"The rest of that Easter was spent under siege. Insurgents held off Bravo Company, which was called in to rescue the men in the compound. Ammunition ran low. A helicopter tried to drop more but missed. As dusk fell, the men prepared four Bradley Fighting Vehicles for a “run and gun” to draw fire away from the compound. Humphrey headed down from the roof to get a briefing. He found his lieutenant, John D. DeGiulio, with a couple of sergeants. They were snickering like schoolboys. They had commissioned the Special Forces interpreter, an Iraqi from Texas, to paint a legend across their Bradley’s armor, in giant red Arabic script. “What’s it mean?” asked Humphrey. “Jesus killed Mohammed,” one of the men told him. The soldiers guffawed. JESUS KILLED MOHAMMED was about to cruise into the Iraqi night. The Bradley, a tracked “tank killer” armed with a cannon and missiles—to most eyes, indistinguishable from a tank itself—rolled out. The Iraqi interpreter took to the roof, bullhorn in hand. The sun was setting. Humphrey heard the keen of the call to prayer, then the crackle of the bullhorn with the interpreter answering—in Arabic, then in English for the troops, insulting the prophet. Humphrey’s men loved it. “They were young guys, you know?” says Humphrey. “They were scared.” A Special Forces officer stood next to the interpreter—“a big, tall, blond, grinning type,” says Humphrey. “Jesus kill Mohammed!” chanted the interpreter. “Jesus kill Mohammed!”" - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

Dear Senator Quisling: maybe after you're done rooting out Islamic terrorists in the military, you might want to consider doing something about these idiots. Up Yours, Me. - Steven Perez

Yeah. Religious Extremists vs. Religious Extremists = A self-propelled Armageddon. - ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift

So does this make it the Tenth Crusade? - Victor Ganata

I'm sure this was OK with Senator Quisling, once Pastor Hagee told him that it was all good. - Steven Perez

I can't believe the interpreter agreed to do that. - rowlikeagirl

Given the mentality of the soldiers in action, how much greater would the risk to the interpreter been had he not agreed to go along with it? - Prosey BUTTONS!

That is true, Denise. His health was probably in danger by his enemies *and* friends. :((( - rowlikeagirl

Holy crap, but this just brings to mind a quote from the 'Grim Meathook Future': "a giant game of Counterstrike between crazy faith-ridden jihadist motherfuckers and crazy faith-ridden American redneck motherfuckers". - Michael R. Bernstein

And we all said amen. - Prosey BUTTONS!

welcome to the military after Dubya filled to the brim with born again activists and ne-nazi white supremists all in training for the big day. You know when they can unleash the crusade HERE! - WarLord

No one expects the American Inquisition. - Victor Ganata

Bump. - Steven Perez

..."but his struggle goes to the very heart of America’s First Amendment freedoms, dating back to the seventeenth century and Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. Williams was a devout Christian, but based on his encounters with Native American leaders, whom he deemed honest men, and his dealings with the leaders of the Massachusetts colony, who sent him into exile, he concluded that ***outward religion—the piety of the Puritans—was no guarantee of inner virtue.*** What mattered most, he thought, was the ability to seek the good. So if the state restricted that search (through mandatory prayer, for instance, or discrimination against minority faiths), it violated the most basic freedom, that of individual conscience. Without the freedom to choose one’s own beliefs, Williams believed, no other freedom is really possible. Freedom of religion is thus bound to freedom from religion." ... "Outward religion is no guarantee of inner virtue." This really gets to the core issue for me with regard to the Pat Robertsons of the world. - Mark J Severely Inert

Bump, due to this: http://friendfeed.com/silas21... - Steven Perez

How could I have missed this post? *facepalm* Yes, I read the Sharlet article when it came out. (I read him, Chalmers Johnson, and Jeremy Scahill whenever I can.) If we ever come close to a civil war -- and this article shows how heavily the Christian terrorists have infiltrated the military -- you can bet there will be soldiers turning traitor (i.e. terrorist), and soldiers will definitely be fighting soldiers for control of the military itself. - Dennis Jernberg

The White Supremist groups have pushed their followers to enlist and volunteer for combat engineer training because those would be the folks the Army trains to blow stuff up... And no its not paranoid if they really are out to get you - WarLord

Jesus wept. So did I. - Ladyepiphanybug