Re: koran disposal
Yes burying the Koran, wrapped in cloth, is the proper way of disposing of it if, IF they EVER dispose of it. Any bit of paper, scrap, anything with any writings from the Koran are considered sacred and usually kept. They will almost never dispose of ANYTHING with Koran scriptures on it, they will save it forever. According to them a non muslim cannot own or touch and untranslated (arabic) Koran. If you put a Koran down it has to be above you. AKA on a table or on a shelf NOT anywhere below you and never near a bathroom or dirt place. If you must handle a Koran you have to have a clean cloth or brand new gloves that have never been used for anything. My job in Afghanistan is training the ANA (Afghan National Army) to be an army. We train them to shoot, drive, read maps, run convoys, room clearing and anything else a modern army does. I go on missions with them I do what they do. Being there with them through different operations and difficult feats has built a trust, as well as confidence in themselves they they can have some sort of peace. Already since the Koran burnings we have had 2-3 ANA soldiers shoot US forces. Mistakes like burning the Koran do ruin the blocks we've built here. If there were secret messages in them, they should have been passed to some of our muslim allies in the region for proper disposal, with the montoring of US forces. Believe me when I say almost no local cared about the Marines urinating on talibans bodies, they hate them too, the Marines were stupid and not only video taped it but also allowed it to be posted. As US soldiers/marines we are held to a higher standard and this is unacceptable. We are professionals and we are expected to do a very stressful job while maintaining our professional military bearing. As unwelcome as it seems we are here, we have done some good. Attacks have gone from 4-5 times a day, to one or two a month just since ive been here. They now the infrastructure of of paved roads which allows for faster commerce and makes it harder to plant IEDs. There are schools and hospitals. Although sometimes corrupt there is also a standing police force and a standing army that also helps resist terrorists and stabilize the area. Do I think we should be here, absolutely not. I disagree with many of our policies here which I will not discuss on a public forum as a US soldier. I want to be home and I wish everyone else here could be home as well.
