Posted on 12/14/2006 11:46:04 PM PST by La Enchiladita
While some in Congress made gaffes, police, businesses, and others are boning up on Muslim culture.
Some in Congress may need a primer on Islamic extremists. Five years after 9/11, three members of the House Intelligence Committee in recent interviews couldn't answer basic questions about who's Sunni and who's Shiite in the Muslim world. But other American institutions are already boning up - especially when they have a stake in doing so. For example:
• Law-enforcement agencies, from the FBI to the New York Police Department are learning Muslim customs in attempts to do their jobs more effectively.
• Major hospitals, including one in Tampa, Fla., are training staff to honor Muslim beliefs about the body.
• Business groups are studying Islamic law in order to raise capital among Muslims, who aren't allowed to charge interest.
In general, Americans don't know much about Muslims, surveys show. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that the share of those saying they knew "not very much" or "nothing at all" about Islam actually grew from 61 percent in 2001 to 66 percent in 2005. In another 2005 Pew finding, 62 percent failed to identify Allah and the Koran as the terms Muslims use for God and sacred scripture.
Certain key sectors of US society also display a dangerous ignorance, Muslim advocates say. Topping the list this month is Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D) of Texas, the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. In an interview with Congressional Quarterly last week, he could identify the historic Sunni-Shiite split but didn't know that Al Qaeda is Sunni or that Hizbullah, which fought Israel this summer in Lebanon, is Shiite.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
"When a person from another culture says something, the meaning behind the words may not be the literal translation that an agent might want to jump to," Mr. Slotter says. "There are so many different nuances and aspects [that] to be an effective interviewer ... you're going to need those cultural skills."
Urban police are taking similar steps. About 100 members of the New York Police Department's hostage negotiating team, for instance, earlier this year spent a day learning to foster cooperation by honoring Muslim customs. For example, when entering a home, leave dogs outside and don't step on prayer rugs. In San Jose, Police Chief Rob Davis is a Mormon, but he has in the past fasted each day during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in order to foster understanding and closer ties with Muslims in his city.
Have the FBI contact me, please. ;)
Unnecessary PC nonsense ping.
Okay. ;^) It's a little worrisome that the FBI needs this training.
"It's a little worrisome that the FBI needs this training. "
Just a tad.
ping
It's really sad to know that we are doing things to satisfy the Muslim standards for the sake of political correctness. i think it should be a common sense for our leaders to put limits regarding these things. Because whatever standards of religion these muzzies have, they are the newcomers, they should adjust not us... we are only showing them that in this way they will defeat us... 'coz literaly they can't defeat us with conventional warfare.
Nothing is changing, these guys do a lousy job and they don't have to answer to anyone. The year after the 9/11 attacks, my husband had a request to put a Muslim kid aboard a tanker ship , as an intern. My husband had been the mgr of fleet staffing for 8 1/2 years and never had a Muslim apply for a job aboard a ship and after all the pilots training and the threat to the oil industry, my husband was skeptical. He called the FBI and asked to have the kid vetted. The agent never called him back.
So, my husband put the kid aboard the oldest tanker that the company had, one that didn't go to one of their own refineries. A year later that refinery reported divers seen filming their docks and two stolen security trucks.
Although, we should not care one bit.
This is crazy. Is this a 9-11 Comission recommendation the Democrats are pushing?
Neutralize thy enemy...
You have to know them to do that in the this case. Knowledge of the enemy is what separates the Generals from the foot soldiers.
The dead ones require little understanding...
What you have here is a combination of PC pandering in some cases, and an alarming lack of real information in others. So, you're both right.
The FBI should have already been trained in the "nuances" long ago, and congress-critters should have the basics down pat. Although too much attention to particulars is not going to help us become victorious. All we really need to know is in post #7.
As for the diversity training for hospitals, police departments, et al, the muslims need to adapt to us not the other way around. That, or stay in a muslim country and have your "beliefs honored" there.
Sunni? Shiite? Wahhabi? Hah!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.