Ever the one for florid vitriol, and never failing to connect Christianity to military scandals, Michael Weinstein claims the recent burning of Korans at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, was an intentional act of Christian “exceptionalism aimed at the people of Afghanistan.”

The root of this ongoing crisis is the fundamentalist Christian extremist scourge within the U.S. Military.

Naturally, Weinstein fails to say how he knows the religious beliefs or the malicious motivations of the troops involved — yet he still manages to call for their court-martial.

Multiple media sites are discussing the fact that the NATO/American contrition over the burning of religious materials and Korans at Bagram Air Base may actually be hurting the mission.

Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich slammed President Obama’s apology and suggested the US leave Afghanistan to its own devices:

He continued, “The president apologized for the burning, but I haven’t seen the president demand that the government of Afghanistan apologize for the killing of two young Americans…”

“If Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, doesn’t feel like apologizing, then I think we should say good bye and good luck. We don’t need to be here risking our lives and wasting our money on somebody who doesn’t care.”

Karzai is often seen as playing both sides — making America look bad, but also needing the US presence to ensure his government doesn’t fall.

The Washington Times was fairly blunt:

Raucous Afghan mobs have forced a presidential apology, even after two American soldiers were killed. The extremists win again…

What offends Americans is not just the obsequiousness of Mr. Obama’s response but its one-sidedness. Mr. Karzai will not apologize for the deaths of our troops, for the American-flag and Obama-effigy burnings or for the uncivilized behavior of his volatile people. Nor will Washington demand such an apology.

The World Net Daily, which tends toward tabloid-style reporting, did note the apology over the Qurans is quite different from the US military defending its Bible-burning in 2009:

[Clare Lopez, a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy] said the military’s defense of burning Bibles – while simultaneously showing veneration for the Quran – reveals a shocking lack of understanding regarding the Muslim perception of those outside the Islamic faith.

When Lopez tried to argue that the Afghans would actually respect strength over weakness — both political and religious — she actually hinted at a governmental bias toward Islam:

Lopez argued that when military and government officials show a higher level of reverence for the Quran than the Bible, they are sending a message that America does not believe the Bible is as sacred as the Quran.

The LA Times forwarded a different take in an interview with Rochelle Davis

an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Georgetown University who has interviewed scores of U.S. military personnel and Iraqi refugees about their experiences.

Davis posits that the anger over the Koran burning is a symptom of the greater problem of the US “occupation.”