The White House press secretary told members of the press pool aboard Air Force One today that President Obama’s “sincere” apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for a Koran-burning incident “is not appropriate to show” to reporters.
Jay Carney spoke with reporters for about 20 minutes as the presidential entourage flew to Florida for a speech on energy at the University of Miami.
Obama’s letter to Karzai that included the apology was “a lengthy, three-page letter on a host of issues, several sentences of which relate to this matter,” according to the travel pool report.
“The president, following up on a telephone conversation … wrote a long letter on a variety of issues related to our bilateral engagement, including reconciliation, including the trilateral talks that we had with Pakistan last week in Islamabad,” Carney said. “He also expressed his apology for the inadvertent burning of religious materials by American personnel in Afghanistan. It is wholly appropriate given the understandable sensitivities to this issue. His primary concern as commander in chief is the safety of American men and women in Afghanistan, of our military and civilian personnel there. It’s absolutely the right thing to do.”
Carney said Karzai did not request the apology letter. Obama spoke with Karzai the day before sending the letter.
“I would note that one of my predecessors, Dana Perino, the press secretary for President George W. Bush, following an incident in which American servicemen apparently shot, did damage to a Koran in 2008,” the press secretary said. “She expressed apologies on behalf of the president. And that’s appropriate for the same reason, because our concern – this president’s concern, as was surely the case with President Bush – is the safety and security of our men and women in uniform as well as our civilians in Afghanistan.
“One of the reasons that it’s appropriate to express our sincere apologies for this incident is the kind of reaction that it could cause that risks putting our men and women in harms way, in further risk than they already are,” Carney said. “So I think that precedent is a useful one to look at.”
(Note: After this post was written, the White House pool reporter issued a correction that Carney said “sincere,” not “severe,” apologies as they first reported. It has been corrected here.)
The 52%-ers owe America a ‘severe’ apology for inflicting this embarrassing excuse for a President on the country.
Where are the apologies from the muslim world for prosecuting, oppressing, torturing, murdering people of a different religion all over the world ?
See
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
Another closed door meeting… I bet Obama dropped to his Knees with a gleam in his eye !!!
2 American soldiers shot by an Afghan soldier at a protest over a book being burned.
Where’s the apology by Karzai for that?
Maybe it’s time to leave the Afghani savages to the Taliban.
Absolutely time to leave it to the taliban. Those people aren’t interested in freedom and equality. Those two things are in direct contradiction with islam.
You’d think the women would at least want equality, but they’re protesting right along with the men.
Absolutely leave them to their own demise!! I for one am sick of seeing our troops dying for equality that they obviously DO NOT WANT! This president needs to be impeached! But neither Dems nor Reps have the courage to do what is in the best interest of WE THE PEOPLE. They are too cozy in their benefits and pay that they steal from the American public! In the near future Obumma will leave them in their seats and carry on from a different location with all his Czars!
Maybe we should send a letter to the Afghanistan government apologizing for electing such boobs as President, vice pres, and the rest of this Marx brothers show. It is probably an insult to Karzai’s intelligence to have to deal with such idiots.
This whole situation is beyond absurd! Good grief, it’s a BOOK, so what! Maybe we should throw a national temper tantrum and demand apologies every time the Islamics burn American flags!
I am always sure obummer can’t embarrass citizens any more than the last time, and he always proves that wrong.
Maybe Obama will write a letter of apology to Americas Catholics for trashing their freedom of conscience. Uhhh – ya think??
What a bunch of disgusting posters who call themselves American. What George W Bush did and what Obama just did was appropriate. He’s trying to save lives of soldiers from primitive people who are mostly illiterate and who think the Quran is the book of their god. Most of them have no idea after 10 years why we are there in the first place.
What Newt just did is announce to the voters he has no business being the POTUS
Did it work?
Given that they’re illiterate boobs, what makes you think an apology would work?
