Abdulhakim Muhammad, an American Muslim convert who fired an automatic weapon into a US Army recruiting center in Arkansas, has said that he did so because of the US military’s past actions against Muslims.\u00a0 His barrage killed one soldier and wounded another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muhammad, whose original name was Carlos Bledsoe, said his actions were<\/p>\n
for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the world, and also a retaliation on US military.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to the news report<\/a>, Muhammad<\/p>\n
wanted revenge for claims that American military personnel had desecrated copies of the Koran and killed or raped Muslims.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He said the U.S. military would never treat Christians and their Scriptures in the same manner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The most recent allegation of abuse of the Koran was the US soldier who used the religious text for “target practice<\/a>” in 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prior to that, allegations about desecration were in a Newsweek article that was ultimately retracted<\/a>, though it still resulted in violent protests around the world.\u00a0 A US military investigation<\/a> ultimately found that there were five instances of “mishandling” of the Koran, none of which were malicious.\u00a0 By contrast, there were 15 incidents in which detainees themselves “mishandled” their own Korans.<\/p>\n
Muhammad’s comparison with “Christian scriptures” is hardly valid, given that there is no doctrinal belief in Christianity that Bibles require sacred handling.\u00a0 Thus, the “mishandling” at Guantanamo, which included guards “touching” the Koran or placing it on the floor, has no comparison in Christianity.\u00a0 Muhammad also misses the obvious “scandal” that was just recently in the press, when the US military admitted to confiscating and destroying Bibles<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Obama’s treatment of the attack has been derided in some circles, particularly when compared<\/a> with his response to the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.\u00a0 Of note has been the speed with which the administration responded to each event, as well as the semantic differences in the statements<\/a>.<\/p>\n