THE BEAUFORT GAZETTE – Civil rights group objects to Beaufort squadron’s name change

Selected Article Excerpts:

• A decision to again refer to a Beaufort fighter jet squadron as the “Crusaders” has sparked complaints from a civil rights group that says the nickname is unconstitutional and will incite violence against U.S. forces abroad.

• An attorney for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an Albuquerque, N.M. group, sent a letter Wednesday to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, demanding that Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122 stop using the name, which he said illegally blurs the lines between church and state.
• The group also claimed the nickname and its emblem, which features a cross shield, will stir anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world because they evoke images of the Christian conquests during the Middle Ages.

• “I don’t know that the Marine Corps could do anything more to fuel the cause of jihad,” Mikey Weinstein, the group’s founder, told MSNBC. “It will directly end up taking lives and maiming members of our military.”.. (continued, click below for more)

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