Good Point

Needlenose | We Needle. You Decide.:

"Afghan writer Ismail Yoon told RFE/RL's Afghan Service from Nangarhar that it's possible the violence is being instigated by disaffected political elements who now find themselves on the outside of the country's political process.

In other words, the allegations about the Koran -- though serious in themselves -- were an excuse to cause trouble for Karzai's government.

'Jalalabad has a big population, and this issue is a very sensitive religious issue,' Yoon said. 'Naturally, people get very excited and emotional when it comes to religious issues. It is possible that some people who had a hand in these demonstrations and organized them were aiming to create violence.'Wait, slow down and let me see if I understand this. You mean to say that people are cynically using religion to manipulate the general public into supporting political goals?

Wow. Thank goodness we don't live in a backward country like Afghanistan where things like that can happen."