BAGHDAD – The U.S. military confirmed yesterday that a Marine in Fallujah passed out coins with Gospel verses on them to Sunni Muslims, a military spokesman in Fallujah said. The man was immediately removed from duty and reassigned.
The coins angered residents, who said they felt that the U.S. troops, whom they consider occupiers, were also acting as Christian missionaries in a predominantly Muslim nation.
“It did happen,” said Mike Isho, a spokesman for Multi-National Force West. “It's one guy and we're investigating.”
The Marine was passing out silver coins to residents of Anbar province with Arabic translations of Bible verses on them. On one side, the coin read “Where will you spend eternity?” and on the other, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16.”
A force was sent to the western gate of Fallujah and the Marines there were searched, Isho said.
One man was found with the coins, removed from the gate and will no longer be working in predominantly Sunni Anbar province, he said.
The U.S. military apologized for the incident yesterday, saying action would be taken after an investigation.
“Regulations prohibit members of the coalition force from proselytizing any religion, faith or practices, and our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy,” Col. Bill Buckner, a Multi-National Corps spokesman, said in a statement.
One Marine making a mistake shouldn't brand the work of hundreds of Marines, Sgt. Maj. Neil O'Connell said.
Marines from Camp Pendleton are currently deployed in Anbar province.
