The fiery hate speech spewed from a Gainsville, Florida church and their proposed mass Qu’ran burning, in commemoration of Sept. 11, got a stern reaction from the White House, and rightly so.
U.S. President Barack Obama called out to those planning to participate, saying the event would act as “a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida.”
The White House is calling for calm, not wanting to cause any unwanted attention for U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan. While demonstrations in Kabul had hundreds of angry Muslims burning American flags and an effigy of the Florida pastor who created the event called “International burn the Qu’ran Day” on Facebook.
NATO forces in Afghanistan are already worried about the backlash that this Qu’ran burning will cause and General David Patraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops, says it may undermine the entire war effort.
A hate event of this magnitude could possibly flame the anti-American sentiment felt in Afghanistan and across the Muslim world, causing serious trouble for Americans abroad and even within the U.S.
Lately, anti-Muslim rhetoric has been at an all-time high in conservative American media outlets, in a story about a proposed “Ground Zero Mosque,” which has seen President Obama skirt around the issue when asked by reporters about what he plans to do.
Many Americans are opposed to the plan, which is neither a mosque (actually an Islamic community centre), nor will it be located at ground zero, so with a Qu’ran burning expected to take place on Sept. 11, this could give al-Qaida and its conspirators even more reason and motivation to plan another attack on U.S. soil.
-side note- *the Florida Pastor, Terry Jones, from Dove World Outreach Center cancelled his Qu’ran burning after supposedly reaching a deal with an NYC Imam who told him the “Ground Zero Mosque” would be moved further from the site of the Sept. 11 tragedy*
Adam Bemma is a journalist, humanitarian, and media consultant based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Adam Bemma 
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