scaramouche

...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

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User: scaramouche
Irreverent, contrarian, delighted to be out of synch with the zeitgeist, I depend on my sense of humour (such as it is) to keep me sane in this wacky world.

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Monday, 23 November 2009

Whitewash in Dallas: A “Special Contributor” to the Dallas Morning Post tries to allay concerns about Muslims in the U.S. army (my bolds):
KILLEEN, Texas – Sgt. Fahad Kamal awoke before dawn the morning after the attack. In his Army uniform, he stood before his prayer mat, the one his mother bought him in Houston. He smoothed the top right corner folded over against the evil eye, touched his forehead to the velvet rug the color of sand, and held his palms toward heaven.
Kamal, 26, a combat medic who served in Afghanistan before moving to Fort Hood, had a lot to pray about that day. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, another soldier – and another Muslim and medical professional – was accused of shooting 13 people dead and injuring 29 more.
A U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, Kamal feared those bullets could ricochet beyond the cordoned-off soldier processing center, wounding even more. So he prayed for the victims and for the Army, for his family in Sugar Land and other Muslims. He prayed that their faith would not be judged because of one crazed extremist.
In that small bright room in an apartment building surrounded by darkness, Kamal sought guidance. "In the name of God, the most merciful, the most kind ... keep me on the straight path," he said in Arabic.
The alleged shooter had become isolated from his fellow soldiers and some Muslims in his community. But Kamal feels that his religion, with its emphasis on personal responsibility and compassion, has drawn him closer to other people. "Being a good Muslim means being good to everyone," Kamal said. It's a lot like being a good soldier, he said, with the Army's core values of respect, duty and selfless service.
Arab-Americans and those of the Muslim faith are in high demand by the armed forces for their cultural knowledge and language skills, which can be of life-or-death importance on the battlefield. But they, too, have died for their country. At Arlington National Cemetery, amid a sea of crosses, there are crescents carved on tombstones. There are Muslim names on Iraq war memorials at Fort Hood.
"We're serving and sacrificing alongside our fellow service members," said Jamal Baadani, a Marine Corps veteran who founded the Association for Patriotic Arab Americans in Military after the 9/11 attacks.
Kamal is one of a minute proportion of Muslims in the U.S. military. About 3,500 out of 1.4 million active duty troops have identified themselves as such, though the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council estimates the number is closer to 20,000.
After the Nov. 5 attack at Fort Hood, Gen. George Casey, chief of staff of the Army, said on CNN: "As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well."
With the general's words in mind, Kamal felt a responsibility to show people a different picture of Muslims in the military. Hasan occasionally prayed at Kamal's mosque, but Kamal did not know him. "That man happened to be a Muslim, but in our religion, we don't condone such violence," Kamal said.
Maj. Derrill Guidry, a Muslim convert stationed at Fort Hood, agrees. "They're soldiers. That's what comes first. Islam just happens to be their religion," he said. As for the shooting suspect: "He cracked under the pressure of his own fears. In terms of Islam, he was just plain wrong."…
Truth or taqiyyah? You be the judge. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt since he didn’t give us the spiel about “jihad” being an inner struggle to follow God’s lead, no weapons required, and how he who kills one innocent may as well have gone ahead and murdered the entire world.
Also--it’s Samosafest! time at the Kamal-Hasan mosque.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:32 | link | comments (2)


Comments:
#1  23 November 2009 - 15:20
 
"he who kills one innocent may as well have gone ahead and murdered the entire world."

Which is what these suicide nuts agree with. The one innocent is themselves.

JR

Anonymous
#2  23 November 2009 - 21:11
 
 I do not believe him or any like him.  Anyone who  believes in the Quoran and it being the basis of the Islamic cult your sole purpose in life is to take over the world and kill all who are not Islamic.   That makes it pretty simple I do not want you or yours anywhere near me or mine.  Send all of them and their offspring back to their place of origin. 

Bob Devine.
Anonymous
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