Tuesday: Petraeus Warns Against Quran Burning; Obama to Call for Tax Breaks

Indonesian demonstrators rally outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta to protest a Florida church’s plans to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Photo by Aldo Utama/AFP/Getty Images.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that an American church’s threat to burn copies of the Quran could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

“Images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence,” Petraeus said in an e-mail to the Associated Press.

Petraeus’ comments followed a protest Monday by hundreds of Afghans over the plans by Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center to burn copies of the Quran on church grounds to mark the anniversary of 9/11.

The pastor of the church, Terry Jones, told CNN on Tuesday that while the congregation plans to go through with its plans, the church is “weighing” its intentions.

The Washington Post also reports Tuesday on how American Muslims are planning to tone down their Eid celebrations marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting as the holiday falls this year around the 9/11 anniversary.

Obama to Call for New Tax Breaks

President Obama will call on Congress to pass new tax breaks allowing U.S. businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011. An administration official said the tax breaks would save businesses $200 billion over two years, allowing companies to have more cash on hand.

The president will outline the proposal Wednesday during a speech on the economy in Cleveland.

Marketplace reporter Scott Tong explains the plan:

“[I]f you’re for it, you argue that this creates jobs and contracts for the people who make stuff, like bulldozers and computers. If you’re against it, you argue this may not change much.”

Jefferson Thomas, One of ‘Little Rock Nine,’ Dies

Jefferson Thomas, one of the “Little Rock Nine” who provoked a major civil rights battle when they integrated Arkansas’ largest public high school in 1957, died Sept. 5 at a care facility in Columbus, Ohio.