Inside the Beltway

The Washington Times ^ | September 29, 2003 | John McCaslin

[Mrs. Obelix]

Blew in one ear ...
You might have read about "The Old Guard" hurricane vigil.
Now, "valiant" members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment are being saluted for their recent act of "patriotism" on Capitol Hill.
"As Hurricane Isabel's winds swept over Arlington National Cemetery, the soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknowns were given — for the first time in history — permission to abandon their posts and seek shelter," observes House Armed Services Committee Rep. Jeff Miller, Florida Republican.
"But that wasn't what was going to happen, and Sgt. Christopher Holmes knew it."
To provide some background, the Army sergeant's guards take turns patrolling the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns in hourly shifts — never leaving their post. The tomb was established in 1921 with the interment of an unknown World War I soldier, and a sentry has been posted there continuously, around the clock, since 1930. "Cemetery superintendent John Metzler didn't want to put the guards in jeopardy unnecessarily with the fierce storm bearing down Thursday night," Mr. Miller notes, "so cemetery officials decided to let the guards move indoors if they felt they were in danger.
"That's never an option for us," Sgt. Holmes was quoted as saying. "It went in one ear and right out the other."
(--Snip--)
Holy terror
First on the Capitol Hill schedule this morning: confronting terrorism financing, with an address by former CIA Director Jim Woolsey.
The American Foreign Policy Council hosts today's (9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.) panel discussions in Dirksen G-11, including assessments of financing dynamics and an exploration of problem states and their relationship with terrorism.
Meanwhile, Christian Islamic Forum board member Robert Spencer is author of a disturbing new book, "Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West."
An authority on Islam for over two decades, Mr. Spencer seeks to destroy the "myth" that Islam is a "religion of peace," arguing violence is "at its core."
The threat of "violent jihad" is growing daily, and "moderate Muslims" have been unable to stop it, he contends.
The Regnery book quotes several Islamic extremists in this country, including Muhammad Faheed, a 23-year-old Muslim born in Pakistan who has lived in America from age 3, who told the Muslim Student Association chapter in New York City:
"We are not Americans; we are Muslims," Mr. Faheed said. "It is us versus them. ... The only relationship you should have with America is to topple it."

[Mrs. Obelix]

Who we are and the fight we are in.