Muslim loyalties and the US military

As you read the following, bear this in mind:


Each person enlisting in an armed force shall take the following oath:

''I, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.'' Source

The uneasy loyalties of a Muslim soldier

Mirza Mahmood Ahmad of Great Falls, Va., recalls his uneasy feelings about his son's deployment to Iraq in January, though he is proud of the young man's service in the Virginia National Guard.

"I said, 'Bashir, you want to go? There is no confusion in your mind? You are a Muslim. You may have to fight against other Muslims.' "

Perhaps parents should be compelled to read the oath when their children join up. Or perhaps in this day and age we should amend the oath to say "all enemies, foreign and domestic, Muslim or not".

"He said, 'First of all, I'm a medic. I won't be fighting.' 'Second,' he said, 'I can't back out' — because of his loyalty to his fellow soldiers," says Mr. Ahmad, 47, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen who owns his own international wireless company.

This is one reason his fellow soldiers are anxious about his religion. Medics fight as well and with this statement one wonders what he would do if called to fight. His first loyalty was spelled out to him when he took the oath. If the possibility of fighting other Muslims is a problem for Muslims in the US military then mabye they should think very hard before joining.

Mr. Ahmad says he must defend his son's presence in Iraq to some at his mosque who question how a Muslim can go to an Islamic country and fight against members of his own religion.

This is a very telling statement. Why did the Muslims of Great Falls, Va., come to the US in the first place? Presumedly they knew what the US stands for and what it stands against. Everything is fine as long as you don't attack Muslims is that it? Does that include bin Laden and his kind then? Where do they draw the line?

In an e-mail from Iraq, Pfc. Ahmad said American Muslim soldiers in Iraq must walk a fine line to maintain the trust of their comrades while not offending other Muslims.
"Sometimes ... I get the feeling I am being watched with an evil eye" by other soldiers, Pfc. Ahmad wrote.

Pfc. Ahmad, there is no fine line; you are either an American soldier and stand by your oath, or you are not.

Is this possibly one of the reasons, along with the above statements, that your fellow soldiers are anxious about you?

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - A prosecution witness testified Monday that a soldier charged with killing two officers in a grenade attack during the Iraq (news - web sites) war confessed to the crimes after his arrest, saying he feared the wartime deaths of Muslims.

The United States was founded, partly, on religious freedom for all religions and maintains a military to protect those freedoms from "enemies, both foreign and domestic". There is a price to be paid for those freedoms and our protection and you cannot decide not to fight our enemies just because they are the same religion as you.

By putting Islam above their country, American Muslims risk losing the protection to practice their religion.

I've traveled all over the world and I've heard it said often that the US doesn't understand or tolerate other countries or religions. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is many around the world who do not understand the United States. They cannot or will not understand how we can put our country above religion. To which I ask them, "which religion would that be then"?

Muslims want the answer to be Islam and they put their religion above their country. Which by definition then rules out all other religions. That is why "Mr. Ahmad says he must defend his son's presence in Iraq to some at his mosque".

It is not that all Americans should become Muslims but that Muslims making the US their home should become Americans.