Do you believe that racial diversity is a "strategic imperative" to the US military?

I understand the points you make, except there is one little problem with excluding all Muslims from the military. Being Muslim is not just defined as religious, but also of parental origin and culturally, as in people of Middle Eastern descent with or without parents who practice in their faith. It is quite possible to have a middle eastern person who has Islamic lineage and may have even been brought up with the faith and maybe not, and others who have no faith at all, and we cannot know what is inside someone's mind either way regardless of what they say, even if they don't attend a mosque, We also can't forget that not all Muslims are from the Middle East, including Americans born to people of such faith, as well as converts, who would ordinarily hold no ill will toward us or have a conflict of interest with us.

Another problem is that we haven't declared a war on Muslims or jihad, only terrorism and certain countries (I suppose we could exclude foreign Iraqis and Afghans on said basis). I don't know how the FBI/CIA/military defines and identifies potential jihadists. From what I know, some Islamists believe jihad should not be done violently, and it is only to be done to protect their religion, not for political purposes. But if we look deeper, we can see how this becomes an issue, since waging war on their lands or with those who align themselves or sympathize with those we fight against might require some of them to join the call, which then necessitates that the two, politics and religion, will be entertwined, especially where becoming a martyr is part of it and where violence also becomes a part. It should also be noted that while it may be more prevalent in those of Middle Eastern descent or Muslims to identify with the enemy, some non-Muslim Americans can also be traitorous to the cause or sympathetic to our enemies. I think the only possibility for the military in that case is to identify potential traitors and/or enemy combatants (regardless of religion), but in this process, also use markers in the Islamic faith itself to identify statements or ideologies that would indicate that the person is a potential terrorist.

I do not know what protocols the military uses to identify potential enemy combatants, or otherwise psychotic individuals; I would hope they have some way of checking mental stability. Where psychiatry is concerned, unfortunately some of them are also psychotic or sociopathic. For that reason alone, I have to agree with you. This one seems pretty cut and dried: Let the military contract out for them and not make them a part of the military structure, particularly where military cannot discharge someone so easily. I think the religious/political ideology of this individual needs to be addressed, as well as his psychological profile. It appears he also felt personally persecuted by the military, which indicates mental instability may have also played a factor here. While I'm not convinced that jihadism and sociopathy have to always be mutually exclusive, I suppose it will be up for them to decide.

It isnt about a White Soldier only saving his White Brother , nor a Black Soldier saving only his Black Brother. Military has NO ROOM DEBATING Black , White , Grey or any other color of the rainbow!

Within every branch of our Military those BRAVE men and woman are NOT CONCENTRATING OR FOCUCSED on the COLOR OR RACE of each other , my God! they are TRYING TO SURVIVE. Every military man and woman sees the other as their FAMILY. They eat together, sleep together , play together and fight in UNITY. They dont COLOR COORDINATE themselves as an INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP and we shouldnt either.

We need to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS ! now more than ever. I am certain that word got around about this TERRORIST who INJURED AND KILLED those soldiers at Fort Hood. These men and women fighting in Afghanistan SHAKING THEIR HEADS while GUARDING POPPY FIELDS now hearing that thier "BROTHERS AND SISTERS " were seriously injured and KILLED by this TERRORIST on American soil.

I see why MORALE IS LOW. I see why they are DEPRESSED. I can undestand why those soldiers are having PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS.

---> Americans we have UPCOMING HOLIDAYS APPROACHING FAST! Please do what you can by sending CARDS, LETTERS , CARE PACKAGES , to our troops. I know money is tight for all of us but we are AMERICANS. Every other country needs help Americans have always proven to be generous and given from our hearts. This time our troops are in need and we can make a difference! If you cant afford to send anything send Prayers lots and lots of Prayers! AMERICANS UNITED, WE UNDERSTAND & WE CARE!! AND WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

WASHINGTON (AP) — The army says morale has fallen among its forces in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing RECORD VIOLENCE in the 8-year-old war.

A new battlefield survey taken several months ago found INSTANCES OF DEPRESSRION, ANXIETYand other PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS about the same as in 2007 — but there was a significant DROP IN UNIT MORALE. The Army also says there is a shortage of mental health workers to help soldiers, partly because of the troop buildup started this year by President Barack Obama.

Efforts already under way to get more mental health workers to the war are hampered somewhat by last week’s shooting at Fort Hood. The army psychiatrist charged in the shootings was slated to go to Afghanistan. Some of the dead and wounded also were to deploy there to bolster psychological services for soldiers
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