Iraqis say Marine promoted Christianity

[Asmodean]

BAGHDAD - A U.S. Marine handed out coins promoting Christianity to Muslims in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, outraged Sunni officials said Friday. The U.S. military responded quickly, removing a trooper from duty pending an investigation.

Tens of thousands of Shiites, meanwhile, took to the streets in Baghdad and other cities to protest plans for a long-term security agreement with the United States.

The rallies after Friday prayer services were the first to follow a call by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for weekly protests against the deal, which could lead to a long-term American troop presence.

Sharpening tensions?
The outcry could sharply heighten tensions over the proposal. The deal is supposed to be finished by July and replace the current U.N. mandate overseeing U.S.-led troops in Iraq.

Demonstrators in Baghdad’s Sadr City district chanted “No to America! No to the occupation!” A statement from al-Sadr’s office has called the negotiations “a project of humiliation for the Iraqi people.”

Smaller protests also were held in the Baghdad neighborhoods of Kazimiyah, Abu Dshir and the Shiite holy city of Kufa.

“We denounce the government’s intentions to sign a long-term agreement with the occupying forces,” Sadrist Sheik Asaad al-Nassiri said during a sermon in Kufa. “Our army will be under their control in this agreement and this will lead to them having permanent bases in Iraq.”

U.S. officials have insisted they are not seeking permanent bases in Iraq, although they have declined to comment on specific proposals until the negotiations are complete.

(continued at source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24886974/ )

They [Christians] never quit, now do they..?  

[Vichy]

I think the expansion of the US government's barbarism into yet another corner of the Earth is of more concern than the possibility that they may use Christianity to distract from their true motives.  The religion of patriotism is far more dangerous than the casual cultists, and it's doubtful many of the current crop of criminals actually believe in the Lord of Zombies, or at least that Zombieism is a primary motivating factor.  More likely they're using the Zombie Religion to stifle resistance to their robbery and murder from the Zombie-worshippers in the US.

[Will]

This is clearly symptomatic of the marriage of neo-conservatism and the radical religious right. I'm sure this type of deeply disrespectful behavior happens all the time. The Private with the glazed over look starts talking about Jesus to a Muslim who probably knows more about Jesus than most Christians (because Jesus is in the Qur'an). I can just imagine the Iraqi's collective eyes roll.

It's not bad enough that we've invaded Iraq illegally, do we have to try and convert them from one dangerous religion to another?

I think the expansion of the US government's barbarism into yet another corner of the Earth is of more concern than the possibility that they may use Christianity to distract from their true motives. The religion of patriotism is far more dangerous than the casual cultists, and it's doubtful many of the current crop of criminals actually believe in the Lord of Zombies, or at least that Zombieism is a primary motivating factor. More likely they're using the Zombie Religion to stifle resistance to their robbery and murder from the Zombie-worshippers in the US.

You're smart.

You might like this George Bernard Shaw quote (if you're not already familiar with it): "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it."

[Vichy]

Shaw was a wonderful playright and an awful sociologist.  Like many leftists he saw the stupidity of the warfare state, but like many leftists he couldn't see it was intimately connected with the welfare state.

I'm the character from "Man and Superman" who says, "I hate the poor so much I want to destroy them entirely."  These ignorant government educated savages are the bane of civilization (along with their Pater Familias the State) and the only way to get rid of them is to let civil society develop wealth and social coherence to a point where they're at least vaguely civilized or castigated if they can't behave like a rational human being.

[Will]

Shaw was a wonderful playright and an awful sociologist.

You both seem to agree on patriotism, which was my point. Oddly, you used this opportunity to try and attack "leftism":

Like many leftists he saw the stupidity of the warfare state, but like many leftists he couldn't see it was intimately connected with the welfare state.

If you'd like to make a thread discussing the welfare state, I'll meet you there.

[Vichy]

You both seem to agree on patriotism, which was my point. Oddly, you used this opportunity to try and attack "leftism":

Not that 'leftism' has any particular meaning anymore, but when it did, Shaw was definitley a leftist/socialist.