it was intolerable. it was awful. because the morale just plummets for the men and women on the ground when they work so hard at something and then it all goes away in a flash. let s stipulate, ugly as it may be, that the same kind of religious freedoms that say to us, that the backers of park 51 project in new york are entitled to build that islamic center two blocks from ground zero, that gives mr. jones the right to burn those korans but practically speaking given your experience on the issue of burning korans and having americans blamed for it how do you go about winning the hearts and minds of afghan people or other muslim nations who agree with the u.s. government in this case that this is a bad idea but who disagree with the american right to do it anyway? i think the biggest piece to highlight is that this is a very small few of americans that are taking part in this tactic and most importantly when i served over there i served with many american muslims in uniform fully de
the reverend recognizes that. this is, in your opinion, a practical issue, this is not well, we shouldn t be covering this because it s giving attention to somebody trying to get publicity for his own cause or is somehow trying to backlash against people who he sees as an enemy? this is a practical thing kvrp you have practical experience of your own firsthand? yes. last year, less than a year ago i was in afghanistan where the taliban and insurgents in afghanistan used this same sort of tactic, burning of korans, defacing of mosques, and pitting it against american soldiers to put them in danger. blaming you and the people with which you served for burning korans. yes, sir. then what happened? then we d have a back lash. all of the work to get to know the local nationals, the leadership, would suddenly be completely trumped because we were dealing with this propaganda campaign that the taliban and insurgents had used against us. keith olbermann takes a face-paced look at
this is in your opinion a very practical issue. this is not, we shouldn t be covering this because it s giving attention to somebody who is off sort of on the deep end and trying to get publicity for his own cause or somehow trying to bash back lash against people he sees as an enemy. this is a practical thing with which you have essentially practical experience of your own first hand? yes. last year, less than a year ago i was in afghanistan where the taliban and insurgents in afghanistan used this same sort of tactic, burning of korans, defacing of mosques, and pitting it against american soldiers to put them in danger. blaming you and the people with which you served for burning korans. yes, sir. then what happened? then we d have a back lash. all of the work to get to know the local nationals, the leadership, would suddenly be completely trumped because we were dealing with this propaganda campaign that the taliban and insurgents had used against us.
this is in your opinion a very practical issue. this is not, we shouldn t be covering this because it s giving attention to somebody who is off sort of on the deep end and trying to get publicity for his own cause or somehow trying to bash back lash against people he sees as an enemy. this is a practical thing with which you have essentially practical experience of your own first hand? yes. last year, less than a year ago i was in afghanistan where the taliban and insurgents in afghanistan used this same sort of tactic, burning of korans, defacing of mosques, and pitting it against american soldiers to put them in danger. blaming you and the people with which you served for burning korans. yes, sir. then what happened? then we d have a back lash. all of the work to get to know the local nationals, the leadership, would suddenly be completely trumped because we were dealing with this propaganda campaign that the taliban and insurgents had used against us. it was intolerable.
chants of death to america. general petraeus spoke out against it saying burning korans will put american soldiers in harm s way. quote, he says, it could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort. it is precisely the kind of action the taliban uses and could cause significant problems. not just here, but everywhere in the world where we are engaged with the islamic community. but the radical pastor won t back down, saying his church plans to go through with it because we must send a clear message to the radical element of islam. we will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats. attorney general eric holder met with faith leaders today to discuss the rise of anti-muslim violence. the leaders just told nbc news holder described this violence as the greatest civil rights challenge of our time. they quoted him as saying the burn a koran day plan is idiotic and dangerous. joining me now is mike papantonio, host of the