Obama Speaks Out Against Pastor’s Plan to Burn Koran

Obama Speaks Out Against Pastor’s Plan to Burn Koran

By HELENE COOPER

Published: September 9, 2010

WASHINGTON— President Obama sharply criticized a Florida pastor’s plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, calling it a “stunt” that threatens the lives of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and violates American principles of religious tolerance.

“If he’s listening, I just hope he understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans,” Mr. Obama said in an interview shown Thursday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” referring to Terry Jones, a pastor from Gainesville, Fla.

“As a practical matter, as commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan,” the president said.

Mr. Obama said that the Koran burning would be a “recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda” and other terrorist groups looking for people willing to “blow themselves up” in American or European cities.

Mr. Obama is the strongest voice so far among a long list of prominent political and religious leader who have condemned Mr. Jones’s plan. General David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Afghanistan, said this week that the burning would put American troops there directly in harm’s way, a warning echoed by the F.B.I., which has said that Islamic extremists would likely retaliate.

The reaction in the Muslim world, many Islamic experts said, could be as bad, or perhaps even worse, than the reaction after a Danish newspaper published a cartoon in 2005 depicting the prophet Mohammad with his turban turning into a bomb. The cartoon ignited huge protests around the Muslim world. The United States stayed largely out of the controversy, with riots and burnings directed toward Danish and European entities. But a burning of the Koran — Islam’s most sacred text — in Florida would unleash that anger directly at the United States, Muslim scholars warned.

The pastor, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, has said he is still praying about his plan, but has not indicated any willingness to back down so far. He has also said that he won’t be responsible for any deaths that may occur as a result of his church’s actions.

“He says he’s someone who is motivated by his faith,” Mr. Obama said. “I hope he listens to those better angels and understands that this is a destructive act that he’s engaging in.”

Later in the day, in a statement marking the Muslim holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr, Mr. Obama again urged religious tolerance and unity.

“It is a time of self-reflection focusing on the values that Muslims and people of all faiths share — charity, community, cooperation and compassion,” the statement said. “This year’s Eid is also an occasion to reflect on the importance of religious tolerance and to recognize the positive role that religious communities of all faiths, including Muslims, have played in American life.”

Mr. Obama also said that “those devastated by the recent floods in Pakistan will be on the minds of many around the world” and urged Americans to donate to the Pakistan Relief Fund.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/us/10obama.html?_r=1&hp