Muslim American Soldiers

Dear Mr. Weinstein,

on behalf of myself and my family I want to thank you and the MRFF for having the courage to speak up for and defend the Constitutional rights of all Muslim American U.S. armed forces troops, of which I am one. I read very carefully in the NY Times and the ABC news story about the horrible things that where done against my fellow U.S. soldiers and fellow Muslim Americans Spc. Khalid Lyaacoubi and Spc. Yassine Bahammou. My wife cried when she read it all because we (and most all other Muslim Americans we know in the Army) have suffered in many of the same ways as they have. I wish I had the stamina and fearlessness to go public but I just do not. The hatred is everywhere and we can trust noone. We live in fear on Fort (military installation’s name withheld). Our family’s crime is that we are not of the active Christian faith which is what the Army leadership makes it very clear is what they want you to follow to be the best soldier and have the best “spiritual fitness”. Being Muslim is not being “spiritually fit”. You have described it all so well for years in your fight as the leader of the MRFF. I have read everything on your website in the last several days since the stories became public about Spc. Lyaacoubi and Spc. Bahammou. We have ordered your book from amazon. My wife wept again when she read the words you testified to with the senate Committee of Sen. Dick Durban. You described our lives of fear and hatred and humiliation so well. We have little children. They suffer as well. Noone has helped until now. Please do not reveal anything about me. Please let me still stay in touch with you and the MRFF under this way of not revealing me or my family or my base. Please tell the 2 Spc. that we can never thank them enough for coming forward. We love them both. Thank you Mr. Weinstein and the MRFF for your not being afraid of speaking of the words we all want to tell the Army but cannot because they will use them to hurt us. They already have and will again. Maybe they can be stopped from hurting us more by you and the MRFF telling about our stories to tv and the newspapers. I just do not know anymore.

(name, rank, combat MOS, military unit and installation withheld)

Dear sir,
Thank you for your service to our nation, for the courage which you, your wife, and your small children are being forced to develop and maintain wihtin our military community. Perhaps someday, when militant religious extremism is fought and conquered, your experiences will have honed you into leaders of a Constitutional United States, the nation we have drifted to far from being.
Meanwhile, know that you have many supporters through MRFF, including others who, like yourself, stay anonymous for safety’s sake. Mikey is the brave hub, voice, and spearhead of our organization, the founder and guide, seeing what could and should not come of the current trajectory of our nation, if we don’t band together to protect it.
Incidently, you might notice my use of the word “nation” rather than “country.” In grade school, I was taught that countries are owned and run by royalty. Nations are democracies, owned and run by their citizens and with laws based on a specific written reference, i.e., Constitution. May we return to and stay forever a nation of citizens and equals, never returning to the pre-revolutionary days of being a country.

DR
(P.S. Those aren’t my initials. They;re the initials of a nickname given me by Mikey. It is, for me, an intermediary step, as I slowly test the waters of non-anonymity without giving up who I really am. In time, you may want to chose a pen name, or nom-de-plume as well. I sense in you a good writer. — DR