Thousands of soldiers at Fort Carson (CO) get Islamic cultural lessons

[haldir]

Representatives of the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs met Thursday with Fort Carson military leaders at the Army base to discuss ways to improve cultural awareness and an understanding of Islam among deploying soldiers.

Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division, initiated the meeting in hopes of developing a better cultural-awareness program for the thousands of soldiers already at Fort Carson and the hundreds expected to arrive this summer.

“We want to talk to (soldiers) about this beautiful religion,” Hammond said at the one-hour meeting, attended by local Islamic leaders Arshad Yousufi, Farouk Abushaban and Dawud Salaam; 4th Infantry Division cultural adviser Al Azim; and four other Army leaders.

Yousufi, who has participated in previous cultural awareness programs at Fort Carson, told the general those programs weren’t taken seriously enough.

“The weakness of those programs was that they were informal and occasional,” Yousufi said.

Yousufi also brought up what he sees as a tendency among some military leaders to turn the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq into a holy war between Christianity and Islam.

“If you approach this as a crusade, you will stir up trouble,” he told Hammond.

Hammond agreed with the Muslim leaders that greater cultural sensitivity is needed, and he said he wants the Army and Muslim leaders to continue working together to teach soldiers about Islam.

He hopes to have a revised cultural-awareness program in place in about a month.

“The soldiers go off (to Iraq) with a common mission, to protect the people,” Hammond said, “But you can’t protect the people without understanding the people.”

Abushaban praised Hammond for his efforts.

“This is a great step forward,” he told Hammond. “We have more in common than we know.” ~end

[mrjarrell]

Sounds like a good and reasonable plan. Who needs soldiers going into a place totally ignorant of the people they'll be dealing with? This increases understanding, especially between our Army personnel and their Iraqi counterparts. I don't see a down side here. By the way, do you have a link for this story?

[Dryden]

“We want to talk to (soldiers) about this beautiful religion,” Hammond said at the one-hour meeting, attended by local Islamic leaders Arshad Yousufi, Farouk Abushaban and Dawud Salaam; 4th Infantry Division cultural adviser Al Azim; and four other Army leaders.


Beautifull religion.....wow.
If we went to any of the Muslem countries and proposed teaching them Christianity.....beheadings would follow.

[hornadylnl]

The general is trying to get promoted. Wait and see, he'll have a cabinet position soon.

[haldir]

Wonder if the General will work this one into current events:
Attacks in Iraq kill 48, injure 250
Hamid Ahmed
August 10, 2009 - 11:39PM
A double truck bombing tore through the village of a small Shi'ite ethnic minority near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, while nine blasts wracked Baghdad on Monday in a wave of violence that killed at least 48 people and injured more than 250.

The attacks provided a grim example of US military warnings that insurgents are targeting Shi'ites in an effort to re-ignite the kind of sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart in 2006 and 2007.

The US military has stressed that despite the rise in attacks, the Shi'ites are showing restraint and not retaliating as they did more than two years ago when a similar series of attacks and bombings provoked a Shi'ite backlash that degenerated into a sectarian slaughter claiming tens of thousands of lives.

The deadliest blast on Monday was a double truck bombing in Khazna village, just east of Mosul, home of the Shabak, a small Shi'ite ethnic group in the north.

The Shabak who have their own distinct language and belief system are part of the mosaic of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq's north, all of whom have been targeted in the past by Sunni Arab insurgents.

The two explosives-laden trucks went off nearly simultaneously and less than 500m apart, killing at least 28 people and wounding 138, said police and hospital officials.

The US military confirmed at least 25 were killed.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The explosions left a 2m crater and reduced the neighbourhood to piles of bricks, twisted metal and smoking debris.

Family members pulled the wounded from the debris and carried them to safety, as ambulances wailed through the neighbourhood.

Women sat on mounds of rubble crying and the men sifted through the debris trying to recover what belongings they could.

Mahmoud Hussein, 28, said he was asleep on a roof, about 140m away from the truck bombs, when then explosion flattened his house.

"If we had slept inside, we would have been killed," said Hussein, who received a head wound from flying debris.

