Word: muslims
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Less than 1% of America's 1.4 million troops are Muslim - and that number is only the military's best guess, since just 4,000 troops have declared their faith in their service records. By all accounts, the percentage of Muslims who are outstanding, competent or misfit soldiers is proportional to that of every other ethnic group. But that logic is increasingly hard to hear in the aftermath of Major Nidal Hasan's killing spree at Fort Hood in Texas...
...least for now, the Army is more worried about how the world is reacting to Hasan's actions than getting an explanation for them. "I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers," General George Casey, the Army's top officer, said on CNN on Sunday. "And I've asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that." At least one Muslim Army veteran agrees. "Muslims have been serving for generations in the United States armed forces, and we will continue to serve proudly and with honor," says Abdul-Rashid...
...Since Sept. 11, Muslims in uniform have come under increased scrutiny and tested the ability of the U.S. military to balance its needs with the Islamic beliefs of a small number of its members. While there have been occasional tense moments around questions like "Can the Air Force compel Muslim troops to wear pigskin boots?" or "Should the U.S. stop fighting during the holy month of Ramadan?" the rarity of such cases highlights how smoothly the integration of Muslims into the ranks of the U.S. military has gone. (The answer to both questions...
...Army appointed its first Muslim chaplain in 1993, and five years later the Navy opened the U.S. military's first mosque at Norfolk Navy Base in Virginia. The Pentagon is eager for the language skills of Muslims, and has been awarding signing bonuses and expedited citizenship (for the two-thirds of enlistees who are legal aliens) since 2003 to recruits fluent in Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Kurdish and Pashto. (The Army's website, in its typically patriotic but omnisciently weird way, declares these 450 new soldiers - all sent to Afghanistan, Iraq or the Horn of Africa - "100% support the Global...
...Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will try to move forward on an investigation to address Hasan's motives and whether signs of extremism were apparent but ignored. At Fort Hood on Sunday, at least there was one sign that the military's embrace of its Muslim soldiers would continue undeterred. At the 1st Cavalry Memorial Chapel, Colonel Frank Jackson asked the congregation to pray for the 13 dead and 29 wounded in Hasan's rampage. The chaplain also asked the worshippers to pray for Hasan...