U.S. soldier defaces Quran
BAGHDAD – A U.S. Army soldier was removed from Iraq after he shot a Quran full of bullets and marked it with graffiti, the U.S. military announced Sunday.
U.S. military officials, fearing a backlash as a result of the desecration, moved quickly to resolve the case after Iraqi police found the book May 11 at a shooting range in the predominantly Sunni Muslim area of Radwaniya in western Baghdad.
They briefed tribal leaders on their investigation and expressed regret for the damage to the Quran, the Islamic holy book.
So far there has been no public outcry over the desecration.
“This incident is not representative of the professionalism of our soldiers or the respect they have for all faiths,” said Col. Bill Buckner.
How American forces treat the Quran has been a recurring source of complaint since the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and reports about such incidents have triggered angry outpourings throughout the Muslim world, including riots in Afghanistan in 2005 that left at least 17 dead.
The U.S. military has said, however, that most reported incidents of Quran desecration did not happen, though they have acknowledged five incidents in which the Quran was mishandled at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for suspected terrorists.
The U.S. military would not specify the exact course of disciplinary action it would take against the soldier and did not identify him.
Some Iraqi politicians were dismissive of the incident while others called for harsh punishment.
“If you ask any Iraqi, they are sad, but there is no organized reaction,” said Mithal al-Alusi, an independent secular Sunni lawmaker. “We don’t need to push it into the center of our problems now.”
Alusi called the soldier an “American idiot” but said “you also have Iraqi idiots.” There are more pressing issues to discuss between Iraqis and Americans, he said.
Sattar said it is not a matter of disciplining just the soldier, but taking a larger look at the issue.
“Assailing the holy Quran is an issue of sovereignty and the government should step up,” Sattar said. “This is a single incident. We will study the issue and we may take a position on this in the parliament to prevent such actions from occurring again.”
Jalal al Din al Saghir, a lawmaker from the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said the incident made a “mockery” of the Quran, which “doesn’t send the right message to Iraqi people.”
He called for a stiffer penalty against the soldier.
“The U.S. is a country that supposedly respects all religions and beliefs,” he said. “… We demand U.S. leaders take a stance that will remedy the situation.”