Colonel Douglas Burpee - 23 Years Of Military Service - A Muslim

[abso]

His call sign is "Hadji," meaning "one who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca"
"It's a pilot thing," explains Colonel Douglas Burpee, the highest ranking Muslim officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Now in his 23rd year of military service, Colonel Burpee recently returned from flying helicopters in Afghanistan.

"Everyone knows I'm a Muslim. When I fly, attached to my dog tags, I wear a pendant with a passage from the Koran," he says. "I try to set a good example based upon what I believe.... I can be a soldier and a Muslim at the same time. I have no problem with that."

Certainly that's Colonel Burpee's view. "These people who commit terrorism have just adopted the face of Islam - nothing they say or do have anything to do with Islam," he says. "The Taliban is a terrorist organization - they are bad people doing bad things and they've attached religion to it. They are ruthless when it comes to killing people, but that's how you move helpless people around - you use fear."

Colonel Burpee's path to both Islam and the military is not necessarily typical. With blond hair that is now going gray, he was born in America and raised Episcopalian. He converted to Islam when he was 19 for a very American reason: "I met a pretty girl" - an Egyptian woman named Hala who was a fellow student at the University of Southern California in the late 1970s. Three years later he was accepted at the Officers Candidates' School in Quantico, Va. Now he and Hala and their five sons live in Glendale, Calif.

"We believe in god and family and prayer - the same things as everyone who believes in religion," he says. But his reaction to September 11th fit a less typical script. "I watched the attacks on TV, like everybody else. The first thing we did afterwards was go to the mosque because people were concerned about a backlash. On the other hand, I had to call into my squadron and ask, 'Hey, are we being activated?'" Colonel Burpee straddles his two worlds, but he is not typical of Islam or the military.

Perhaps a more typical portrait of a Muslim soldier in the U.S. military comes from Sergeant Youseff Mandour of the U.S. Army. He immigrated to America from Morocco at the age of 17 and joined the army at age 22. Now 25, he just returned from 12 months in Iraq. Like Colonel Burpee, he aspires to a lifelong career in the military. "I'm fighting for a better life and a belief in freedom," he says. "I had a chance to get involved. I learned the English language and appreciate everything this country has given to me. That's why I joined the Army. The U.S. is doing great things."

To Read the Full Article:
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/muslims...ilitary/31393/

[jimnyc]

To Read the Full Article:
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/muslims...ilitary/31393/

And you support the killing of him by terrorists.

[Kathianne]

and you would still favor them being killed if ordered to an Islamic country.

[CAPTDASH]

I can't remember Major Dipshit's name who killed and mamed soldiers at Ft Hood, but he along with other Muslims allowed into the US Military who have harmed fellow soldiers are not trusted by very many people. The Muslims are let in to try to prove a point that most will never be convinced of. I do not nor will I ever trust a Muslim.

This is just another example of ABSO trying to set his fellow Muslims on a pedestal. what a freakin joke you are ABSO.

[jimnyc]

I can't remember Major Dipshit's name who killed and mamed soldiers at Ft Hood, but he along with other Muslims allowed into the US Military who have harmed fellow soldiers are not trusted by very many people. The Muslims are let in to try to prove a point that most will never be convinced of. I do not nor will I ever trust a Muslim.

This is just another example of ABSO trying to set his fellow Muslims on a pedestal. what a freakin joke you are ABSO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hood_shooting

And I would bet that more muslims are proud of this guy than the guy abso refers to. This cockroach at Fort Hood should have been executed on the spot.

[NightTrain]

Here's more on those trustworthy muslims within the U.S. Military :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Akbar_case

Akbar was charged in a hand grenade and shooting attack that killed two, while wounding fourteen other soldiers on 23 March 2003. The attack took place at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait, a rear base camp for the invasion. There, Akbar threw four hand grenades into three tents during early morning when the majority of troops were sleeping, and fired his rifle during the ensuing chaos. News reports at the time claimed that Akbar had been recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would not join his unit's push into Iraq.

[Kathianne]

and concerns beyond the battlefields and bases:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnal...aspx?id=515712

[abso]

here i post something about a fellow american, who is not an arab, just became a muslim because he loved a woman, but he never loved any country other than USA, and spent 23 years serving in the US army, and instead of being proud of a guy like him, you are all proud of guys full of hate like CAPTDASH

i post about good guys, and you keep posting about bad guys, i post about good examples, and you only remember the bad ones, you encourage fear and hatred, and reject every attempt i make to encourage understanding, if you all prefer such hatred and fear from both sides, then i hope it works for you, if thats what you want to pass to your own children, then its fine, but i already know what i am going to teach my children, i am going to teach them how to love people and understand them, not how to hate others.

[jimnyc]

here i post something about a fellow american, who is not an arab, just became a muslim because he loved a woman, but he never loved any country other than USA, and spent 23 years serving in the US army, and instead of being proud of a guy like him, you are all proud of guys full of hate like CAPTDASH

i post about good guys, and you keep posting about bad guys, i post about good examples, and you only remember the bad ones, you encourage fear and hatred, and reject every attempt i make to encourage understanding, if you all prefer such hatred and fear from both sides, then i hope it works for you, if thats what you want to pass to your own children, then its fine, but i already know what i am going to teach my children, i am going to teach them how to love people and understand them, not how to hate others.

Sure, and are you going to teach them what you wrote about supporting terrorists?

no i dont support the terrorists in killing americans, i only support them if they attack american troops, not civilians

[NightTrain]

and concerns beyond the battlefields and bases:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnal...aspx?id=515712

Holy crap, Kathi! I never heard about this.

But so do so-called moderate American clerics like Zaid Shakir. In "Muslim Mafia," I transcribe for readers a CD recording of one of his sermons circulating in mosques across America. In it, he exhorts the Muslim faithful to attack planes carrying the 82nd Airborne.
Frequently booked by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a guest speaker at its events, Shakir tells his Muslim audience: "Jihad is physically fighting the enemies of Islam to protect and advance the religion of Islam. This is jihad."
Acceptable targets of jihad, he says, include U.S. military aircraft. "Islam doesn't permit us to hijack airplanes filled with civilian people," he said, but "if you hijack an airplane filled with the 82nd Airborne, that's something else."

[jimnyc]

Just realized what the Colonel's name is - Burpee. Reminds me of Slurpee. Which reminds me of 7/11.

Nevermind, carry on!!

[abso]

Sure, and are you going to teach them what you wrote about supporting terrorists?

again i dont support terrorists, and no, they wont have to learn anything about any of that, hopefully, most of the current wars will be ended by the time they start reading and watching TV news

[jimnyc]

again i dont support terrorists, and no, they wont have to learn anything about any of that, hopefully, most of the current wars will be ended by the time they start reading and watching TV news

If you don't support terrorists, then why did you say you did? Slipping over your own tongue now?

[abso]

Holy crap, Kathi! I never heard about this.

here is another stupid Imam, he got bored of asking them to kill civilians, so he try another approach to spread his terrorism, why the hell is people like him allowed to spread their thoughts, is that freedom of speech too !!!!!!!!!!!

i think that freedom of speech in USA needs to be revised

[abso]

If you don't support terrorists, then why did you say you did? Slipping over your own tongue now?

no it didnt slip.

there is terrorism, and there is resistence, when you invade, people have the right to resist, like in Iraq, but when you are invited in, people have no right to attack you, like in Saudia, Qatar.

as an example, the bright star exercise, thousands of american troops come to egypt to participate in it, have you ever heared of anyone attacking them ???