Uncle Sam wants US Muslims to serve

[sabra]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p03s01-usmi.html

Uncle Sam wants US Muslims to serve
The Pentagon builds Islamic prayer rooms and hires imams to make military life more appealing.

WASHINGTON – As US troops battle Islamic extremists abroad, the Pentagon and the armed forces are reaching out to Muslims at home.
An underlying goal is to interest more Muslims in the military, which needs officers and troops who can speak Arabic and other relevant languages and understand the culture of places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort is also part of a larger outreach. Pentagon officials say they are striving for mutual understanding with Muslims at home and abroad and to win their support for US war aims. Among the efforts to attract and retain Muslim cadets:

• West Point and the other service academies have opened Muslim prayer rooms, as have military installations.

• Imams serve full- and part-time as chaplains at the academies and some bases.

• Top non-Muslim officers and Pentagon officials have taken to celebrating religious events with Muslims overseas and here in the US.

"There is a message here, and that is that Muslims and the Islamic religion are totally compatible with Western values," says Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England in an interview.

[Tom Joad]

1. I hope they refuse to serve in Bush's war of terrorism. Like everyone else should.

[madeline_con]

2. Condescending bullshit, IMO. n/t

[donheld]

11. Exactly right. I hope they tell'em all to go to hell

do muslims believe in hell?

[madeline_con]

13. Yes, they do.

My son sent me an audio tape of hell (supposedly) captured by Russian geologists digging for something.

Satan was yelling "Who is your God?" the penitent were replying in unison, "Allah!" I realize the authenticity is questionable, :eyes: but the thing was unsettling.

[Say_What]

3. F*ck Uncle Sam... let the NeoCons go, it's their war. n/t

[saigon68]

4. I guess the troops (and marines)

Will have to kool the "camel jockey" jokes now

[jwirr]

5. And I want the *ss twins to serve.

[leesa]

12. Or George P Bush. Why isn't his ass over there?

[Eugene]

6. Attract patriotic Muslims, like James Yee

who got purged in a witch hunt at Guantanamo Bay?

Outreach is good even at this late date but have the armed forces cleaned up their act
regarding institutionalized hostility to Muslims. Does our government even trust Muslim
citizens or persons who know Arabic? These problems have hobbled America's efforts in
the "War on Terror" from the beginning.

[fujiyama]

7. This is the same Pentagon

that has a fundamentalist evangelical prayer "meeting" every week...with those delivering the speeches wielding great influence on US foreign policy.

[MountainLaurel]

8. After the post-9/11 roundups

It would be a frigid day in hell before I joined the military if I were Muslim, to serve the government that treated me like a criminal because of my faith.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Since they harp that this is a Christian Nation only Christians should serve

It wouldn't make sense to have Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Agnostics or any other Christian non-believer serving in the military. You just can't trust them to protect their freedom.

We need to shut down these Muslim prayer rooms on military bases and schools. We need to remove all Muslim chaplains since they will corrupt the good Christian onward soldiers.

[teryang]

10. This is a function that will have to be contracted out....

...running cultural sensitive 'bombing campaigns.'

torturing captives under the military commissions act.

getting neighbors to turn in their friends and relatives.

breaking into neighborhood homes and breaking dads back and arms.

invading countries in violation of the Nuremberg law.

planning secret terror campaigns before the official invasions.

[Taverner]

14. Um good luck getting them on NOW

Post 9/11 Muslims were signing up in droves to join. A friend of mine was fluent in Urdu and tried to get on with the State Dept., Foreign Svc and FBI. Nada. Zip. The only way to get hired immidiately post-911 was if you were a Bush contributor.

In fact, they were fucking FIRING Arabic language specialists.

Thank you Commander Cukoo Bananas!

[qwlauren35]

15. Hmmm....

I hope US Muslims do show a willingness to serve... AFTER WE LEAVE IRAQ.

However, I like the idea of Imams being accepted as chaplains.

This war won't end until the majority of eligible US citizens refuse to serve.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Unmatched affront. Who on earth could be this crude? Shameful. n/t

[Betty]

17. they had people who spoke Arabic

but they were gay, so they were fired.