Muslim U.S. Army Chaplain Says Lack of Respect Has Caused American Deaths

February 13, 2005

Source: The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/13/wirq13.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/13/ixworld.html

On February 13, 2005 The Telegraph reported, "The US Army's only Muslim chaplain in Iraq has described his struggle to 'educate' soldiers to respect Muslims and how he helped free an innocent Iraqi from American custody after he had been framed by the coalition's Kurdish allies. Captain Abdullah Hulwe, a Syrian-born Sunni who also said that his wife had experienced discrimination at military bases in America, told The Telegraph that US troops had made many mistakes and were only slowly learning how to put things right. 'We go and take a hill,' he said in his first full interview since he arrived in Iraq a year ago. 'We're not trained to be nice.' The army's failure to shift from its war-fighting mentality had led to American deaths, he said. 'The better you act, the safer this area will be. If nothing else you'll not give a reason for someone who is neutral to go and join the insurgents.'"