Gingrich, Palin Blast Obama Apology for Koran Burning

Hamid Karzai should apologize for violence, says Newt
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 24, 2012 3:14 AM CST
Gingrich, Palin Blast Obama Apology for Koran Burning
Newt Gingrich is teed off about President Obama's apology for the Koran burning in Afghanistan.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin are trying to make President Obama sorry he apologized. Obama said he's sorry for an a "inadvertent" Koran-burning incident on a US military base in Afghanistan that has sparked days of rioting and resulted in the death of two American soldiers. But Gingrich ripped the apology as an "outrage," reports ABC News. It's “Hamid Karzai who owes the American people an apology,” Gingrich said in a written statement. “This destructive double standard whereby the US and its allies refuse to hold accountable leaders who tolerate systematic violence must come to an end.”

Sarah Palin also piled on, demanding in a tweet that the Afghan military apologize for the death of the soldiers, reportedly shot dead during protests by a "man in an Afghan army uniform." Mitt Romney hasn't spoken up, but said last year: "I will never, ever apologize for America,” apparently regardless of the situation. The White House press secretary defended the president's apology, calling it "absolutely the right thing to do," given the "understandable sensitivities" involving the Koran, he said. Obama vowed in his apology—issued before the soldiers were killed—to take appropriate steps to "avoid any recurrence," including "holding accountable those responsible.” (More Hamid Karzai stories.)

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