under the auspices of, and fully armed by, the US Department of Defense. Is this what Pres. Obama means by "more boots on the ground"?
Below this article from Al Jazeera (English), there's a good blog by Jeff Sharlet, whose cover story in the current Harper's tells the awful truth about the evangelical component of our military presence in the Muslim world. MCM Bagram has a thriving evangelical Christian community ttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/05/200953201315854832.html 'Witness for Jesus' in Afghanistan US soldiers have been encouraged to spread the message of their Christian faith among Afghanistan's predominantly Muslim population, video footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to show. Military chaplains stationed in the US air base at Bagram were also filmed with bibles printed in the country's main Pashto and Dari languages. In one recorded sermon, Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Hensley, the chief of the US military chaplains in Afghanistan, is seen telling soldiers that as followers of Jesus Christ, they all have a responsibility "to be witnesses for him". "The special forces guys - they hunt men basically. We do the same things as Christians, we hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down," he says. "Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business." Local language Bibles The footage, shot about a year ago by Brian Hughes, a documentary maker and former member of the US military who spent several days in Bagram, was obtained by Al Jazeera's James Bays, who has covered Afghanistan extensively. IN VIDEO <http://aljazeera.net/english/news/asia/2009/05/20095423950874168.html> <http://aljazeera.net/english/news/asia/2009/05/20095423950874168.html>US troops urged to 'witness for Jesus' in Afghanistan <http://youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish>More videos ... Bays also obtained from Hughes a Pashto-language copy of one of the books he picked up during a Bible study lesson he recorded at Bagram. A Pashto speaker confirmed to Bays that it was a Bible. In other footage captured at Bagram, Sergeant Jon Watt, a soldier who is set to become a military chaplain, is seen giving thanks for the work that his church in the US did in getting Bibles printed and sent to Afghanistan. "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out," he is heard saying during a Bible study class. It is not clear that the Bibles were distributed to Afghans, but Hughes said that none of the people he recorded in a series of sermons and Bible study classes appeared to able to speak Pashto or Dari. "They weren't talking about learning how to speak Dari or Pashto, by reading the Bible and using that as the tool for language lessons," Hughes said. "The only reason they would have these documents there was to distribute them to the Afghan people. And I knew it was wrong, and I knew that filming it Š documenting it would be important." Pentagon officials have so far not responded to a copy of the footage provided to them, but the distribution of Bibles in a place as politically sensitive as Afghanistan is bound to cause deep concern in Washington, our correspondent says. Guidelines It is not clear if the presence of the Bibles and exhortations for soldiers to be "witnesses" for Jesus continues, but they were filmed a year ago despite regulations by the US military's Central Command that expressly forbid "proselytising of any religion, faith or practice". It is not clear any of the local language Bibles were distributed to Afghans But in another piece of footage taken by Hughes, the chaplains appear to have found a way around the regulation known as General Order Number One. "Do we know what it means to proselytise?" Captain Emmit Furner, a military chaplain, says to the gathering. "It is General Order Number One," an unidentified soldier replies. But Watt says "you can't proselytise but you can give gifts". The footage also suggests US soldiers gave out Bibles in Iraq. In his address to a Bible study group at Bagram, Afghanistan, Watt is recorded as saying: "I bought a carpet and then I gave the guy a Bible after I conducted my business. "The Bible wasn't to be 'hey, I'll give you this and I'll give you a better deal because that would be wrong', [but] the expressions that I got from the people in Iraq [were] just phenomenal, they were hungry for the word." The footage has surfaced as Barack Obama, the US president, prepares to host Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president, at a summit focusing on how to tackle al-Qaeda and Taliban bases dotted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, will also take part in the talks in Washington, scheduled for May 5 and 6. Big in Somalia by <http://killingthebuddha.com/author/jeffsharlet/>Jeff Sharlet <http://killingthebuddha.com/ktblog/big-in-somalia/>http://killingthebuddha.com/ktblog/big-in-somalia/ Online Somali pirates have <http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Features_34/Jesus_killed_Mohammed_The_crusade_for_a_Christian_military.shtml>hijacked my May Harper's feature, "Jesus Killed Mohammed," excerpted "exclusively" (no more)<http://killingthebuddha.com/mag/dogma/jesus-killed-mohammed/> here on Killing the Buddha. A publication called Garowe has re-published the piece - without my permission! Break out the sound cannons. Actually, I'm delighted that Garowe has republished the excerpt. It's almost always a pleasure when someone borrows work you've already been paid for. One writes to be read, and I'm especially glad the piece is being read by some Somalis, who for three decades now have been on the receiving end of American militarism merged with imperial evangelism. "Three decades?" you ask. "Wasn't it Bush the First who sent the marines into Somalia?" Yes - after the U.S. had already spent a decade building up the arsenal of one of the most murderous dictators in Africa, Siad Barre. As I wrote in my book, <http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secret-Fundamentalism-Heart-American/dp/0060559799/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241374993&sr=8-2>The Family, it was American conservative evangelical activists who forged that awful friendship - guns for the dictator in return for his prayers. It was that crudely evil. I'll be talking about "Jesus Killed Mohammed" and the crusade for a Christian military today (Monday; 1-1:30 pm eastern time) on <http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/05/04>"The Leonard Lopate Show," broadcast from NPR's New York City affiliate, WNYC, and <http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/05/04>available online anytime. Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5 pm Pacific time I'll be discussing the story with Michael Slate of Pacifica's Los Angeles affiliate, at 90.7 on the dial and streaming live, I believe, at <http://kpfk.org/programs/51-beneath-the-surface-with-michael-slate/70-beneath-the-surface-with-michael-slate-home-page.html>KPFK's website. If what you hear disturbs you, be an activist. The hero of "Jesus Killed Mohammed" is Mikey Weinstein, president of an organization called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that's dedicated to the defense of First Amendment freedoms - of and from religion - within the U.S. armed forces. Mikey, a former Air Force lawyer with three kids who graduated from the Air Force Academy, was made for this fight, but <http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/>he needs help. <javascript:void(0)> <http://killingthebuddha.com/contact/> May 4, 2009 Jeff Sharlet is coauthor, with Peter Manseau, of <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743232771/ref=lpr_g_2/102-1745854-2389706?v=glance&s=books>Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible (2004) and author of <http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secret-Fundamentalism-Heart-American/dp/0060559799/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226893099&sr=1-1>The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Harper, 2008). Jeff is also a contributing editor for Harper's and Rolling Stone, and an associate research scholar at the New York University Center for Religion and Media. He puts his faith in books. He co-founded Killing the Buddha. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
