US military struggles to teach troops to respect Quran

By IAN DUNCAN

Los Angeles Times

Published: March 8, 2012

REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON -- Troops serving in Afghanistan were advised never to touch the Quran, never to place anything on top of one, and to keep it off the floor and out of bathrooms. They were even told never to "talk badly" about it.

But the do's and don'ts said nothing about burning the Muslim holy book, which is what happened last month as a cache of Qurans was incinerated at Bagram air base, setting off riots across the country that killed more than 30 people and provoked attacks on U.S. forces.

An investigation by NATO officials into the burnings found five U.S. troops responsible, but it concluded that the actions were not deliberate and were the result of a miscommunication. The troops could face disciplinary action, but commanders in Afghanistan have not yet announced the form it will take.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops last week started mandatory refresher training on how to handle the Quran. Troops are now told flatly not to dispose of Qurans and will be urged to err on the side of caution when dealing with Arabic texts, assuming "material is sacred if there is any doubt over its religious significance."

But some experts think the more explicit approach might not stop future incidents. Montgomery McFate, an anthropologist who has worked closely with the U.S. Defense Department, said the issuance of cultural do's and don'ts was only useful to a point.

"It makes culture into a set of arbitrary rules. You don't understand why," she said. "The Bible is not considered itself a holy object, and unless you'd grown up in a religious tradition where that was true, you wouldn't understand the way that Muslims feel about the Quran."

Lt. Col. George Robinson is a senior officer in the Marine Corps' language and culture training programs and has seen the new training documents issued last month. "It's probably a little too simplistic to suggest that it's a simple matter of do's and don'ts," he said. "It's more a matter of why is the Quran important."

The Quran, which means "the recitation" in Arabic, is considered by Muslims to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammad.