Posted on 02/12/2004 3:24:41 PM PST by Prince Charles
US SOLDIER 'ON TERROR CHARGES'
A US soldier has been charged with trying to provide information to the al Qaeda terrorist network, US law enforcement official has said.
The official told the Associated Press news agency that National Guardsman Ryan G. Anderson was charged with "aiding the enemy by wrongfully attempting to communicate and give intelligence to the al Qaeda terrorist network." It was not immediately known what information Anderson was alleged to have provided. Anderson was being held at Fort Lewis, an Army base south of Seattle. Anderson, 26, is a tank crew member from the National Guard's 81st Armour Brigade, a 4,000-member unit set to depart in coming months for Iraq for a one-year deployment.
No official comment has been given on the incident.
Last Updated: 23:03 UK, Thursday February 12, 2004
The line between the two is becoming blurry.
Cascade grad among guard unit being honored: A 1995 Cascade High School graduate is taking part in a historic event in the Tacoma Dome today.
Spc. Ryan Anderson will participate in the mobilization of the 81st Armor Brigade, which has not been mobilized since World War II.
Approximately 15,000 people will attend the tickets-only ceremony to honor the 3,500 Washington National Guard soldiers who will be going to Iraq for at least a year.
Anderson is a military historian, graduating from WSU in 2002 with a degree in military history with an emphasis on the Middle East. Converting to the Muslim faith five years ago, he said the tour of duty will be an interesting experience.
Yes. He converted 5 years agom according tio Bret Baier (sp), FoxNews.
Graduated from Washington State University in 2002. He received a degree in military history with an emphasis on the Middle East.
"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" (Constitution, Art. 6, Sec. 3.)
There could just as easily be federal court rulings in the future excepting Christianity as being a real religion, too, which is why this is in our constitution :
"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" (Constitution, Art. 6, Sec. 3.)
And of course that little first ammendment thingy.
People didn't do our country any favors when there was infighting between Christians and Mormons, or Catholics and protestants over the same sort of prejudices and mostly false accusations of disloyalty some direct towards ALL muslims. There was a time when Catholics were accused of being a threat to the US because they were 'more loyal to the Pope.' The same went for Japanese Americans, who were thought to be more loyal to their emperor and therefor a threat. Some were- but certainly not most. And Chinese Americans, who contributed greatly to our westward expansion even while being treated like scum because they were 'heathens.'
Without freedom of religion, all your freedoms are imperiled. It's so intwined with the first ammendment that to ban any one religion is to strip people of free speech as well.
Besides, we need intel and interpreters, and the best person to infiltrate a radical Islamic terrorist group is a muslim fluent in Arabic who knows all the ins and outs and cultural differences. We cannot win the war on terror without muslims, no matter how many armchair inquisitors think we can.
Indeed, bin Laden's whole objective was to initiate a war on Islam. That's exactly what al Qaeda wants and it's the only way they can hope to recruit enough Muslims- most of who wouldn't otherwise give them the time of day and are even repulsed by the wahhabbists.
That said, there is a need to confront Islam- but it is a spiritual and ideological battle and not a physical one, a battle best left to individuals of faith and not the state.
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