Intervention

Defense Sec. Called Florida Pastor

Gates urged him to drop 9/11 Quran-burning.

Well this must have been quite a conversation. The Pentagon has confirmed that Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Florida pastor Terry Jones this afternoon to to express "grave concerns" about the pastor's plan to burn Qurans on Sept. 11. The plan was in opposition to a planned Islamic center near ground zero. A Defense spokesman said: "The secretary expressed his grave concerns to the pastor that going forward with the Quran-burning would put the lives of American servicemembers at risk, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan and he urged him not to proceed with the burning," he said. Later in the afternoon, Jones suspended off the event, pending a meeting with the imam of the so-called ground zero mosque.