Re: politically correct bomb graffiti

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Guess folks in WWII shouldn't have been calling the enemy "Krauts."

Now it's okay to slaughter Iraqis -- but we can't make fun of them.

These are odd times.

-Declan


At 06:23 PM 12-22-98 +0100, Anonymous wrote:
>..way too amusing..
>
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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. 
>
>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. 
>
>The bomb bore several inscriptions, including one that said, ``Here's a
>Ramadan present from Chad Rickenberg.'' 
>
>``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. 
>
>``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. ``The United States deeply respects Islam. We are grateful for our
>good relations with Arab and Islamic peoples, and we appreciate the
>important contributions of Muslim-Americans to the U.S. military and to our
>nation as a whole. 
>
>``I know our people in uniform respect and appreciate religious practices
>different from their own. This incident is a rare exception that does not
>reflect American policy or values.'' 
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