FBI Report Cites Quran Abuse

Recently released FBI files document allegations of Quran abuse at the Guantanamo Bay prison. But I’m not sure this provides anything new. All the FBI documented were stories from prisoners who claimed guards desecrated the Quran. Prisoners have been claiming this for years. It’s no surprise that they’d tell the FBI the same story.

So how do we know if this is just a scurrilous rumor spread by prisoners or if there is some truth here? We don’t. For now, each of us must decide for ourselves whether we want to trust our government or the prisoners, some if not most of whom are members of the Taliban and/or al Qaeda.

Given the abuses at Abu Ghraib and in Afghanistan, I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think prison guards would never desecrate the Quran. But without any evidence outside of prisoner allegations, it would be ridiculous to just take our enemy’s word for it. Some on the left may not like it, but our government is by far the more trustworthy of the two sides.

I don’t know what really happened. All I do know is 1) we need a full, independent investigation into the very real prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib and in Afghanistan, and 2) we should make no excuse for those who reacted violently to the news that their holy book may have been desecrated. There is no excusing the murderous riots or those who led them.