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Obama: apology "calmed things down" in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that his formal apology last week to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the burning of copies of the Koran at a U.S. military base had "calmed things down", after the incident spurred protests against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
"I think the reason that it was important ... is to save lives, and to make sure our troops who are there right now are not placed in further danger," Obama told ABC News in an interview before a dinner to honor U.S. war veterans.
The president wrote to Karzai to apologize after Afghan workers found charred copies of the Muslim holy book at the base near Kabul. Muslims view the Koran as the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.
"It calmed things down. We're not out of the woods yet," Obama said of his apology. "My criteria in any decision I make, getting recommendations from the folks who are actually on the ground, is what is going to be best to protect our folks and make sure they can accomplish their mission."
(Reporting By Alister Bull; Editing by Paul Simao)
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Western and Afghan officials say, this latest attack is likely to raise further questions about the future of Afghanistan’s struggling security forces.
It’s also important for the historical record that these two recent killings in south Afghanistan came after two senior U.S. officers were gunned down in the Afghan Interior Ministry on Saturday by what Afghan security officials say was a police intelligence official.
At least five NATO soldiers have been killed by Afghan security forces since the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base last month triggered widespread anger and protests.
These statistics clearly show that your apology has indeed “calmed things down” on the revenge killing part. Wonder why those people are still out on the streets “calmly” setting fire to NATO trucks and blowing up a bomb at the Jalalabad airport that killed 9 innocents?
Yes, clearly you’ve “calmed things down”….
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