General Petraeus Warns that Quran Burning Could Endanger US Troops

According to CNN.com, an American commanding general of the Afghanistan war, David Petraeus, spoke out against The Dove Outreach Center's planned demonstration of burning multiple copies of the Quran on September 11. "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," said General Petraeus. The church, located in Gainesville, Florida, defended itself, saying that their demonstration will be "neither an act of love nor of hate." Instead they claim it will be a warning against Islam. The church's planned event has already drawn criticism, from both inside as well as outside the Untied States. Muhammad Ismail, the spokesman for the Indonesian Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir, had this to say, "the burning in not only an insult to the holy Quran, but an insult to Islam and Muslims around the world." His opinion was further voiced by thousands of Muslims at a protest outside the American Embassy in Indonesia. There are about 120,000 American troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, and according to Petraeus the Quran burning "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems."