Pentagon Official Calls on U.S. Muslims To Speak Up
Muslims in America must speak up and have their moderate voices heard to help the United States in its fight against radical Islamists, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said Sept. 1.
“We all share the responsibility to participate in the noble cause of extending the promise of freedom,” England said at the 43rd annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago. “This is not a time to be timid. Rather, this is a time to make your voices heard. Making your voices heard is important and necessary to defeat the terrorists’ distorted ideologies.”
Having successful Muslim doctors, teachers and scientists speak out about how they keep their faith in a multicultural United States is a key adjunct to the U.S. military’s armed struggle against extremists, England said later in a brief telephone interview.
“Military action against extremists is important but not sufficient,” England said. “We have to recognize that it goes way beyond military efforts.”
Recounting an anecdote by a Muslim military chaplain who had just returned from Iraq, England said few in Iraq knew that Muslims live in America. “It’s amazing that people in Iraq don’t realize we have Muslims,” England said.
England, the keynote speaker on the first day of the three-day convention, said no one in the audience asked him any questions about U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, or about Washington’s support for Israeli military action in Lebanon.
Read the rest at Defense News
“We all share the responsibility to participate in the noble cause of extending the promise of freedom,” England said at the 43rd annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago. “This is not a time to be timid. Rather, this is a time to make your voices heard. Making your voices heard is important and necessary to defeat the terrorists’ distorted ideologies.”
Having successful Muslim doctors, teachers and scientists speak out about how they keep their faith in a multicultural United States is a key adjunct to the U.S. military’s armed struggle against extremists, England said later in a brief telephone interview.
“Military action against extremists is important but not sufficient,” England said. “We have to recognize that it goes way beyond military efforts.”
Recounting an anecdote by a Muslim military chaplain who had just returned from Iraq, England said few in Iraq knew that Muslims live in America. “It’s amazing that people in Iraq don’t realize we have Muslims,” England said.
England, the keynote speaker on the first day of the three-day convention, said no one in the audience asked him any questions about U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, or about Washington’s support for Israeli military action in Lebanon.
Read the rest at Defense News
posted by iraqnam at 12:20 PM
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