Obama's Quran-Burning Apology: Religious Tolerance or Sign of Weakness?

Protests turn violent in Kunduz

Over the past few weeks, the US Military has been under fire for several dishonorable acts, including urinating on dead Taliban bodies and burning Qurans. Afghan citizens have been protesting violently against our military because of these incidents, specifically the burning of the Qurans. Just yesterday, four people were killed and 50 others were injured during a protest outside of the UN office in Kunduz.

President Obama has rightfully apologized for both of these acts, yet he is being scrutinized by, you guessed it, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. The White House hopefuls have stated that the Quran burning incident was unintentional, but the shooting of two US military officers was deliberate and should be apologized for.

What these two fail to see is that the burning of those Qurans was by no means an accident. What those NATO officials did was intentional and grossly inappropriate. If the Afghan military was caught burning Bibles or Torahs, Americans would be expecting an apology in return, without a doubt.

Santorum claimed that Obama's apology was "unacceptable". Now, whether or not we are religious, it should be embedded in our brains that the burning of a book which millions of people worship is the deed that's not acceptable. Tolerance is crucial to attaining peace in a world which one false move can cause an entire nation to erupt. So far, many Americans can't wrap their heads around that principle, and it's no coincidence that we are still hated by much of the Muslim world.