"Ours is a war not against a religion, not against the Muslim faith. But ours is a war against individuals who absolutely hate what America stands for, and hate the freedom of the Czech Republic. And therefore, we must work together to defend ourselves. And by remaining strong and united and tough, we'll prevail."
Press Conference by President Bush and President Havel of Czech Republic
Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic
November 20, 2002
So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam.
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA
TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT
April 6, 2009
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, I have been a strong supporter of the stated policy of both of the last two administrations regarding exactly who the enemy is...and is not...in the War on Terror. That policy has been stated, time and again, on American soil and on foreign soil. It has been held to be absolute, and to prove it two American Presidents during this war have spoken many kind words regarding Islam as a religion, highlighting its peaceful nature and its contributions to American society.
In his excellent diary on the topic, unspeakable exposed for us the viciously Islamophobic and anti-Arab training materials being used by the FBI to teach new recruits, a practice which led to a complete review of all counter-terrorism training being ordered by President Barack Obama. Sounds like, to quote a favorite phrase here, "Obama's got this", right?
Today, to my disgust, we see this article, detailing the training given to officers of the United States Military by the Joint Forces Staff College. The article links to much, if not all, of the training material itself. An example:
The "historical precedent" of Nagasaki and Hiroshima "being applicable". The destruction of Mecca and Medina, the two holiest sites in Islam. The starvation of an entire nation: Saudi Arabia. Taking "war to a civilian population" if necessary.
There is much more in the training materials of which I could write, but at the moment I am too furious...and disgusted...to think clearly. What is clear to me, at this point, is that while President Obama was speaking his pretty words in Cairo, his Generals were plotting the destruction of the Muslim world and the genocide of the Muslim people. Whether he knew personally that this was occurring is something to be debated, perhaps, but the simple fact is that, as is American tradition, the "buck" stops with him. He knew, for certain, that the purveyors of Islamophobia were actively working to insinuate themselves into positions of influence in law enforcement because of the FBI training scandal. It is not a huge leap to imagine that they would be doing the same thing in the US Military. Yet, beyond an announcement of a "review" of counter-terrorism training, nothing was done until this training program was exposed last month by Wired.
How many officers received this training? And how many of those officers are now in Afghanistan or some other part of the Muslim world? Was SSGT Bales influenced by an officer who received this training? What about the soldiers involved in other atrocities, such as defiling corpses? Were they influenced by a graduate of this training?
Maj. Gen. Joseph Ward needs to be immediately relieved of command and dismissed by the Commander in Chief. Very publicly. And Lt. Col. Matthew A. Dooley, along with any other officers involved in providing this training, need to be confined to base during a full investigation of this incident to determine if a court-martial is in order, and summarily discharged on less than honorable grounds if it is found that this is not prosecutable. The officers who received this training need to be recalled and retrained, and assigned outside of the Muslim world for the duration of their terms. They need to be prevented from receiving any further promotions, as well, and encouraged to resign their commission. It is unreasonable to ask us to believe that these officers did not understand how wrong this training was, and how very...un-American...it was. Military officers have a duty to bring such violations of everything we stand for as a nation to the attention of their superior officers, and to refuse to participate in any training advocating genocide.
As for the President, I want to know what he knew and when he knew it. And, Mr. President, please...no more pretty words. If the intent of the United States is to wage total war against Islam, be courageous enough to declare so. If it is not, then deal with this aggressively and properly, and do it now.
[Author's Note: Comments deemed to be Islamophobic attacks will not be replied to by me, and will be reported to Admin as hate speech. I will be in and out, but will reply to any comments as soon as possible.]