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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 11, 2004
/ 18 Adar, 5764
Sedition in the military: Learn from Yugoslavia
By
Julia Gorin
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Last month, National Guardsman Ryan G. Anderson was arrested and taken into custody at Fort Lewis, Wash., accused of attempting to provide information to the al Qaeda network. The arrest happened to fall on the two-year anniversary of the trial against ousted Serb president Slobodan Milosevic. The confluence is not entirely unsymbolic.
With the prosecution portion of the Milosevic trial coming to a close at the Hague last month, it is worth looking back at our own trials of the past year in the war on terror. For some distinct parallels emerge between our fight and that of another multiethnic nation, once called Yugoslavia.
Last March, almost a year before we learned the name of the white Muslim convert in the National Guard, an African-American Muslim sergeant in the Army rolled grenades into the tents of sleeping fellow soldiers at a base in Kuwait, and then shot those who tried to flee, ultimately killing two and injuring 14. Then a Chinese-American Muslim Army chaplain stationed at the Guantánamo detention camp was arrested while traveling with sketches of the prison, and an Egyptian-born civilian interpreter for the Army was arrested after traveling to and from Cairo with 132 compact discs, one of which contained hundreds of classified documents labeled "SECRET." Facing the most serious charges is a senior airman and interpreter named Ahmad I. al-Halabi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who has been under investigation since 2002, and has pleaded innocent to 32 charges against him, including helping detainees communicate with one another and delivering information to Syria that contained flight schedules to and from Guantánamo as well as prisoners' names and messages. Other interpreters are suspected of having intentionally mistranslated interrogations, and an unnamed member of the U.S. Navy is being held for improper communications with detainees. Two more arrests are pending, with about ten people under scrutiny altogether. Meanwhile, Middle East expert Daniel Pipes warns that Islamic fundamentalists have already "infiltrated our prisons, police force, and military."
The attempts to sabotage the armed forces should not be catching us off guard. Not because of any cynical assumption that Muslim Americans are naturally traitorous and can't be trusted in the military, but because we've seen this before: in Yugoslavia.
In addition to the post-9/11 headlines trickling out of the Balkans about terror cells being uncovered in Bosnia and about unsurprising links between al Qaeda and the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), there is an uncomfortably prescient New York Times article from 1987. It is a piece that the Times was careful to not dredge up in April 1999, when it endorsed the offensive air war on Belgrade, unleashed by otherwise-scandalized Bill Clinton. The article tells of an ethnic Albanian conscript who shot up his Slavic fellow soldiers as they slept, killing four and wounding six. It tells of other Albanian Yugoslavs raiding arsenals to steal weapons to equip the KLA.
A quote appears in the article from Yugoslavia's then-defense secretary, Fleet Admiral Branko Mamula, who reported to the army brass three weeks after the slaughter that ethnic Albanian subversives, as the Times referred to them, were "preparing for 'killing officers and soldiers, poisoning food and water, sabotage, breaking into weapons arsenals and stealing arms and ammunition, desertion and causing flagrant nationalist incidents in army units.'"
In the immediate aftermath of the fatal attack by Sergeant Hasan Akbar against our troops last March, while concerns about possible attacks by Muslim-American military personnel were quietly included in an intelligence report given to senior administration members, officials did their best to downplay any Muslim connection. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters asking about the Muslim threat in the military simply that the motivation for Akbar's attack was unconfirmed and under investigation. Akbar was ultimately charged not with terrorism, but with premeditated and attempted murder. What's more, no additional security measures were taken by the Navy or Marines at that time. Navy spokesman Commander Tom Van Leunen asserted, "We view our sailors as Americans first, Americans with full religious freedom. We do not single out any religious group." And Marine spokesman Major Matt McLaughlin offered, "The Marine Corps is built on shared group values. We draw strength from our diversity, but to the extent that any Marine would force personal beliefs on fellow Marines runs counter to the Corps's culture."
Certainly we're not facing anything so well organized or epidemic in the American armed forces as what Yugoslavia was facing. The connections, if any, among detained or arrested U.S. military personnel are unclear. Yet the Muslim chaplain Yousef Yee — who (according to the AP) was once "the public face of the Bush administration's effort to assure Muslims that they were not the targets of the war on terrorism," and whose father last month accused the military of ethnic and religious profiling — dodged questions about how deeply involved he was with the detainees, and about whether he sympathized with them.
Defending a population against problem members who invoke their religion to wreak havoc is not waging a war against a religion. To confuse the two can lead to dangerous misperceptions, and to purposely obfuscate the two is criminal calculation.
The final paragraph of that 1987 Times article — which tastefully avoids use of the word "Muslim" throughout — portends an end to "the multinational experiment called federal Yugoslavia," its genesis in a now-familiar province: "The hope is that something will be done...to exert the rule of law in Kosovo while drawing ethnic Albanians back into Yugoslavia's mainstream."
As we feel justified in going halfway around the globe to fight terrorism, to do essentially what Belgrade was trying to do in its own backyard before we bombed it and killed 2,000 Serb civilians, perhaps we can finally start to appreciate what that country was up against. Even post-breakup, Yugoslavia was composed of 27 different nationalities, all struggling to work together so they could continue to live as a single nation.
In our efforts to maintain perspective in the face of those who would have us believe that, rather than defending ourselves, we are waging a war against Islam, we should learn from history — specifically from the history of another experiment in diversity that now has been reduced to the name "Serbia and Montenegro."
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Julia Gorin Archives
© 2004, Julia Gorin. This article originally appeared in National Review Online
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