AFGHANISTAN/MILITARY: “The U.S. military in Afghanistan apologized Wednesday [9-6-17] for dropping leaflets in a northern province of the country that it said mistakenly contained an image deeply insulting to Muslims.
Maj. Gen. James Linder, commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force in Afghanistan, didn’t describe the derogatory image, saying in a statement only that it was ‘highly offensive to both Muslims and the religion of Islam.’
But photographs of the leaflet, airdropped by U.S. forces in Parwan province on Tuesday, quickly circulated on social media platforms here. While the Afghan government had no immediate comment, the Taliban—the Islamist militant group that the Afghan government, the U.S. and their allies have been fighting since 2001—quickly seized on it…
The leaflet shows a lion, symbolizing the U.S.-led international military coalition in Afghanistan, chasing a dog whose flank is emblazoned with the Taliban flag. The standard features the Islamic religious text known as the Shahada, a declaration of the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as his prophet.
The portrayal of Islamic religious scripture on a dog, an animal many Muslims consider haram, or unclean, is likely to be seen as highly offensive.”
-Habib Khan Totakhil and Craig Nelson, “U.S. Apologizes for Dropping Offensive Leaflets in Afghanistan,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 6, 2017 06:06pm