Attack on UN in Afghanistan
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StateWashington, DCApril 1, 2011
I am shocked and saddened by the attack today on the compound of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Mazar-e-Sharif. There is no justification for this atrocity and I join President Obama in condemning this violence in the strongest possible terms.
On behalf of the United States, I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims, Special Representative Staffan de Mistura, and his UNAMA colleagues. The United Nations staff killed were in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people build a better future.
The United Nations has stood by the Afghan people for more than fifty years. They have saved countless lives and delivered essential food and supplies. They are a force for peace, progress and stability in Afghanistan and throughout the world.
The United States strongly supports UNAMA and its mission and we will continue to stand together for a more peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, radical fundamentalist cleric, Terry Jones, whose burning of the Qu'uran prompted the attack, stands by his barbeque lighter saying Afghan U.N. Violence 'Proves My Point'. There are Arabic people in my neighborhood and mosques in my city. We are a diverse and tolerant place, and I respect my neighbors as they respect me. I would not want "Pastor" Jones to open his "church" in my neighborhood. NIMBY! There is no place for the preaching of hatred in Christianity.
Jones hijacks Christianity when he puts forth his toxic message as surely as the 9-11 hijackers took over more than the planes they crashed. They usurped the message and religion of Islam. That Terry Jones believes Islam to be evil is his own poor judgment. To spread that idea in the name of religion is unethical. To perform the act of burning a book of scripture is reprehensible, That it had the potential to prompt violence was predictable. The blood of today's attack is on his hands every bit as much as it is on those who killed innocent people who were there to help the people of Afghanistan.
