Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta Statement regarding Incident at Bagram Airfield

Feb,22 2012

“ISAF Commander General John Allen notified me of the deeply unfortunate incident involving the inappropriate treatment of religious materials, including the Koran, at Bagram Airbase.  He and I apologize to the Afghan people and disapprove of such conduct in the strongest possible terms.  These actions do not represent the views of the United States military.  We honor and respect the religious practices of the Afghan people, without exception.  I support General Allen's swift and decisive action to investigate this matter jointly with the Afghan government.  I will carefully review the final results of the investigation to ensure that we take all steps necessary and appropriate so that this never happens again.”