{"id":3205,"date":"2007-08-26T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-26T08:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/08\/afghans-insulted-by-soccer-bal.html"},"modified":"2007-08-26T08:59:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-26T08:59:00","slug":"afghans-insulted-by-soccer-bal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/08\/afghans-insulted-by-soccer-bal.html","title":{"rendered":"Afghans insulted by soccer balls"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think it would be a good idea if we could actually understand the culture that we are dealing with in this war on terror. Why needlessly anger the people<\/a> that we have to get on our side:<\/p>\n

A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they distributed footballs bearing the name of Allah.
\nThe balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag which features the Koranic declaration of faith.
\nThe US military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offence.
\nThe footballs [soccer balls]were dropped from a helicopter in Khost province.
\nSome displayed flags from countries all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, which features the shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam – the declaration of faith.
\n[…]
\nSaudi Arabia has complained to the World Cup’s ruling body in the past about the use of its flag on footballs.
\n[…]
\nAfghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: “To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think it would be a good idea if we could actually understand the culture that we are dealing with in this war on terror. Why needlessly anger the people that we have to get on our side: A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":307,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[144,63],"class_list":["post-3205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-under-the-sun","tag-afghanistan","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nAfghans insulted by soccer balls - Reformed Chicks Blabbing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2007\/08\/afghans-insulted-by-soccer-bal.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghans insulted by soccer balls - Reformed Chicks Blabbing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I think it would be a good idea if we could actually understand the culture that we are dealing with in this war on terror. 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