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. it was awful. because the morale just plummets for the men and women on the ground when they work so hard
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 decorated individuals who are proud of their service, proud of the work they do over there, and they are the ones that are ultimately being highly insulted by this happening. it s absolutely awful. what do the troops, all of the muslim american troops and others want
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 decorated individuals who are proud of their service, proud of the work they do over there, and they are the ones that are ultimately being highly insulted by this happening. it s absolutely awful. what do the troops, all of the muslim american troops and others want to hear from their positions on the ground in afghanistan, from u
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. it was awful. because the morale just plummets for the men and women on the ground when they work so hard
two-point lead over democrat jerry brown is within the poll s sampling margin of error. in florida, democrat alex sink s seven-point lead over republican rick scott could be a lot narrower also because of the sampling error. also in florida, a church pastor tells cnn they have no intention of canceling plans to burn korans to mark the anniversary of 9/11. mitt romney s weighed in, telling politico, quote, burning korans is wrong on every level. and a facebook posting, sarah palin write, people have a constitutional right to burn a koran if they want to but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation, much like building a mosque at ground zero. and don t forget, the imam behind those plans for an islamic center and mosque near ground zero talks exclusively with cnn s soledad o brien tonight on larry king live at 9:00 p.m. eastern and a lot of buzz about that interview, john. you know, among other things,