You don’t understand, Obama’s apology is meaningless to these people unless it is followed by the execution by hanging or beheading of the soldiers who burned books. This is the level of mentality we are dealing with. There is an abyss between our cultures. In Western civilization, forgiveness is an appropriate response to apology. To the Taliban tribal culture an apology needs an act to back it up. Since Obama has no intention, I hope, of turning our soldiers over to the Taliban mob, his apology is seen by them as a sign of abject weakness. From my point of view his apology is a stab in the back to our fighting men. These guys are spilling their blood to preserve a way of life that is the antithesis of Western civilization. Tribal feudalism and warfare is their way of life. No freedom, no life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Just dirty ragtag war lords seeking their little piece of the action and selling opium to the infidels.
– parency.
Wow, it is even worse than we first thought.
From what I understand, the Quran was being used to pass intelligence between prisoners using the prison library in Afghanistan. Qurans involved were torched and that was as it should be. Please do not apoligize to anyone for me. I support the burning of intelligence notes.
I thought these types of letters had to be made public?
you thought wrong.
Does this idiot think that Dana Perino, a press secretary, apologizing is equivalent to a THREE page apology letter and personal phone apologies from the President of the US? This man ran on “the most transparent administration ever “. Sadly, to many of us with common sense, despite their attempts, their bs couldn’t be more transparent.
transparent administration is an oxymoron
So much for OPENNESS….
Ok Simple solution. . . They burn our flag we send a drone and end that threat to our sacred symbol. They do their little broadcast and in the middle of it. . . BOOOOOM! Obama is more a muslim than an american. Life history and facts are hard to dispute.
And your lies and hate are transparant.
Again where was the hate? Oops my bad liberal projection strikes again
Are you kidding ? The press should demand it.
Obama probably said something like “I fooled the Westerners. They do not challenge me, because they fear being called a racist!. Islam will rule soon in America. Be patient, my freind. Praise Allah”
Don’t fear Shariah Law, unless you are gay, or you are female !
Are you kidding ? The press should demand it.
Obama probably said something like “I fooled the Westerners. They do not challenge me, because they fear being called a racist!. Islam will rule soon in America. Be patient, my freind. Praise Allah”
Don’t fear Shariah Law, unless you are gay, or you are female
Another show of weakness by the person who occupies the White House. Let’s get this community organizer back to where he belongs….
Poor Steve – do you really believe apologizing is showing weakness? How sad for you. I hope you grow up some day and realize what real strength is.
And you forgot bowing incessantly is a magnanamious show of strength.
Bush did it so I can do it too defense?
More transparency from Obama and his minions. (chuckles)
thank god we have the most transparent government ever seen.
odumbo hates america and Christians and loves the muslim murderers…he is always apologizing to them for AMerica…
Wanna make a bet the apology was written in Farsi?
yeah, I’ll take that bet.
This November Americans will write an open letter of apology to the world for the presidency of Brack Obama.
It is only fitting that everyone know with resounding clarity that America rejects this man and the hope and change slimmed horse he rode into office.
We’re sorry, World, it won’t happen again.
When do the brain dead out there start to think something might be up with the fact that this miserable failure of a President hides so much from everyone. My mother did not like me to hang out with anyone that took any effort to conceal their true self. How have things changed ? He’s lied, cheated, apologized for our actions and continues to bypass the Constitution as he thinks he has a better way. Has he not pissed away trillions and for what ? I see nothing at all in the way of relief to this country given how much money he’s borrowed and you think Bush screwed things up. Admit you voted in an absolute ringer,no good lying cheat. Prove otherwise. You can’t.
What a sorry excuse for a human let alone the President of the United States of America
Since when does the American public feel that the President was right in not only apologizing, but promising another semi-corrupt foreign president that he will make sure that the people involved in buring the Koran were identified and punished? That’s a lot different than former President Bush having his press secretary express his apologies that a Koran had been shot. Obama and his administration have already been on witch hunts to prosecute and persecute American military personnel after firefights, but he has never picked up a weapon, and even held his hands over his crotch when the flag passed by during the ceremony at Ft. Hood after his Muslim major murdered so many American soldiers on our own home ground.
I’ve been saying this for over 15 years,,,,6″ of glass throughout the medieval east. This is for the illiberals ‘educated’ in ivy league schools of lower learning, with extreme heat, sand turns into glass, very extreme heat….