Muslim Soldiers In US Military Face Complex Situation

In the wake of the shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas by Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, today's New York Times explores the complications facing Muslims serving in the U.S. military. The military has been actively recruiting Muslims with the linguistic skills and cultural understanding needed to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However Muslims in the service face suspicion by some of their officers. Muslim soldiers are concerned about killing fellow Muslims in fighting and they hear condemnations of such killing in their mosques when they return from service. Adding to these issues is the discomfort when fellow soldiers use demeaning anti-Muslim terms to describe the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan.