A mob of fanatics attacked and killed 7 UN workers in Afghanistan yesterday. The reason? The Florida preacher Terry Jones - desperate for media attention after being ignored for a few months - burned a Koran on March 20 - almost two weeks ago.

For the 14th century peasants who have now rioted for two days, it seems news travels slowly to that part of the world.

But the question isn't about benighted religious extremists who go off at the slightest hint of disrespect to their holy book and prophet. The shocking question is why is the press, and much of the West, excusing the violence by pointing to the Koran burning as a justification for it?

New York Times:

Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters on Friday overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city, killing at least 12 people, Afghan and United Nations officials said.

[...]

The dead included at least seven United Nations workers - four Nepalese guards and three Europeans from Romania, Sweden and Norway - according to United Nations officials in New York. One was a woman. Early reports, later denied by Afghan officials, said that at least two of the dead had been beheaded. Five Afghans were also killed.

Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion - the nearby United Nations headquarters. "Some of our colleagues were just hunted down," said a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.

In Washington, President Obama issued a statement strongly condemning the violence against United Nations workers. "Their work is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan for the benefit of all its citizens," he said. "We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence." The statement made no reference to the Florida church or the Koran burning.

The president was correct in not including reference to Koran burning in his statement. By doing so, he would have given the illogical, unreasoning, intolerant, violently sick extremists a pass for their murderous rampage.

There is no reason on earth for murdering people, regardless of the "provocation." This is especially true when it comes to reacting to the mindless, intolerant bigot in Florida. If Jones wants to burn a Koran, as long as he's not violently attacking anyone or advocating such, he is within his rights to do so. There is no law against idiocy, nor even hate as long as the hater does not violate the rights of another.

Melanie Phillips recently got into trouble with the PC police in Great Britain for referring to mindless, Muslim fanatics as "savages" for murdering an Israeli family in their beds. I think that description would be apt in this case as well.