A Florida church's plan to burn Korans on Sept. 11 isn't doing the troops in Afghanistan any favors, Gen. David Petraeus said Monday.

Hundreds of Afghans protested Monday in Kabul over the decision by the Gainesville, Fla.-based Dove World Outreach Center to burn copies of what Muslims consider the word of God.

Petraeus said he's concerned that the protests could spread across the country.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan. It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community," Petraeus said in a statement provided to Fox News.

Though Dove World Outreach Center has been denied a permit to hold a bonfire, the Koran burning is still scheduled to proceed on Saturday. The burning -- set to mark nine years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- follows a campaign last year in which the church distributed T-shirts that said "Islam is of the Devil."

In a blog on the church's website, writer Fran Ingram offered the groups’ reasoning for burning the Koran, arguing that it is not God's word and denies Jesus is the son of God, that Islam is totalitarian and that the religion teaches idolatry, paganism, rites and rituals.

"We are using this act to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful. We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world and we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth," the blog reads.

Other writings by the same blogger include headlines like "Islam is Cursed by Cursing Israel" and "The Koran: A Sorcerer's Scroll."

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued a statement condemning the church's plans, saying Washington was "deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups."

But outside the U.S. Embassy, where as many as 500 protestors chanted "Long live Islam" and "Death to America," demonstrators argued that the church isn't acting of its own will.

"We know this is not just the decision of a church. It is the decision of the president and the entire United States," said Abdul Shakoor, an 18-year-old high school student who said he joined the protest after hearing neighborhood gossip about the Koran burning.

Burning a Koran is considered by Muslims among the most offensive actions taken against Islam. In 2005, 15 people died and scores were wounded in riots in Afghanistan sparked by a story in Newsweek magazine alleging that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay placed copies of the Koran in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk. Newsweek later retracted the story.

Fox News' Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/06/petraeus-warns-churchs-koran-burning/

I have the upmost respect for General Patraeus. If he says it may endanger our and our allies men and women over there then I believe him, I shouldn't have supported that, even though it's the right thing to do. I don't want anything to happen to our's and or our allies troops.

i always thought it was a bad idea...book burnings have always had bad endings, seems kinda hitlerish...

And Islam isn't Hitlerish?

Hey, if they're gonna' do it, I have to stand behind their decision. It is within their Constitutional right. Many feel Islam is a cult anyway.

The Muslim terrorists sure don't have any qualms about showing their displeasure with US citizens.

Except, they don't burn books, they cut the heads off innocents.

If they want to come on over and commence some get-down, we can hold our own.

Oh, and what happened that Islam is supposed to practice peace, tolerance and forgiveness???

I agree it's with in their rights and hell I was all for it, hell it even gave me a stiffy! But if Patraeus says it will endanger his forces then I have to ask that they dont.

I also just read that the Church doing this is alligned with the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Phelps and protest together. Westboro is a hate group and are the ones that protest at the funerals of our soldiers who didn't make it back from Afganistan and Iraq and other's like the funeral and memorail of Brianna Dennison a locally girl who was kidnapped, brutally raped and murdered.

There's a war goin' on. They are in danger whether a book is burned or not.

This action will just pull the terrorists out of the closet and Petraeus and the guys can just kill more Muslim Terrorists.

IF it is their right,( I thought I read another piece concerning a burning of something symbolic like a bible or flag and it WASNT permitted in THAT community )

I dont want troops to be in danger BUT they already are by virtue of the mission they were sent on,,,,

and I dont subscribe to the 'i know you have the right but I dont think you should use it' type bullying

money talks, in situations where money matters(which is almost all of them) people can talk by not purchasing or contributing,,,,which would be THEIR right

No it is, they just have to apply well in advance for a burn permit, which they didn't do.

Still, if it puts them in danger im against it.

indeed mightymoe, the only thing to fear is becoming what it is that you would vanquish.

why stoop to the level of religious extremism, terrorism and insult. Do we wish to become what we abhor? I don't, and I do not think that most Americans do.

We have in the United States, religious freedom, freedom of worship.

Not only is the Gainesville plan abhorent in it's sheer ugliness, it is misguided. To rise above and enter through the narrow gate as Christ would have us do is the higher road and better way to show love to humankind and draw others to Christ. The Koran is not a socerer's tool, nor an instrument of the devil. That is silly nonsense, laughable were it not so dangerous in it's thinking & influence (potentially).

Islam is an Old Testament religion rife with retribution. Hence, the value inherent in the coming of the Christ and the message of love. I cannot emphasize enough how Christ's message is juxtaposed against old testament retribution and emphasize enough that Christ came to free us from Old Testament retribution, sacrifice and plunder. (reference: Christ in the Temple, in the Desert, and on the Mount)

But it would seem that some of these odd sects that call themselves "Christian" would be old testament even in their Christainity: misguided and contradictory indeed.

The Christian message is to bring love to people & situations, to do unto others as u would have done to u. To forgive and turn the other cheek. Perhaps a little bible study - New Testament, the Word of Jesus is a little overdue in Gainesville, Fla.

If they do burn them, I'll predict the future.

Any time a troop is killed in Afghanistan, Petraeus, the Politician, can claim it was because of a quran burning.

He's not just a General, he's a politician also.

Again he claims it "could" cause protests.

In a country full of Islamic extremists, we could sneeze wrong and they will protest.

I see no big deal.

Just speculation.

Hey, becareful I am starting a Draft Patraeus 2012 movement!

Just keep in mind who his boss is.

He will pass along messages from the supreme puppet.

Ummmm, he stands up to Obama all the time and he is a hard core Republican.

doesn't mean we have to be...

He's also been giving lectures in early Republican Primary States and places where people start to campaign early. People, including Fox News and CNN see him exploring his options and considering a run already.

And the Islam message is to marry and have sex with 6 year olds, then beat your wife when shes out of line, then sell your daughter and kill the non believers.

they did apply for it, and they were turned down.

Because they didn't apply well enough in advance from what I heard.