Association of Patriotic
Arab Americans in Military
www.apaam.org
August 16, 2006
Dear Ms. Sanchez,
In reply to your
feedback to APAAM (copy below), I’ve always said and will continue to say
that the policies of the
United States are driven by
the citizens of
America.
Change can only happen through our citizens – at the voting booth and by
lobbying their congressman and senators for change. The democratic voters
spoke out last week in Connecticut (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14228351/)
against Senator Joseph Lieberman for supporting the war in Iraq.
It wasn’t the US Military who defeated Senator Joseph Lieberman in the
Connecticut Democratic Primary – it was the voting citizens of Connecticut.
Many in APAAM still have
families who are still living in the Middle East.
I am an immigrant to America.
I spoke Arabic for my first 10 years of my life before learning to speak
English. I have family (sisters & brothers) in both Yemen and Egypt.
You speak of the US
supporting Israel.
I lived through a war between Israel
& Egypt in
1973. I was nine years old living through the threat of being killed from
air raids by Israeli airplanes in October of 1973.
Venting and taking out
your spirited frustration at the US Military and APAAM is misdirected.
It is the men and women who serve in the military that suffer the
consequences of our country’s policies. Lashing out at us as I said is
misdirected.
The men and women
serving in the US Military do not have a say in the policies of the United States.
In fact when a person joins the US Military, he or she immediately
surrenders his/her rights to the President of the United States of America. That
President is elected by the citizens of America. I’ve served under Presidents
Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II. I do not have a choice in the
matter. Military service members, Arab American or not, follow the orders
of our Commander in Chief. Not sure if you would have written this response
to APAAM had President Clinton been in office. President Clinton was our
Commander in Chief for eight years – and we followed his orders. No
difference under our current President, President George W. Bush.
We also surrender our
constitutional rights that US Citizens have to a military code
called the Uniform Code of Military Justice. We surrender our freedom so
that we can ensure the citizens of the
United States can have their
freedom upheld through the Constitution of the United States of America. If this
country did not have a military then our Constitution is at stake. I’m sure
you even know that Ana! If we couldn’t defend the constitution, then we
would have probably been the United States of Fidel Castro in 1963.
Military veterans
appreciate the diversity of American more so than those who have not served
in the military. It is the proof of our service that we are doing our job
as Military men and women.
So why do we serve? We
serve because we love this country called the United States of America. We serve
because we still believe in the ideals of Freedom that every person in
America immigrated to
America
for. If we do not have freedom, then we wouldn’t have an immigration issue
facing us today! Everyone wants to come to America
so that they can give their families and children HOPES & DREAMS. It is
something to behold when a college drop out can become the richest man in
the world simply because he had a dream! An Arab American can pursue his
childhood dreams to become the highest serving General in the United States
Armed Forces as Commander Central Command. An Arab American can pursue his
dreams even before America
was a country and fight for the possibility of having HOPES & DREAMS
for his family – he died fighting for that possibility 39 days before the Independence of this country
on May 26th, 1775.
You ask why should we be
“PROUD” to be in the military?
Arab Americans serving
in the military are “Proud” of their service because our “Patriotism” is the
foundation for Arab American Communities’ freedom to speak with confidence
for or against their government. We are “Proud” because we uphold
the Constitution of the
United States of America. But most
importantly we are “Proud” because we are American! We are proud because we
give a good face of our community to the side of America that is
bigoted and racist and seriously doubts Arab or Muslim Americans’
patriotism.
We are able to reach a
side of
America
that other National Arab American organizations can’t. We get the
opportunity to be listened to because of the respect of the uniform by
Americans. They listen to us about us – because we wear our military
uniform – and because they know that the uniform belongs to them, the
American people.
We love being Arab and
we love being American. We love being Arab Americans so much that we chose
to prove our patriotism through service in the U.S. Military – honoring our
Arab American Communities and our Arab American families.
I just returned from a
12 month tour in the Middle East (2nd tour – and 3rd
tour with Operation Enduring Freedom since 9/11) and I can tell you that the
US Embassy’s that I worked in had lines of people a mile long beginning at
6:30 in the morning of people looking to come to America. There is a war
going on in Iraq, and a war against Al-Qaeda, but it doesn’t seem to take
their focus off of the possibility of coming to America for a piece of their
HOPES & DREAMS but most importantly Freedom!. Something they don’t have in
their own country!
The war in Iraq affects everyone differently here in America. Have you seen the latest NY
Times article on APAAM members Lance Corporal Ismile Althaibani, Corporal
Abdulbasset Montaser, and how the war affected them, and is still affecting
them and their families?
http://www.apaam.org/Thaibani_NYTMES_AUG06.htm
America
is the leader of the free world. The policies that affect the world are
dictated at the voting booth by the Citizens of the United States of America. If I could
give you the solution to the Middle East or
to better US Policies in writing than it would be a simple matter, but it is
not!
Respectfully,
Jamal S.
Baadani
President &
Founder
Association of Patriotic
Arab Americans in Military
Web:
www.apaam.org
-----Original
Message-----
From: Master [mailto:master@apaam.org]
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 12:24 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Data posted to form 1 of http://apaam.org/feedbackform.htm
*******************************************************************************
Ana Sanchez
anasanchezmd@hotmail.com
your motto
Submit
What are you so proud
of? The American military invaded and destroyed Iraq, a
country that had done nothing to us. The United States government is solidly behind
Israel, which has already
destroyed Palestine and is currently
destroying Lebanon. There are threats on the
horizon for Syria and Iran, other countries that have done nothing to
us but that stand in the way of Israeli supremacy in the
Middle East. Instead of just following orders,
you should use your brains for a change. You are not doing anything good
for either America or the Arab countries that
your ancestors came from. I would be ashamed to be in the military today,
and even more so if I was an Arab!
