Two wrongs don’t make either of you right

By Sarah Dorchak

While we have been busy with midterms, exams and the ridiculous kony scandal, little attention has been paid to the Feb. 20 incident in Afghanistan, where five soldiers were caught burning copies of the Qu’ran. Outrage and riots ignited in response, leaving at least 30 Afghans dead and over 100 wounded. Now, in this past month, there have been two suicide bombing attacks at the American-run Bagram Air Base where the Qu’rans were burned, and this Sunday an American sergeant killed 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children. This merry-go-round of violence must stop.

I use the term merry-go-round because whoever commits these acts of violence appears to do so in pleasure. This pleasure, obviously, is derived from the passionate response to previous outrages, which is an expected response. I myself am passionately raging against this issue — the most common belief regarding why the Qu’ran was burned in the first place is because of a YouTube video of Afghans urinating on American soldiers’ graves. But the only way to stop this violent ride is to stop the outrages — for people to realize that both groups are in the wrong.

Currently there is an image gaining interest on the internet originating from The Republican Revolution Facebook page depicting a burned Afghan woman and a burned Qu’ran. The caption reads: “It’s ok to burn a woman . . . But it’s not ok to burn a book. Something is wrong with your priorities.” What should be obvious to everyone is that neither option is okay. I’m not siding with the practice of acid burning, nor am I supporting the burning of a religious — or any — book. Just because the “enemy” does something wrong does not mean you are in the right. If a few Afghans urinate on graves, it does not make burning their religious book condonable. If a few soldiers burn a precious book, it does not make bombing their air base correct.

The only solution to solve the compounding issues is a naïve one: to understand the others’ situation. Strangely, America fails in doing this, even though their whole constitution is based on the belief of freedom — of religion, of government, of country.

When it was a British colony, America fought for its freedom. Afghanistan is, arguably, doing essentially the same thing against America.

A lot of criticisms toward the rogue American sergeant attacking 16 Afghan civilians have been blamed on exhaustion of war, exhaustion of this violent merry-go-round. Many journalists are calling these last remnants of the Afghanistan war doomed, liking it to the opinions surrounding the Vietnam War. Understanding did not end the Vietnam War — a resounding American defeat by the Viet Cong did. Currently the Afghan War is in a similar stalemate. Instead of waiting for more lives to be lost on both sides, the invading force should be removed. Only then can the seeds of understanding be planted, and the merry-go-round ride of violence can come to an end.