it should go without saying that the traditional ideals of honor are not monolithic even within the same society. While the American military and its allies have shown tremendous courage and honor on the ground, the political classes have practically fallen over themselves trying to apologize for an accident rather than demand that murderous scumbags are held accountable for their actions. Our enemies have noticed this weakness and are pressing it with all of their strength. The Taliban launched an assault at Bagram Airfield, claiming of course to be doing it in simple retaliation for the insult to their Koran. Oh, okay. So what was their excuse before the Koran burning? Pastor Jones, Geert Wilders, Pope Benedict XVI, or Danish cartoons? It's not like the Taliban were just sitting around doing nothing until they heard about some guys at a NATO base having a Koran barbecue (I hear the pork's delicious). So why did President Obama apologize? I mean, it's getting to the point where President Obama is reflexively apologizing whenever he sees a Muslim on the street (or, more likely, on a golf course).

To add insult to injury, the Afghani government is demanding prosecution for the NATO personnel involved. And, in a stunningly gutless move, NATO is seriously considering throwing these poor men to the wolves in order to preserve the all-important goal of "Peace," whatever that means. Islamic clerics have demanded a public trial to condemn the soldiers in accordance with Afghani law, threatening a "storm of fury" if their demands are not met. What I would like to know is what these soldiers could possibly be charged with? NATO forces do not officially operate under Sharia law (yet), so "insulting the Holy Koran" is probably out. And it's hard to see how someone could charge these soldiers with "dereliction of duty" for following orders?

Now, just try to imagine the utter chaos that would take place if Christians discovered that Bibles were being burned by NATO troops. Why, we might even write letters of disapproval or call our representatives. Horrifying, to be sure. Except, the military has been burning any unsolicited Bibles or similar religious materials printed in Pashto and Dari, the two most common languages in Afghanistan. That decision was made because "it could be perceived by Afghans that the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert Muslims," according to Lt. Col. Mark Wright of the Department of Defense. So we have to walk on eggshells to avoid making radical Islamists angry. I thought the point of this war was to kill these guys. Making them angry would be a great way to get them to come out of their hidey holes. Otherwise we're just waiting around for the next attack with whatever excuse the militants find convenient.

If Afghanistan is ever to become something more than a backwards hellhole, its people and leadership need to take responsibility. I find it interesting that the same people in the Afghan government who are screaming for blood about this matter are also the ones interested in peace talks with the Taliban. You know, the people who videotaped decapitations so they could put it on YouTube. Curiously, that never seems to come up in all of the condemnation over the Koran incident. Our diplomats, meanwhile, need to stop trying to make the United States and its allies the scapegoats for everything that goes wrong in Afghanistan. It takes two sides to fight a war, but right now only one side seems interested in fighting. Maybe it's time that we started focusing on the real enemies, for a change.