Dan,

Thanks for your informative Journal post on September 25^th. I’m an Airman in the Intelligence field and just went through a week long orientation course on the Middle East taught by professors from all over the country and special guests through the Joint Special Operations Training school in Florida. Currently, it’s one of the most requested and most taught courses to familiarize military members with Middle East culture, history, political strategy, language, etc. Your assessment of the militaries “religious illiteracy” is very accurate even being here on the “inside”.

The lecture given on the Islam religion taught us that Islam was very similar to Judaism and Christianity (probably to help us understand it better) and parts of the Koran are the same as parts of the Bible. They de-emphasized the significance of Mohammed’s warring history and separated the religion into Muslims of peace and those performing jihad. When asked why the moderate Muslims didn’t stand up in outrage after 9-11, the answer was that they were too afraid of Americans who were threatening their lives. It all falls in line with your analysis. As deceiving as some of it was; however, it was very informative on Sunni, Shia, Kurdish relations and the history of U.S. politics in the entire region.

The Lord bless you and your ministry,

[signed]

Dear [signed]:

Thanks for your comments. The situation is problematic (?) due to the fact that America's Armed Forces must accommodate Muslims in the ranks. Our multicultural policy creates several other complexities, as we've all come to see and understand. It would seem only the most nominal-minded Muslims can be expected to maintain a neutral attitude regarding the global conflict.

By His sovereign love, grace, and mercy,