Koran burning

Word comes, via the New York Times, that as many as seven UN aid workers in Afghanistan have been killed in rertribution for the burning of a Koran in Florida.

The desecration of the Koran was perpetrated by Terry Jones, the same nut-job who backed off from a similar threat last September.  

The massacre of the UN workers was perpetrated by a mob that had just left Friday prayers in a northern province of Afghanistan that, until now, was considered relatively safe.

Sadly, this will only serve to confirm two common stereotypes -- that Islam is more prone to violence than other religions and that the US is full of intolerant hicks.

Ironically, most of the US media chose to ignore Jones' ignorant stunt. But word somehow reached the northern reaches of Afghanistan.   Adding to the irony is this verse from the Koran itself (Chapter 49, verse 13): 

“We have made you nations and tribes that you may get to know one another.”