Posted on November 9, 2009

Army Chief Concerned for Muslim Troops

Joseph Berger, New York Times, November 9, 2009

General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of killing 12 fellow soldiers and one civilian and wounding dozens of others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”

“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame–as great a tragedy as this was–it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”

{snip}

“A diverse Army gives us strength,” General Casey, who visited Fort Hood Friday, said on “This Week.”

{snip}