Dear Mikey,

I want to set on record that we Muslims in the Puget Sound area are very grateful to have organizations like yours, who take up the cause for equal justice and equal protection especially in today's climate, on behalf of Muslims.

We are most distressed by the fact that Brig-Gen. Dana Born decided to invite Christian bigots whose sole purpose in life appears to be Islam- and Muslim-bashing. Apparently, Gen. Born does not mind presiding on a little promotion of Muslim-bashing on Government-paid forum like USAFA.

When General William Boykin took to bashing Islam in public, he was promoted to Under-Secretary of Defense for intelligence by Don Rumsfeld. It grieves us that this message should have gone so pervasively in the military that apparently any general looking for career-enhancement should follow Gen. Boykin's terrible example. Either that, or Gen. Dana Born is looking to Christianize...or anti-Muslimize as much of our military as she possibly can.
General Born's actions do not reflect the high values that must be reflected by a person in charge of our future leaders.

I have read stuff put out by Shoebat and I have heard about the presentations made by Saleem and Anani.
It seems fairly clear to me that almost anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Islam, can prove that these people were indulging in fantasies when they spoke about the Quran and Islam. Even Anani's claims of having killed over two hundred people single-handedly, is surely self-indulgent fantasy ESPECIALLY, in the face of the fact that the neither the FBI, nor Homeland Security has seen fit to take these "ex-terrorists" to trial for high crimes and terrorism.
It is most disappointing that Gen. Born decided to not take any of this into consideration in her apparent zeal to dive-bomb Islam and Muslims.

I will be most grateful if you could send us some contact information for the higher levels above Gen. Born because we would like to engage them in a discussion to try and prevent such an atrocity from happening again. We would also ask for another forum to be organized to invite speakers who would include some truth about Islam and instruct the cadets and others in the audience, of the values of a free society that does not live by hating or targeting another group; how Islam is not much different in its values, than Judaism or Christianity.
Such a forum would also help to de-program impressionable future military leaders after their encounter with the three "ex-terrorists".

Our protestations against these "experts" is not about religion or Christianity, our members would feel pained but would accept people or groups who clearly state that they dislike Islam and that is that...at least it would be an honest position.
Our problems with these people arise because these "experts" have no respect for facts or truth when it comes to Muslim-bashing...their own statements about Islam and Muslims stand witness to this.

Our problem with these people is akin to reactions Catholics might have, when come across some former Catholic "expert", telling the world that Catholics are evil because they eat human flesh and drink human blood during their church rites. A similar analogy would be of former Jewish "expert", telling the world that Jews are evil because they grind up non-Jewish children to leaven their bread.

Everyone has a right to their opinions and a right to air their opinions and even at this level, these hate-mongers should be allowed to vent their opinions, but NOT on public fora, paid by public monies and especially NOT hosted by an agency dedicated to DEFENDING this nation and all of us who make this nation.

I certainly hope that USAFA can provide another opportunity for some real scholars, to off-set this recent discreditable action by them.

Regards,

Jeff Siddiqui
American Muslims of Puget Sound

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