[piercehawkeye45]

You need to realize that this isn't about what any American thinks. It is about what Muslims in countries like Iraq or Afghanistan think. Every since the "war on terror" began, the United States has worked to differentiate it from a "war against Islam" for very obvious reason.

Who cares if someone gets offended? What if that offended person decides that they will join a terrorist group to defend their religion? What if that offended person will refuse to help US forces because they feel the US is attacking their religion?

Once again, this is about image. In Afghanistan, we are working extremely hard to establish and maintain good relations with the local population, but if they feel that our presence there is religious based, all of that will be ruined. The passages were taken off were a reason. And that reason is that those hurt US forces establish and maintain strategic relations with the Islamic population.