Graffitti or National Policy?

[Missouri FreeNet Administration <measl@mfn.org>]

	HEY, REEZA!  ARE YOU *LISTENING* ???
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 Pentagon Decries U.S. Bomb Graffiti 
Tuesday, December 22, 1998; 1:24 a.m. EST

::WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Department officials said Monday they were
::distressed about ``thoughtless graffiti'' referring to the Islamic holy
::month of Ramadan on a Navy bomb being prepared for dropping on Iraq. 

Next time, the CIC demands that you put *more* thought into it...

::The Associated Press last Saturday transmitted a photograph of a
::2,000-pound laser-guided bomb on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in
::the Persian Gulf waiting to be loaded on F-14 and F-18 jet fighters. 

Of course, they didn't mind the *bomb* being televised, only the
graffitti :-/

::The bomb bore several inscriptions, including one that said, ``Here's a
::Ramadan present from Chad Rickenberg.'' 

Reeza, why wasn't *your* Ramadan Missive there?

::``Department of Defense officials were distressed to learn of
::thoughtless graffiti mentioning the holy month of Ramadan written on a
::piece of U.S. ordnance during Operation Desert Fox'' in Iraq, chief
::Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said in a statement. 

Yeah, it's perfectly OK to bomb them during Ramadan (for their own good of
course), but not to actually *acknowledge* it...

::``Religious intolerance is an anathema to Secretary of Defense
::William S. Cohen and to all Americans who cherish the right to worship
::freely,'' he added.

Unless you 
	(a) happen to be Arabic [aside: The odds that an Arabic male
	is depicted as dirty, bad, untrustworthy, etc, in any motion pic
	emanating from the US? A: 19 in 20 {harpers}]
	(b) happen to live in any territory currently occupied by any
	puppet of the USG (Israel comes immediately to mind, but lets face
	it, there's plenty of others), 
	(c) don't agree with every single thing the USG/POTUS has done for
	the last 200++ years...

:: ``The United States deeply respects Islam. We are grateful for
::our good relations with Arab and Islamic peoples,

We are especially grateful that they so freely allow us to bomb their men
women and children whenever we get bored or involved in any domestic issue
that might embarrass the USG/POTUS/IRS/NSA/etc...  Or when we aren't sure
that a new weapon technology is actually "Ready For Prime Time"...

:: and we appreciate the
::important contributions of Muslim-Americans to the U.S. military and to
::our nation as a whole. 

See above :-/

::``I know our people in uniform respect and appreciate religious
::practices different from their own.

Exactly!  What Mr. Rickenberg *meant* to say was "Merry Christmas", right?

:: This incident is a rare exception that does not
:: reflect American policy or values.'' 

The bombing/starving/massacring of innocent civilians, or the graffitti
that didn't have enough thought in it?

Isn't it amazing how the military hates having their laundry aired in
public??? 


Yours, 
J.A. Terranson
sysadmin@mfn.org

--
If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they
should give serious consideration towards setting a better example:
Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of
unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in
the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and 
elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire
populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate...
This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States
as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers,
associates, or others.  Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of
those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the
first place...
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