Attitude Problem? (Muslim soldiers family blames racism for grendate attack)

ABCNews ^ | March 25, 2003

[Michael2001]

March 25 — U.S. Army Sgt. Asan Akbar, the soldier being detained in connection with a grenade attack on his fellow soldiers, told his family members that he encountered racism as an African-American and a Muslim in the armed services.

His stepfather, William Bilal, who was once married to Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, said that his stepson was resentful toward the military and had complained several years ago that it was difficult for a black man "to make rank" in the military. "Asan was pushed to this. We've got that clear," William Bilal told WBRZ, ABCNEWS' affiliate in Baton Rouge, La. "Everybody's got a breaking point, to put it that way. Everybody's got a breaking point. If he did this, he was driven."

On ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, Bilal expressed a toned down version of his previous statements, saying that Akbar was likely misunderstood.

"All I'm saying is that Islam has been misrepresented, and a lot of people don't understand the religion of Islam," Bilal said. "And the problem is, the stereotyping and the discrimination, I can't say exactly, directly, if that was Asan's case," he said.

Now, the 31-year-old soldier is in custody for an alleged grenade attack Sunday that killed one and wounded 15 others in the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. He has not been charged with a crime, but Akbar was the only person being questioned in the attack, George Heath, a civilian spokesman at Fort Campbell in Kentucky said. Three grenades were allegedly thrown into three separate tents.

According to the Los Angeles Times, soldiers who witnessed Akbar's arrest said that Akbar yelled out: "You guys are coming into our countries, and you're going to rape our women and kill our children."

Akbar, part of the division's 326th Engineer Battalion, recently had some problems with his battalion, Heath said.

"He was having what some people might call it seems an attitude problem," Heath said.

Akbar's brother, Ismail Bilal, who recently obtained an early discharge from the Air Force, said he was shocked when he heard that his brother was accused in the attack. "It was too many emotions involved to pinpoint one emotion, how I felt at the time, you know? Because it was like a melting pot of emotions," Bilal said. He said his older brother, Akbar, seemed fine when he spoke with him one month ago.

"He just spoke just like any other soldier, you know, going overseas. 'Man, we about to go overseas and about to spend all this time over there.' You know, just the same way every soldier feels when he get deployed," Bilal said.

Officials have not released any motive in the attack, but said Akbar will be brought back to Fort Campbell for judicial proceedings, and that the Army could seek the death penalty.

Neighbors Say Akbar Was Quiet

News of the incident shocked Akbar's neighbors back home in the small military town of Clarksville, Tenn., who described him as a mild-mannered man who didn't drink or swear.

Akbar proudly wore his uniform, even when he was off duty, said neighbor Willie Shannell Jr., who spoke to Akbar shortly before he was deployed.

"There was no resentment at all. I don't want to go, you know, I'm going to run," Shannell said. "No. Zero."

Another neighbor agreed that Akbar was no troublemaker.

"I was shocked really because he was one of the quietest ones in the neighborhood, he kept to himself and you wouldn't expect anything like that from him at all," said Heather Dill.

Akbar is originally from California, where he lived for some time with his mother and sisters in Merino County. He was born Mark Kools, but his mother changed his name after she remarried when he was a boy. He attended Locke High School in the heart of Los Angeles, and school sources say he was a model student with a 3.6 grade point average.

He was raised Muslim and Akbar and his family attended the Bilal Islamic Center, across the street from their family home before he moved to Tennessee for the military.

His mother said she changed his name to Asan Akbar after she remarried when he was a young boy. In some public records, the first name is spelled Hasan.

His mosque's leader says Akbar's actions are a puzzling contradiction to the messages he learned at the mosque as a boy.

"We don't tell them not to join the Army because they might run into a problem with another Muslim country," said Abdul Karim Hasan. "That's just the way it is. That's what armed forces are trained to do. They are trained to fight."

Meanwhile, U.S. troops preparing to fight an outside enemy are now grappling with the reality of an attack, possibly by one of their own.

"When someone is firing at you, you know who the enemy is," Heath said. "But when they're standing in the same chow line or using the same shower as you, it's had a detrimental effect probably on the morale."

[Frank_2001]

I agree with you!!

[Chong]

"that it was difficult for a black man "to make rank" in the military."

TOTAL BS, just the opposite is true. Besides, this race card thingy is getting really, really, tiresome!

[Professional]

One of the cable channels was surprisingly telling the truth about this. Apparently, he was telling fellow soldiers back stateside he was against the war and thought this was a Christian/Muslim thing. He talked about shooting his commanding officers, even discussed using grenades. This was reported to superior officers and they question FAkbar. He told them he was only "joking". They believed him...

This story is going to be Hugh. PC in the military will be on trial. Good!

[doug from upland]

Maybe they decided to combine Marin and Mono???

