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Politics : Bush Administration's Media Manipulation--MediaGate? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mao II who wrote (3513)	5/27/2005 3:38:29 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 9838

HYPOCRISY MOST HOLY by Ali Al-Ahmed Wall Street Journal May 20, 2005 With the revelation that a copy of the Quran may have been desecrated by U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Muslims and their governments -- including that of Saudi Arabia -- reacted angrily. This anger would have been understandable if the U.S. government's adopted policy was to desecrate our Quran. But even before the Newsweek report was discredited, that was never part of the allegations. As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Quran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia -- where I come from -- are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately. Soon after Newsweek published an account, later retracted, of an American soldier flushing a copy of the Quran down the toilet, the Saudi government voiced its strenuous disapproval. More specifically, the Saudi Embassy in Washington expressed "great concern" and urged the U.S. to "conduct a quick investigation." Although considered as holy in Islam and mentioned in the Quran dozens of times, the Bible is banned in Saudi Arabia. This would seem curious to most people because of the fact that to most Muslims, the Bible is a holy book. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia we are not talking about most Muslims, but a tiny minority of hard-liners who constitute the Wahhabi Sect. The Bible in Saudi Arabia may get a person killed, arrested, or deported. In September 1993, Sadeq Mallallah, 23, was beheaded in Qateef on a charge of apostasy for owning a Bible. The State Department's annual human rights reports detail the arrest and deportation of many Christian worshipers every year. Just days before Crown Prince Abdullah met President Bush last month, two Christian gatherings were stormed in Riyadh. Bibles and crosses were confiscated, and will be incinerated. (The Saudi government does not even spare the Quran from desecration. On Oct. 14, 2004, dozens of Saudi men and women carried copies of the Quran as they protested in support of reformers in the capital, Riyadh. Although they carried the Qurans in part to protect themselves from assault by police, they were charged by hundreds of riot police, who stepped on the books with their shoes, according to one of the protesters.) As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols. Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment. TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses or Stars of David are censored. The desecration of religious texts and symbols and intolerance of varying religious viewpoints and beliefs have been issues of some controversy inside Saudi Arabia. Ruled by a Wahhabi theocracy, the ruling elite of Saudi Arabia have made it difficult for Christians, Jews, Hindus and others, as well as dissenting sects of Islam, to visibly coexist inside the kingdom. Another way in which religious and cultural issues are becoming more divisive is the Saudi treatment of Americans who are living in that country: Around 30,000 live and work in various parts of Saudi Arabia. These people are not allowed to celebrate their religious or even secular holidays. These include Christmas and Easter, but also Thanksgiving. All other Gulf states allow non-Islamic holidays to be celebrated. The Saudi Embassy and other Saudi organizations in Washington have distributed hundreds of thousands of Qurans and many more Muslim books, some that have libeled Christians, Jews and others as pigs and monkeys. In Saudi school curricula, Jews and Christians are considered deviants and eternal enemies. By contrast, Muslim communities in the West are the first to admit that Western countries -- especially the U.S. -- provide Muslims the strongest freedoms and protections that allow Islam to thrive in the West. Meanwhile Christianity and Judaism, both indigenous to the Middle East, are maligned through systematic hostility by Middle Eastern governments and their religious apparatuses. The lesson here is simple: If Muslims wish other religions to respect their beliefs and their Holy book, they should lead by example. Mr. al-Ahmed is director of the Saudi Institute in Washington.

