Muslim American: An Oxymoron?                                        Rich B.                May 11, 2004

Daniel Pearl a few years ago and Nick Berg today. Two young men and innocent American civilians slaughtered by Muslim fundamentalists. Both were trying to do their job in a Muslim country. Both kidnapped and murdered, while their cowardly captors hid behind masks as their knives very imprecisely and very slowly cut through the necks of those two men.  

Due to my job with the United States Army, I had to the grim duty to view the video of Daniel Pearl’s decapitation. I have not seen the complete video of Nick Berg’s murder, nor do I wish to do so. However, I did see the news reports about it, according to which it took those Muslim terrorists about 30 seconds and 5 slices with a knife for Nick Berg to be decapitated. News reports also stated that he was screaming in pain until after the 3^rd of the 5^th slice. All the while, the Muslim terrorists yelled Allah-O-Akbar (Allah is Great) in the background. 

Be it Pearl or Berg, on each occasion, there was media outrage and the “talking heads” on television claimed disgust and heartfelt sorrow for the families of each victim and rightly so. Very little however, was heard from Muslim religious leaders, groups or governments. A weak, barely audible condemnation here and there, seemed to suffice as far as the Muslims are concerned. I would be lying if I were to say that I was disappointed in the lack of reaction from the Muslim governments. Unless one has spent one’s entire life under a rock somewhere, it is easy to realize where their priorities lie.  

I am much more disappointed and concerned with the lack of reaction from Muslim Americans. Surprisingly, Muslims living here don’t seem too concerned about the horrid murders either. Now it doesn’t take a genius to realize that Muslim Americans appear to be in silent agreement if they remain mute while Muslim terrorists commit horrible atrocities on innocent Americans under the guise of Islam.  

To illustrate my point, those same silent Muslims seem to be very good at objecting about things they really disagree with. They complain loudly about the “evil” Patriot Act. The Muslims don’t think twice before spending endless amounts of their energy complaining about how they are being profiled. They vehemently complain about how the United States is waging a war on Islam and not on the terrorists. They have no problems telling the world how they are afraid of living in the United States, post 9-11-01. So. When all is said and done, the American Muslims come out looking ambivalent at best and supporters at worst of the Muslim terrorists and their terrorism. 

In spite of my very personal experiences gained by fighting the War on Terror as a soldier of the United States Army, I am willing to listen to what the Muslims have to say, if anything. I would state that the American people are fair and have no vested interest in doubting the intentions of the Muslim American community. A little bit of honesty, truth and genuine condemnation of terrorist acts would go far in resolving this problem caused by their silence. If those Muslim Americans were to act more like the Americans they claim to be, maybe they would not have to live under the assumed burden of being an un-loved minority. If they tried, they would find that being a true American and a true Muslim are indeed, not mutually exclusive.