Former Army Colonel: Taliban using Quran burnings as leverage

Retired Army Col. David Lamm weighs in on the Taliban’s role in the ongoing violence in Afghanistan amid protests over Quran burnings.

On the reaction to the Quran burnings, Lamm says, “Well, it tells you that the rest of the Muslim world looks at this as an accident, as it was, a regrettable accident. But it also tells you that the Taliban, although it may think it’s an accident, that is not what they’re going to tell the Afghan people. And they are going to be in the business of winning the hearts and minds of Afghan people, using this incident strategically to gain some leverage….”

On President Obama’s apology, he states, “Any admission, any apology like this at this point on the ground in Afghanistan, particularly in the Pashtun south, is seen as number one, not as an apology but it is seen as, quite frankly, an admission of guilt and in any case a sign of weakness.”

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