The insurgency in Afghanistan is savvy and strategic - and will likely weaken Western resolve to stay in the country.New York, NY - Book burning seems to be making history once again.
The inadvertent and partial incineration of some Qurans by a US-Afghan labour detail at Bagram ignited a web of action, from Kabul to the media circuits of the Republican Party presidential primaries.
Many lives were entangled, and some were taken, including those of at least six US soldiers. Even the dead were ensnared. In Libya, the graves of British soldiers from the Second World War were vandalised.
Of course, it is not the torching of holy books on its own that generates these effects around the world. It is worth reflecting on the help provided by the overall situation, and by other actors and forces.
US soldiers may face reprimand in Quran case
Crucially, we should think about what we do not see, what is obscured, when we frame and name events as Quran burning - as protesting about it, apologising for it, or writing news stories about it.
Afghans are not just protesting burned books, but the fact that it was a foreign, occupying army that did the burning. That army and the war it brought with it have been in the country for over 10 years. Read More