To: Mao II who wrote (3513)	5/27/2005 4:09:45 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 9838

Re: Gen. Hood points to 3 instances of Quran "mishandling" by the U.S. vs. a whopping 15 by prisoners. Correction: 3 interrogators, 15 guard incidents involving somewhat less than 15 guards. It's no wonder you might have been confused. Gen. Hood sure seemed awfully confused by his lies. :)

To: Mao II who wrote (3513)	5/28/2005 6:08:06 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9838

Here we go AGAIN...PROMOTING BOYNTON CLONES!!!!! at this point we'll be ready for the second coming of the INQUISITION....oh....I forgot...it already started in US PENTAGON PRISONS....and now it's spreading to the Air Force Academy Johnny Works for the Lord by Christopher Brauchli "Here's Johnny." The Shining Life is full of surprises. Just ask Johnny. Johnny is Johnny Weida, the Lt. General in the air force who became the commandant of cadets at the Air Force Academy in April 2003 just as the sex scandal at the academy was in full flower. (A survey conducted in May disclosed that 68 percent of the 569 female cadets participating were the victims of some form of sexual harassment. In 149 of the reported incidents, attackers were cadets at the Academy.) Addressing the graduating class after his arrival at the Academy Johnny told them: "If you don't think we have . . . a sexual harassment problem at the Air Force Academy, your head is in the sand." Notwithstanding those enlightened words, Johnny now finds himself the target of a comment from one graduate who was quoted in the Colorado Springs Gazette as saying: "The fish stinks from the head, and the head of this fish is (Superintendent) John Rosa and (Commandant) Johnny Weida." The graduate was not referring to Johnny's attitude towards the sex scandal. He was referring to Johnny's attitude towards God-his God. Pam Zubeck of the Colorado Springs Gazette has made it easy to trace Johnny's efforts to convert the Academy from a place where sexual abuse enjoyed free reign, to a place where there's freedom of religion if it's the right kind. According to Ms. Zubeck, no sooner had Johnny arrived at his new posting than he issued advisories urging staff, faculty and cadets to observe the National Day of Prayer. In an e-mail to personnel he urged all to "ask the Lord to give us the wisdom to discover the right . . . . . the Lord is in control. He has a plan for . . . every one of us." In June he issued a commander's guidance telling cadets their first duty was to God. He did not explain how a cadet would be expected to respond if an officer said, "kill" and God said, "don't." In March of 2004 fliers promoting Mel Gibson's view of the crucifixion as portrayed in his movie about the event were placed on every chair in the cafeteria with a line added to the flier saying: "This is an officially sponsored USAFA event." In November the football coach hung a banner in the athletic department proclaiming: "I am a Christian first and last. . . . I am a member of Team Jesus Christ." That was probably just a metaphor since Jesus never played football and probably disapproved of violent sports. He might have even disliked war although that's can't be said with certainty since so many of his most ardent admirers have no problem with war and are quick to let others know that they know what Jesus likes. One chaplain, speaking to 600 cadets, told them to let their classmates know they would burn in hell unless becoming born again Christians. That's the kind of information cadets are grateful to receive since being warriors led by a president who is not afraid to send them off to war to do the Lord's work, they have a better chance of dying young than do the youth growing up in less devout countries that have not learned to appreciate all the good that can come from war. Working for the Lord has not kept Johnny out of trouble although the Lord has found a way to reward him. First the trouble. Mike Weinstein is a 1977 graduate of the academy. Mike Weinstein is a Jew who has one son who graduated from the academy and another who is still there. Mr. Weinstein wrote Johnny complaining about the fact that his son Curtis was called a Christ-killer by some of his devout classmates who know the enemy when they see him even if he's not carrying a weapon. In a letter responding to Mr. Weinstein Johnny ended with the Hebrew phrase "Shalom Aleichem" which means "peace to you." The message didn't take. Mr. Weinstein called Johnny's secretary and said he and the academy were at war. Writing another letter in hopes of avoiding all-out combat Johnny included a longer Hebrew phrase that Mr. Weinstein's Rabbi translated for him since Mr. Weinstein can't read Hebrew. It said: "May this be the beginning activity for the good of the Air Force Academy. Peace to you." It was that greeting that that caused Mr. Weinstein to invoke the fish metaphor. Now for Johnny's reward. On May 9 the pentagon announced that it was recommending Johnny for a promotion to major general. If Johnny's promotion comes through after what he's been through it will convince him there is a God. It will have the opposite effect on many of the rest of us. Christopher Brauchli can be reached at 56@post.harvard.edu