Muslim Troops' Loyalty a Delicate Question

[kskiska]

Military's Religious Tolerance May Have Aided Infiltrators, Led to Complacency

Just after the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq, huge tents were erected in Saudi Arabia near the barracks of U.S. military personnel. Inside, day and night, Saudi imams sent by their government lectured the GIs about Islam and made aggressive pitches to convert them.

Saudi officials had promised that the discussions would touch only on Arab culture. But within months, about 1,000 soldiers, and perhaps as many as 3,000, converted to Islam -- the largest surge of Muslims ever into the U.S. armed forces.

(snip)

Even so, Eberhart said, "there's no doubt in my mind there's an effort to turn our people." Some in the military might be exploitable by terrorists or demagogues because, like other people, they "have sympathies for other causes or nations," he said.

"I'm concerned, and I know others are concerned" that foreign extremists might have engineered the security breaches at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. Navy detention facility in Cuba where about 660 alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are held, he said.

Military sociologist Charles Moskos is traveling to Iraq this month to poll troops about morale issues. He plans to ask whether Muslim soldiers seem to have their hearts in fighting fellow Muslims, and whether the troops trust Muslims in their ranks.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50998-2003Nov1?language=printer

[KeepItReal]

1. This article is B.S. IMHO

"Despite these concerns, U.S. officials say they have seen almost no evidence of hesitancy, much less disloyalty, among the 5,000 to 10,000 Muslims in uniform, and believe only a tiny number would ever be vulnerable to manipulation by foreign extremists. "

To my knowledge the biggest "disloyal" traitors we've ever had were non-Muslim Caucasians...i.e. Jonathan Pollard and Robert Hanssen and other folks who sold secrets to other nations.

[IndianaGreen]

2. There is a whiff of fascism in the air, as Gus Hall used to say

This article reeks of red scare and McCarthyism. Are Muslims serving in the armed forces going to be rounded up as the Nisei were during WWII?

[wtmusic]

3. Again the WP establishes itself as a pillar

of clear thinking :eyes:

[IndianaGreen]

4. I am sure that Tom Friedman will be writing a column about this

another chance for him to spill his racist bile.

[ForestsBeatBushes]

5. Muslim chaplain's arrest prompts U.S. probe

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A military and intelligence investigation into possible security breaches at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is under way following the arrest of a U.S. Army Islamic chaplain, Bush administration sources said.

<cut>

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/09/22/chaplain.arrest/

[Paschall]

6. Oh yes, "religious tolerance aids infiltrators"

A chaplain from Houston assigned to the Army V Corps support unit in Iraq is now the focus of an Army inquiry for his practice of offering soldiers a dip into his 500-gallon pool if they agree to be baptized.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/iraq/1856956

[rini]

7. The problem

with this article is common sense. The US military is (thank goodness) forbidden to try to convert anyone in Arabia. The administration (rarely the brightest bird in the flock) needs to tell the Saudis to back off! Every service member going overseas is briefed on the country's culture and certain no-nos anyway. So just brief them. A simple reminder that military personal are subject to the host country's laws. Show them how fingers, hands, penis' are cut offf and except for Darwin's rejects things will go smoothly. If someone wants to convert, so what? since when does America tell anyone what religion to practice or not to practice?

[loudnclear]

8. If we would stay the hell out of other people's country we wouldn't have

this to worry about!

[ForestsBeatBushes]

9. Tell it to the Native Americans, please.