Pentagon Advisor doubts wisdom of US Military recruiting moslems

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis, a Pentagon advisor and national defense expert, believes U.S. military officials are making a radical mistake by trying to make America's armed services more attractive to Muslims.

The Pentagon has lately gone out of its way to attract Muslims into the U.S. military, citing the need for officers and troops who can speak Arabic and understand Islamic culture. And recently, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said that Muslims and the Islamic religion are totally compatible with Western values.

However, Maginnis disagrees with that assessment. In fact, he contends, "Someone who's an adherent to the teaching of the Koran and then abides by what it says, that person -- as far as I can understand -- is incompatible with Western culture."

The retired Army officer says U.S. military leaders may well agree with his concerns, but they will not go against the policy of the Bush administration or even their commander-in-chief himself. "The President says Islam is a respectable faith, that it's a great faith," Maginnis notes. "If President Bush says there is not a problem, then you can't expect that his subordinates are going to come out with a contrary view."