The soldiers did not according to the article force anyone to listen to what they had to say nor did they tell them that their religion was wrong.
By going into a country where we're already in hostile territory and trying to convert Muslims away from the religion that is just as important to them as Christianity is to you the soldiers were, in essence, trying to tell them their religion is wrong. If a religion isn't wrong, why the need to convert?
Would you feel so strongly if soldiers had tried to hand out inappropriate contentographic magazines or ham sandwiches to Muslims (both of which are also illegal for soldiers to take into the Middle East)? When my husband was in the Marines during Desert Storm, they were briefed on all of the items they could not take into Kuwait, if they were actually deployed. Among the items were sacred texts of any kind that did not pertain to Islam, books on Witchcraft, inappropriate contentographic materials, certain magazines, pork products, certain movies and works of written fiction and certain types of music cassette tapes. Certain tattoos also have to be covered to prohibit offending the local citizens.
They preached the message of Christ and intended to give them bibles in thier own language.
Which would be fine if they were missionaries who were willing to face the potentially dire consequences of proselytizing in a foreign country. We're talking about the Military, which has a specific code of conduct and honor. You're not the one or two or one hundred Christians who use an opportunity to try and lure the native inhabitants away from their religion. You're supposed to be a cohesive unit. When one or more people deviate from the code of conduct that they have taken an oath to uphold, it puts the entire unit at risk, even more so than their mere occupation in such a country.
By the way we do not worship the same God, for we worship the God of the bible not the koran. We worship Jesus Christ, but the muslims believe he was a mere prophet and they refuse to believe that Jesus is God. They worship a God of hate and works. But we worship a God of love and grace.
The God of the Koran and the God of the Christian Bible are the same God. Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah, but you would agree that Christians and Jews alike worship the same God. "Allah" means God. Many Christian denominations also reject Jesus being God. I realize that to some Christians that means they must not truly be Christians, but that is beside the point. The God of the Christian Bible and the God of the Koran both demonstrate attributes that appear violent, spiteful and merciless as well as merciful, loving and gentle.