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US military regrets offending Muslims after soccer ball drop in Afghanistan
[Quote:]
The U.S. military regrets any offense it may have caused by handing out a soccer ball emblazoned with the name of Allah on it as part of a public relations exercise in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.
At least one of the balls — which were dropped by helicopter to children in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan on Friday — carried a small picture of the Saudi Arabian flag. The flag features in Arabic script the Islamic declaration of faith, which contains the words Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.
Villagers were “upset and angry” when they saw the ball, said Khost governor Arsalah Jamal.
“They wanted to demonstrate, but we explained to them it was a mistake,” he said Monday.
Muslims treat with the utmost respect any printed matter containing verses of the Koran or the name of Allah or his prophet on it. Most would find the idea of kicking a ball emblazoned with those two names as deeply offensive.
A totally understandable error on the US military part, after all, they’ve only been dealing with a Muslim population for, what, like two days now?
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