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Patraeus's flawed reasoning
-letter
US commander in Afghanistan Gen David Patraeus
has said planned burning of the Quran by members of an
evangelical Christian church in Florida on 9/11 should not go
ahead as it would put the security of US troops in Afghanistan
in jeopardy -What a sick reason at that. Patraeus's views
actually speak the mindset of the American government. The
Americans have become so haughty and contemptuous that they
conveniently ignore universal principles of respect for other's
emotions and beliefs and measure everything according to their
own whims and material interests.
-- Feroze Ali Shah, Islamabad, 08 Sept 10
Comment 1
Ref my esteemed friend Feroze's letter, I shall
try to explain that General Patraeus was talking to the people
in Florida who planned to burn the Quran, and that he needed to
talk to them in language likely to get a result. They had
already made up their minds to burn the Quran so an appeal to
their sense of reason was unlikely to succeed. However, saying
that their actions were likely to endanger American lives was
very likely to get the result. --Boyd
Munroe, UK, 08 Sept 10
Comment 2
Ref the exchange about .Gen Patraeus remarks, even though we
agree that stressing American interests as a reason for not
burning Quran sounds careless to Pakistani ears, the reader from
the UK is correct when he observes that Patraeus is speaking to
an American audience and attempting to persuade them using
language and arguments that he perceives are more readily
compelling than kindness and good manners. Obviously there are
other Americans who are offended by the Florida pastor's threat
because it is an offense to all people who are trying to live in
harmony and respect each others' traditions and religions. But
Americans live in a free, if not always a sane, country, and it
seems the pastor's right to protest--no matter how repugnant it
is to the rest of us--Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others--is
protected by laws of free speech. Though that guarantee is being
contested by some. See the two stories in today's New York Times
(links given below) to understand how people are responding.
Please note that according to the article the pastor's "church"
consists of only some 30 people. --Anita
Christy, NY,USA, 09 Sept 10
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/us/08koran.html?ref=us
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/us/08muslim.html?ref=us
Comment
3
Ref the above two comments and NYT news stories, it is
heartening to know that the American people overwhelmingly do
not support pastor Terry Jones's plans to desecrate the Quran.
But then that makes all the more reason that Gen Patraeus should
have given ethical reasons based on principles and courage, for
not burning the holy book, and not merely made a scary statement
for the consumption of the thirty odd people of the belligerent
church (as mentioned in the comment and in NYT stories).
Principles should override expediency at all times, specially
when it comes to beliefs and morals, other wise the world will
sink further into the quagmire of dissention and polarisation.
--Feroze Ali Shah, Islamabad, 09 Sept 10
Comment
4
This is with reference to the exchange of views and comments on
the subject under discussion. Before reacting to the statement
made by General Patraeus, I would rather look at the orientation
and background he comes from. For a military commander, be it
Gen. Patraeus or Gen. Kiyani, nothing is more important than the
security of the troops under his command.
Like other military commanders, Gen. Patraeus’s education and
training has been to safe-guard the soil, people, and interests
of the USA. He therefore would first think of the security of
the US people and the army under his command. I therefore would
not expect any altruistic statement from Gen. Patraeus given the
background he comes from and the context in which he has made
the statement.
However, if the same statement was made by president Obama or
any other political, social, or religious leader, it would have
been very unfair and selfish reason for not burning the holy
Quran. The good thing is that Terry Jones's plans did not
succeed and that good sense still prevails.
--Dr. Mir Tajik, Chitral, 16 Sept 10
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