Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan died for his country. He was Muslim.

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On “Meet the Press” today, Colin L. Powell concluded his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama by referring to the death of a Muslim soldier, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan of Manahawkin, N.J., who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6, 2007, and whose remains were buried in Arlington.

He and three other soldiers, including a corporal from Washington Heights, were killed in Baquba after a bomb detonated while they were checking abandoned houses for explosives. They served in the Stryker Brigade combat team of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, based in Ft. Lewis, Washington.

Mr. Khan graduated from Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin in 2005, and enlisted in the Army a few months later, spurred by his memories of the 9/11 terror attacks. “His Muslim faith did not make him not want to go. It never stopped him,” his father, Feroze Khan, told the Gannett News Service in a story printed shortly after his death. “He looked at it that he’s American and he has a job to do.”

Mr. Powell mentioned Mr. Khan’s death to underscore why he was deeply troubled by Republican personal attacks on Mr. Obama, especially false intimations that he was Muslim.

Mr. Obama is a lifelong Christian, not a Muslim, he said. But, he added, “The really right answer is, what if he is?”

“Is there something wrong with being Muslim in this country? No, that’s not America,” he said.

Mr. Khan’s death came to his attention, Mr. Powell said, when he saw a photo essay in a magazine about the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. One picture showed a mother pressing her head against the gravestone of her fallen son in Arlington cemetery. It was the grave of 20-year-old Mr. Khan, engraved with his name, his military awards, and the Muslim symbol of the crescent and star.

“He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could go serve his country, and he gave his life,” Mr. Powell said. “Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way.”

Mr. Powell said that he had heard senior members of the Republican Party “drop this suggestion that he [Obama] is a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists.”

“Now, John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that within the party we have these kinds of expressions.”

Mr. Khan had served in Iraq for just over a year, arriving in July 2006. He had sent home pictures to his family of him playing soccer with Iraqi children and hugging a smiling young Iraqi boy in Baghdad, according to his obituary in the Newark Star-Ledger.

He loved rooting for the Dallas Cowboys with his father, and challenging his 12-year old stepsister, Aliya, to video games. He last saw his family during a two-week visit in September 2006.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/1...-kareem-r-khan/

[Chica Yeyé 41]

“Is there something wrong with being Muslim in this country? No, that’s not America,” he said.

Well said.

[sereia 0]

Well said.

But couldn't Obama have connections with terrorists being Christian? I didn't know that you could only have connections if you were Muslim.

[almaty 19]

every one knows that all Muslims are terrorist..or if you were ever a Muslim or have a Muslim name.... you are guilty....

[sereia 0]

Is anyone actually THAT naive to believe that? *sigh*

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Is anyone actually THAT naive to believe that? *sigh*

If you don't believe it then you're a terrorist!

[almaty 19]

of course.....facism is alive in america these days

of course.....facism is alive in america these days

[AlHayatZween 2]

i'm glad Colin Powell brought it up... cuz that's just junky this whole time people saying: Muslim, Muslim, Muslim. And the Obama campaign saying: Obama's not a Muslim as if it's a bad thing...

[almaty 19]

i agree sister..they say it like it is the scarlett A placed on you...

[IAMX 3,055]

I'd sure love to hear what Republicans think about Muslims in our military. Especially with Muslim names.

I particularly mean those who love to call Barack Obama "Hussein", because of his middle name.

Edited October 20, 2008 by SRVT

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I'd sure love to hear what Republicans think about Muslims in our military. Especially with Muslim names.

I particularly mean those who love to call Barack Obama "Hussein", because of his middle name.

They're not patriots. They're Muslims.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

I'd sure love to hear what Republicans think about Muslims in our military. Especially with Muslim names.

I particularly mean those who love to call Barack Obama "Hussein", because of his middle name.

They are a bunch of, quoting hermano almaty, chopf##ks (those who judge muslims I mean)

Now to show how open I'm to different cultures, I'll go ahead and eat some cous-cous

Edited October 20, 2008 by GueraYTavo

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cous cous sux

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

cous cous sux

Why do you hate muslims?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

cous cous sux

Why do you hate muslims?

i dont hate muslims, i just hate everything about them