A soldier used a Quran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad, prompting an apology from the military, a spokesman said Sunday.
We may wish that we dealt with less excitable Moslems, but that is not the case. We can't just say this was performance art and that Moslems should get over it since it involves artistic freedom.
The effect of this stunt was such that he might as well have pointed his weapon at his platoon mates and opened fire on them.
UPDATE: The soldier was removed from Iraq:
An American sniper was removed from Iraq after he used a copy of the Quran for target practice, the military said Sunday, a day after a U.S. commander held a formal ceremony apologizing to Sunni tribal leaders.
I thought we might have gotten away with moving him to another area inside Iraq--for his own protection as much as removing a source of anger from the area he was in--but perhaps that would have been insufficient to protect him.
Ultimately, we will have finally won the Long War when incidents like this are met with anger but no beheadings.
