Handing out Bibles is over the line IYO?
For Christians, it's our commission.
The US Military was not sent to Afghanistan as a Christian group or to represent Christ or the church. They were sent to represent the USA. And, the USA is not all Christian. I think it is fine for members of the US military to share bibles with other members of the US military if they chose to. Sharing Bibles with the Afghanistans though is not something that the US sent them to do and it apparantly is not what the US govt. wishes for them to do. If they go on their own or as part of a missionary group, that is another thing and they are free to do as they chose. But as representatives of the US military, they are not free to do as they chose and they should follow the rules of the military.
As Christians, we should follow the rules of the jobs that we are working whether it be as a teacher or as a grocery store clerk or as a member of the US military. If a teacher were to preach he gospel to her public school students and pass out Bibles to them, would that be appropriate?
If a grocery store clerk were to preach the gospel to people who shop there and pass out Bibles to them, would that be appropriate?
I do not think either case would be appropriate and those people could be fired from their jobs for doing that.
I did shop at a grocery store for a while where there was a wonderful older gentleman who bagged the groceries. Every time I saw him, he would greet me happily and he always said something about enjoying the Lord. It was the same line every time, but he was genuinely enjoying Christ and I enjoyed his enjoyment of Christ. I don't know if anyone who shopped there was ever offended by him, but I always enjoyed seeing him because his enjoyment of the Lord was so wonderful!
I think that if a member of the military is living Christ and expressing Christ in his or her daily living, that is wonderful! But, if the military tells them not to give out Bibles and they do it anyway, then I think that is wrong.