Official: Mistakes led to Afghan Quran burnings

[longnecker]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – At least five American military personnel could face a disciplinary review over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base in Afghanistan as conflicting accounts of what happened emerged Saturday, fueling more confusion over the incident that sparked six days of deadly riots across the nation.
A Western official told The Associated Press that a joint investigation by senior Afghan and U.S. military officials has convinced them that although mistakes were made, there was no intent to desecrate the Qurans and other Islamic religious texts.

The official, who has knowledge of the investigation, said it could lead to a disciplinary review of at least five U.S. military personnel involved. The official did not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. It is unclear what such a review could recommend.
President Obama and other U.S. officials have apologized and said the Feb. 20 burning at a burn pit at Bagram Air Field outside Kabul was an accident. But the apologies failed to quell the anger, although protests over the burnings have now ebbed.
But Maulvi Khaliq Dad, a top Afghan religious leader who was on a different panel appointed by President Hamid Karzai to investigate the incident, claimed U.S. troops told Afghans at the base that the religious materials pulled from a detention center library were to be stored, but then they were sent for incineration.
"They are claiming that it was not intentional. Our investigative team says it was intentional," Dad said Saturday.
After Dad's panel presented its findings, Afghanistan's top religious leaders demanded on Friday that those involved be put on public trial and be punished, a position that Karzai backs.
The Quran burnings touched off deadly riots that killed more than 30 Afghans, as well as six U.S. troops who were fatally shot by Afghan security forces or militants disguised in their uniforms. It also brought relations between the U.S.-led military coalition and the Afghan government to an all-time low and spurred the most serious wave of anti-American and foreign sentiment across the country during the 10-year war read more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/s...ngs/53340562/1

[Grin]

Someone blogged that they should announce they are going to burn a quran every time a U.S. soldier is killed in Afghanistan. That may make them think twice.