[Rockitz]

.....and I hope they do it soon.

[Beck_isright]

It will be a moot point when he's handed a Marlboro and a blindfold.

[SierraWasp]

Well, we call Yolo County "YoYo County," around these parts.

PC UC Davis here in the Sacramento Region was so thrilled with this result of "Affirmative Action" and the "Celebration of Diversity," that has brought such reknown to "Universal Toleration" that I'm sure the buttons were poppin offa the vests of them social engineering professors!!!

[goldstategop]

The victimhood excuse for murdering two soldiers and committing treason. Let's see how well that plays with his court martial. I hope the SOB is hanged.

[American in Israel]

Racism huh? So I guess they admit that being white or being an infidel is grounds for a fragging. I did not realize being a Moslem or a Black gave one the ultimate Judge position on who lives and who dies. I think Hitler thought that about being German if I recall correctly...

[American in Israel]

He did not kill his commanding officer because he was a Moslem, NOOOoooo, it was because he could not get a promotion, No, because he was racialy discriminated against. Yeah, thats the ticket, it was the way the commander always put cream in his coffee, refusing to drink it Black. Clearly he should have tried to kill 15 guys over that...

Gimmie a break, they guy is Islamic and a traitor, something that may indeed go together. Christianity teaches to respect authority, Islam teaches to kill non moslems. Big difference when it comes to handing someone a gun.

[American in Israel]

"All I'm saying is that Islam has been misrepresented, and a lot of people don't understand the religion of Islam," Bilal said. "

No I think we understand clearly what Islam stands for. After all, just look at what Moslems do, and you will understand. Only the liberal left is misrepresentiting it as a "Religion of Peace", the Moslems chant Jihad. Pretty clear what Islam means to anybody who wants to open their eyes.

[driftless]

You are embarrassingly correct. I was a Dem for many years and supported all the civil rights legislation. But while still in my early twenties, I began to get the gnawing feeling that the Dems weren't interested in Black progress at all. They fought every iniative to get Black families off welfare and improve schools. They encouraged the victimology of todays Blacks and other "minorities". I became convinced that maintaining Black dependency on Dem pols and welfare programs was far more important to them. Plus there were fortunes to be made by race-hustlers like Jesse Jackson et al. I left the Dem party in disgust feeling betrayed and tricked for those reasons and others (Clinton was the last straw). But I'm in a lot better shape than the Black and other ethnic victims of their political shenanigans.

[submarinerswife]

It is way to convenient to blame these murders on racism. What a crock of sh*t!

[ArneFufkin]

Neighbors Say Akbar Was Quiet

I want, just one time, that when a guy goes postal in a homicidal rage that his neighbors are interviewed and say "Yeah, the guy was a real obnoxious loudmouth pr*ck. In everyone's business, pissing people off. Everybody hated him. Nobody here is surprised by this at all. We all saw it coming."

[glory]

Agreed. Her mother talked about her having her Rosary with her and she hoped she still had it and she said she knew she was saying her prayers since she was a very religious girl. Her mother had such peace on her face despite the situation her family and her daughter faced. It was obvious they trusted in God and believed in what their daughter was doing.
They were class acts--Shoshana family. God bless them--great patriots and foreigners to boot.

My guess is the other family are probably all American born and have been fed the race bait crap for years. Absolutely dispicable. Their son killed and injured other soldiers and all they can say is their son is a victim and blame the other soldiers, not even offer condolences. It never occured to them either that he was discriminated against, but individually because of his poor attitude and probably a likelihood to do something like he did. Seems as if his officers made good decisions where he was concerned, even better would have been to kick him out of the military and my guess is that was coming before he murdered soldiers. Pitiful, abosulutely pitiful.
Look at the contrast.

[glory]

My thoughts on this is it isn't just a mother's love per se. These people raise animals(no color distinction) and they can relate to them. I know families that have hoodlums for kids and its often encouraged with how its addressed by parents, but these parents being low on the character scale that they are aren't capable of taking any of the credit for raising such a monster. That being said, some see their kids as an extension of themselves...if they won't take any responsibility, why would they expect their kids too?

It all boils down to the fact in this circumstance that this family thought hating your fellow soldiers and non Muslims was normal and probably encouraged it so it's easy for them to say "he was a nice a guy" right on up to and after he did what he did because they see nothing wrong with his gripes and encouraged them all along.

[FITZ]

"All I'm saying is that Islam has been misrepresented, and a lot of people don't understand the religion of Islam," Bilal said. "And the problem is, the stereotyping and the discrimination, I can't say exactly, directly, if that was Asan's case," he said.

Bilal and his stepson both help us better understand Islam. I think he's right when he says Islam has been misrepresented ---- such as when it's referred to as a religion of peace ---it clearly is not.