THEATRUM BELLI

U.S. official calls Al Jazeera ‘irresponsible’
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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ARLINGTON, Va. — A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan has slammed an Al Jazeera story about a soldier in Afghanistan who received copies of the Bible in Pashto and Dari.
Al Jazeera has aired footage of a Bible study class last year at Bagram Air Base, in which the soldier said: "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get bibles for Afghanistan," according to Al Jazeera English’s Web site.
The Bibles were confiscated before they could be distributed because that would have violated General Order No. 1, which prohibits proselytizing, said Spc. Mary L. Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Combined Joint Task Force 101.

"The servicemember was not aware of that at the time," Gonzalez said Monday.
The Bibles were not paid for or translated by the U.S. military, she said.
"This is very irresponsible on their part to try to contort something out of video of a service and a Bible study class on a U.S. base for U.S. soldiers a year ago," said Col. Gregory Julian, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Julian warned that the story "could incite violence that could cost someone their life."
Al Jazeera English was unable to reach military officials for comment until after the story aired, a network spokesperson said Monday.
"As with all of our reporting, AJE made every attempt to show all sides of the story and this piece was no exception," the spokesman said. "We believe that this was an important story to tell to the world and are confident that the footage aired on AJE speaks for itself."

It is illegal to proselytize in Afghanistan, where an Afghan man who converted to Christianity fled to Italy in 2006 to avoid the death penalty.
In 2005, a bogus news report about U.S. interrogators desecrating the Quran triggered rioting in Afghanistan that killed several people. Some desecration, however, was later substantiated.
The Afghan government had no comment Monday on the Al Jazeera story, said Martin Austermuhle, a spokesman for the Afghan Embassy in Washington.
"We assume that the U.S. military will respond accordingly," Austermuhle said.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he was unaware of the details surrounding the incident.
"It certainly is — from the United States military’s perspective — not our position to ever push any specific kind of religion, period," Mullen said.

Écrit par : N | jeudi, 07 mai 2009

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