|
U.S. Must Recruit More Muslims Into Military
By Aysha Hussain
March 28, 2007
No matter which way you spin the
record player, the U.S. armed forces need more Arab and Muslim participation.
And they need it now.
That may sound like a
contradiction when you consider that I'm opposed to the Iraq war. But I believe
it's critical that the Bush administration change its recruiting strategies by
allowing more Arabs and Muslims to serve in the military as translators and
cultural messengers, especially in the handling of Iraqi civilians.
Last
week, the Christian Science Monitor recounted the story of Abdel Salam, an
Egyptian-born Muslim American, who agreed to join the U.S. Army as a translator.
Salam, a Brooklyn
resident, said he is proud of his heritage and his decision to act as the link
between culture and service.
"I'm proud of what I'm doing," says
Salam. "I
want to help the Iraqi people understand what the [American] soldiers are there
for—to show them there's someone from their culture who's also from the U.S. who
understands them and wants to help."
Recruiting service members like
Salam is crucial because without the assistance of Arabs and Muslims, this war
will persist. The Iraqi people will continue to be antagonists toward Americans,
and the United States will need to deploy more operatives. The problem here is
trust—between two cultures and two faiths.
Perhaps the greater question here
may be: If the army doesn't require its service members to disclose their
religion, why do the U.S. armed services mistrust military operatives who happen
to be Muslim?
There is a lingering distrust
among many Americans toward Islam. This fear of Muslims, or "Islamaphobia," has
grown to unprecedented highs in the wake of 9/11.
That fear goes both
ways. Islamaphobia in
the U.S. is palpable; there is an equal amount, if not more, of
"American-phobia" in Iraq and around the world as a result of this war. In the wake of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib,
it's no wonder many Arabs and Muslims are skeptical of serving in the
armed-service sectors. Many are convinced that the U.S. military and their own
country are against them.
In my opinion it's a lose-lose
situation to not enlist more Arabic translators into the armed services. As long
as the United States continues to disappoint in their efforts to hire more Arabs
and Muslims, there's a good chance this war will go indefinitely, and countless
more lives will be lost.
In 2005, President Bush seemed to
recognize the importance of recruiting people with the language skills and
cultural background that would help collect information on al-Qaeda and other
terrorist groups. During that time, he ordered that the CIA increase the number
of Arabic speakers by 50 percent. However, the CIA, FBI, Department of Defense
and the Department of Homeland Security all failed to meet this goal.
Characteristic of this foreign-language deficit is that of the 1,000 recent
employees enlisted to join the embassy inside the Green Zone bubble in Baghdad,
there are only six who are fluent in Arabic.
The U.S. military has since stepped up its efforts to recruit
Arabs and Muslims who are native speakers of Arabic, Pashto or Farsi. They have
even received a significant increase in job applications. In addition to setting
up special outreach programs, the U.S. military also has hired imams, opened
prayer rooms on some bases, and increased military observances of Islamic
holidays to assure Arabs and Muslims they are welcome.
Arabs and Muslims are the missing
link in this equation. They will be the bridge that brings this divisive war to
an end.
As Arabs and Muslims, if we can do
nothing to stop the war, it is our civic duty to do whatever it takes to defend
and reassure the lives, culture and religion of our Muslim brethren. If that means joining the
military, so be it. This window of opportunity has been closed on us too many
times.
More from Today's Diversity News
<< PREVIOUS ITEM | NEXT ITEM >>
Send Your Comments About This Article Now
©DiversityInc. Reproduction in any format is absolutely prohibited.
|
digg this | 
mixx! | 
reddit
del.icio.us
Newsvine | 
| 
