Biblische Verse (codes) an den Waffen der afghanischen Armee

[carpe_fortunam]

Biblische Verse (codes) an den Waffen der afghanischen Armee

 

Amerikanische Waffen mit biblischen Code eingraviert werden von den US Forces und den Afghanen benutzt, um gegen die Taliban zu kämpfen.

[...]

Die Waffen kommen von Trijicon [...].

[...]

 

PS.

vorweg: es tut mir leid, dass ich leider nicht die zeit habe, alles zu übersetzen - ich habe dennoch das, was mir wichtig schien, unterstrichen - was eine art abstract wäre, wenn ihr es einfach mal überliegt.

ein wichtiges thema, wie ich finde. deswegen wollte ich es mit euch teilen.

 

Bible codes in Afghan army guns
 
American guns inscribed with Bible codes are being used by US forces and Afghans to fight the Taliban.
 
Al Jazeera has discovered that some Afghan soldiers are using guns engraved with coded biblical references.
 
The weapons come from Trijicon, a manufacturer based in Wixon, Michigan, that supplies the US military. The company's now deceased founder, Glyn Bandon, started the practice which continues today.
 
David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Afghan capital Kabul, said: "It is a rallying cry for the Taliban. It gives them a propaganda tool.
 
"They've always tried to paint the US efforts in Afghanistan as a Christian campaign."

A Nato spokesman in Afghanistan has acknowledged that the practice is inappropriate but said that the guns will remain in use for now.

Nato reaction
 
Interviewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday, Colonel Gregory Breazile, of the Nato training command in Afghanistan, said: "We were told about it last night and when we looked into it, we noticed it was true.

"We started to take action and notify both the ministry of defence and our chain of command and they have all taken action so that we don't purchase any more of these sights.
 
"We gave the Afghan military these weapons. We are very disappointed, but it's a tiny little inscription and very hard to notice and I don't think it will be an issue in the field."
 
Acknowledging the mistake, Breazile said: "We would have not bought these sights had we known they had these inscriptions on them."

No complaints
 
Trijicon says that it has manufactured weapons sights with biblical inscriptions for three decades and never before received a complaint.

Officials from Trijicon also said that the US military had been a customer since 1995.
 
The inscriptions on the sights refer to passages in the New Testament.
 
One relates to the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians and says: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ".

Tom Munson, Trijicon's sales director, said: "We don't publicise this."
 
"It's not something we make a big deal out of. But when asked, we say, 'Yes, it's there'."

US contracts
 
The US Marine Corps was said by ABC News, which broke the news of the inscriptions, to have a $660 million contract over multiple years with Trijicon to make 800,000 units of the product. Trijicon has other contracts to supply the US amy with the sights.
 
The sights are used on weapons used during the training of Afghan and Iraqi soldiers under contracts with the US army and Marine Corps.
 
The Marines Corps have said that they will meet Trijicon managers to discuss future deals.
 
"If determined to be true, this is clearly inappropriate and we are looking into possible remedies," Commander Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman, told the AFP news agency.
 
Meanwhile, the US-based Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has called on Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, to immediately withdraw the equipment from combat.
 
"Having biblical references on military equipment violates the basic ideals and values our country was founded upon," Haris Tarin, MPAC Washington director, said in a statement.
 
"Worse still, it provides propaganda ammo to extremists who claim there is a 'Crusader war against Islam' by the United States."
 
US military forces have repeatedly stated that their missions in Afghanistan and Iraq are secular and they have a ban on proselytising.

Other countries
 
Separately, New Zealand has instructed Trijicon to remove the citations from future orders of the weapon sights.
 
The country said on Thursday that its military would remove the biblical citations from the rifle sights, as the messages were unsuitable given its involvement in operations in Muslim countries.
 
"The inscriptions ... put us in a difficult situation," Kristian Dunne, a New Zealand defence force spokesman, said.
 
"We were unaware of it and we're unhappy that the manufacturer didn't give us any indication that these were on there."

Dunne said that New Zealand has 260 such sights, first bought in 2004, which will continue to be used once the codes are removed as they are the best quality available.
 
Wayne Mapp, New Zealand's defence minister, said: "We all know of the religious tensions around this issue and it's unwise to do anything that could be seen to raise tensions in an unnecessary way."
 
The British defence ministry said it had placed an order for 400 of the gun sights but said it had not been aware of the significance of the inscriptions.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies