Recently I met a police officer during my Houston Police Academy cultural awareness training who proposed that the negative publicity about Islam has died down in the last few years. This week I learned that, to the contrary, Islamophobia is not only alive and well, but even promoted by certain branches of the U.S. government.
secured payday loans
A few months ago, information about NYPD’s religiously offensive and inaccurate training videos brought infamy to that department. That smoke has barely died down when details have emerged regarding certain military training that not only hurts the sensitivities of moderate Muslims but has a truly dangerous effect on Americans. A training course entitled Understanding
the Threat to America taught by Army Lt. Col. Matthew A. Dooley to senior military personnel in a Norfolk, VA army base projects Islam as a terrorist religion that our military should be ready to counter. Although investigations are pending, Lt. Col. Dooley maintains his innocence and refuses to admit that his training was biased or hurtful.
Perhaps the American public should reserve the right to see and judge for themselves whether the military officers were being trained appropriately. Last week Wired Magazine and Al-Jazeera English
both released parts of the training materials to the media.
The training questions the very existence of moderate Islam, and asserts that moderate does not mean mainstream Islam. It states that “we have now come to understand that there is no such thing as moderate Islam.” I think the millions of mainstream, moderate Muslims in the United States would beg to differ. The remaining extremist form of Islam, according to the Counter-
Jihad Op Design Model presented as part of the training, leaves Americans with no choice but to abandon the Geneva Convention, and to consider bombing Muslim holy places in acts of war reminiscent of Hiroshima (their words, not mine).
The training materials contend that “the fact that the United States and the world in general are in a fight for our very survival is a matter now intuitively obvious to any who have observed the basic undisputed elements of Islam.” Really? The basic undisputed elements of Islam are prayer, fasting, service to others, sacrifice and love of the Almighty. To me that hardly seems to lead to a fight for survival. Finally, army personnel are reminded: “Remember – we are at war. Act like it. You are part of a resistance movement, not a social club.” No need to be nice to your co-workers, neighbors, even your boss. No need to be understanding, tolerant, or friendly. In an effort to distort Islam, Americans should perhaps also forget their own religious and social norms.
Although I am shocked at this type of training – tenfold more destructive than the one carried out by the NYPD – I am also saddened by the fact that more senior officials of the U.S. government are not speaking out against this information. Why are not more senators, congressmen and city officials throughout the US standing up and decrying this type of offensive and hate-
mongering “education” of our armed forces? Where is the disgust that we as a nation should be expressing when the religious sentiments of millions of people are shattered? Let’s face it, to group an entire religion into an extremist mold is not only counterproductive, but it also lessens the efforts of moderate peace loving organizations such as Muslims for Peace, Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and others. It implies that sensitivity trainings such as those carried out by the Houston Police Academy have no chance of being successful. And it means that we should teach our children to hate and be suspicious of those who hold differing beliefs.
Granted that army officers should be aware of the threats they face in battle, but they should also know that the threat is from extremists of every religion. Confusing moderate with extremist is a mistake that can be more costly in the long run than Lt. Col. Dooley could ever imagine.
Contributed by Saadia Faruqi.
Tags: america, houston police academy, islam, NYPD, Saadia Faruqi, US Military, War
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
