DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
The Egyptian-born Muslim advisor to the Pentagon's No. 2 man, Hesham Islam, has come under attack for the dismissal of an anti-Islamic fellow advisor, the America in Arabic news agency reported.
Islam, an ex-U.S. Navy commander and special assistant for international affairs, counsels the Pentagon's deputy defense chief on sensitive issues relating to the Arab and Muslim communities both at home and abroad.
“He’s my interlocutor. He represents me to the international community," said Gordon R. England, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense. "He assists me in my own outreach efforts, and he’s extraordinarily good at it,” England said in a statement released by the Pentagon press office.
According to the Pentagon, Islam encourages American-Arabs to integrate in American society, to reject Islamic extremism and support the administration's war on terror.
“This war can’t be won by just Americans,” Islam said. “It’s a war that has to be fought by Muslims. Islam has been hijacked, and it is time to take it back.”
As for his approach, Islam stressed the importance of personal relationships.
“I am a strong believer that there are no relationships between countries. Relationships are between people, and those relationships are what bring countries together.” |
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Neo-con attack But England's trust in Islam made him the subject of attack by neo-cons, who blame him for the dismissal of the U.S. Islamic law scholar Major Stephen Coughlin.
Coughlin, who was in charge of giving courses on Islam to army officers, told his students that Islam is an extremist religion and that Muslims are extremists.
He also accused the Arab-American defense advisor of implementing the secret agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood which aims to destroy the United States.
Coughlin's dismissal drew strong criticism from right wing politicians, Anglican churches, and the media—all attributing the dismissal to a dispute between him and Islam.
Neo-con congressmen are expected to ask for an official investigation into his removal from office. |
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Background Islam's rise to the post began twenty years ago, when he immigrated to the U.S. to marry his American pen pal.
Once there, he enlisted in the navy and rose to the rank of navy commander over a 20-year naval career. He moved to the Pentagon after his retirement.
Islam was born in Cairo, where his house was bombed by Israeli warplanes. He then moved to Iraq where his father, an Egyptian navy officer, was helping to establish a maritime academy -- the same institution he later enrolled in.
He started to work as a Middle East advisor when England was Secretary of the Navy. Much of Islam's work focused on the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East.
When England was promoted to deputy defense secretary, he made Islam his senior personal advisor for international affairs.
England praised the way Islam helps him understand things from different points of view by virtue of his cultural background.
“Hesham helps me understand people’s different perspectives and how they see things. He has a cultural background that’s very helpful, but he also works at it very hard to get a better understanding of people and how they think.”
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