Qusay Abbas, who represents the Shabak minority as a member of the Ninevah provincial council, blamed security forces for failing to secure the area on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, which the US has called the last stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The village was a relatively easy target because it lacked many of the security measures prevalent in larger cities.

A string of nine bombs also went off across Baghdad despite the security gains there that have prompted the Iraqi government to order the removal of nearly all the blast walls in the city within 40 days.

The first bomb was hidden in a pile of rubbish that exploded about 5:50am near a group of day labourers drinking tea in the religiously mixed neighbourhood of Amil, killing at least seven people and wounding 46, officials said.

About 10 minutes later a car bomb targeted construction workers in western Baghdad, killed another 10 people and wounded 35, according to police.

Three bombs also exploded in the mainly Sunni neighbourhood of Azamiyah shortly before 7am, wounding a member of a government-backed paramilitary group, an army official said.

A few hours later a roadside bomb exploded in front of a mosque in the primarily Sunni neighbourhood of Sadiyah in southwest Baghdad, killing two and wounding 14 others, a police official said.

A minibus exploded in the Shi'ite Shula neighbourhood in northwest Baghdad, killing one and wounding three more, another official said.

Two other bombs went off elsewhere in the city, wounding a total of 10 other people.

[Bill of Rights]

Originally Posted by Dryden

“We want to talk to (soldiers) about this beautiful religion,” Hammond said at the one-hour meeting, attended by local Islamic leaders Arshad Yousufi, Farouk Abushaban and Dawud Salaam; 4th Infantry Division cultural adviser Al Azim; and four other Army leaders.


Beautifull religion.....wow.
If we went to any of the Muslem countries and proposed teaching them Christianity.....beheadings would follow.

Our soldiers are going into their home (country). Having them understand ahead of time the little things like "don't hand someone food with your left hand" and similar cultural things is just prudent. Keep in mind also that Christianity's history is not exactly devoid of unjust bloodshed either. While it does not embrace such things today, there are still people who give the majority of Christians a figurative black eye by encouraging the murder of, say, abortion doctors. This is not an abortion threadjack and I request any such posts be addressed as mods see fit. The point is not the actions of those doctors but rather the actions of those who claim to represent Christianity, who think they are doing God's work.

Make no mistake, I'm not demonizing Christians whether they act the part or not, nor am I defending Islam. I'm saying that educating our troops before they go into what might quickly, easily, and unintentionally turn into hostile territory is a good idea.

Blessings,
Bill

[HICKMAN]

I think it's a good idea, but

IBFL

[Crystalship1]

Originally Posted by Bill of Rights

Our soldiers are going into their home (country). Having them understand ahead of time the little things like "don't hand someone food with your left hand" and similar cultural things is just prudent. Keep in mind also that Christianity's history is not exactly devoid of unjust bloodshed either. While it does not embrace such things today, there are still people who give the majority of Christians a figurative black eye by encouraging the murder of, say, abortion doctors. This is not an abortion threadjack and I request any such posts be addressed as mods see fit. The point is not the actions of those doctors but rather the actions of those who claim to represent Christianity, who think they are doing God's work.

Make no mistake, I'm not demonizing Christians whether they act the part or not, nor am I defending Islam. I'm saying that educating our troops before they go into what might quickly, easily, and unintentionally turn into hostile territory is a good idea.

Blessings,
Bill

Very well stated, Bill!!!!

[Ness2k]

I had a cultural awareness class while in Kuwait awaiting movement to Baghdad. I was also given translation cards, culture and customs pamphlets, and a short course on saying basic words and phrases.

Can't say it helped in the least. 90% of the locals who will talk to you do not care about the cultural difference, 5% will just at you no matter what you try and do, and 5% you will detain and at.

It was also shocking to see how many people went over in a "let's kill some ragheads" mindset, and really didn't care about anything besides .

Just saying I think this cultural awareness class is just another check the box, make it look good for the public deal.

[Blue Tile Spook]

Maybe it is a "feel good" effort for some soldiers, for others, it is the first time that they have met anyone of that nationality. I know that I had my eyes opened when I was there, having been raised a simple Quaker, fresh off the farm.