[Reader-list] USA: Muslim Children Gassed at Dayton Mosque After Obsession DVD Hits Ohio

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

The McCain campaign's scare tactics hit a new low. But never mind
McCain has a Bangladeshi adopted daughter (Bridget). I am sure that
will make up for the whirlwind of anti-Muslim hysteria his campaign is
whipping up via stealth operatives.

http://tinyurl.com/muslimchildrengassed

Muslim Children Gassed at Dayton Mosque After Obsession DVD Hits Ohio

Friday, September 26th ended a week in which thousands of copies of
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering,
anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing
states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail
-- were distributed by mail in Ohio. The same day, a "chemical
irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of
Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer
service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room
where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were
engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic
political campaigning of John McCain's supporters has led to --
Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on
American soil.

I read the story as reported by the Dayton Daily News, but this was
after I had received an email written by a friend of some of the
victims of these American terrorists. The matter of fact news report
in the Dayton paper didn't come close to conveying the horrific impact
of this unthinkable act like the email I had just read, so I asked the
email's author for permission to share what they had written. The
author was with one of the families from the mosque -- a mother and
two of the small children who were in the room that was gassed -- the
day after the attack occurred.

    "She told me that the gas was sprayed into the room where the
babies and children were being kept while their mothers prayed
together their Ramadan prayers. Panicked mothers ran for their babies,
crying for their children so they could flee from the gas that was
burning their eyes and throats and lungs. She grabbed her youngest in
her arms and grabbed the hand of her other daughter, moving with the
others to exit the building and the irritating substance there.

    "The paramedic said the young one was in shock, and gave her
oxygen to help her breathe. The child couldn't stop sobbing.

    "This didn't happen in some far away place -- but right here in
Dayton, and to my friends. Many of the Iraqi refugees were praying
together at the Mosque Friday evening. People that I know and love.

    "I am hurt and angry. I tell her this is not America. She tells me
this is not Heaven or Hell -- there are good and bad people
everywhere.

    "She tells me that her daughters slept with her last night, the
little one in her arms and sobbing throughout the night. She tells me
she is afraid, and will never return to the mosque, and I wonder what
kind of country is this where people have to fear attending their
place of worship?"

    "The children come into the room, and tell me they want to leave
America and return to Syria, where they had fled to from Iraq. They
say they like me, ... , and other American friends -- but they are too
afraid and want to leave. Should a 6 and 7 year old even have to
contemplate the safety of their living situation?

    "Did the anti-Muslim video circulating in the area have something
to do with this incident, or is that just a bizarre coincidence? Who
attacks women and children?

    "What am I supposed to say to them? My words can't keep them safe
from what is nothing less than terrorism, American style. Isn't losing
loved ones, their homes, jobs, possessions and homeland enough? Is
there no place where they can be safe?

    "She didn't want me to leave her tonight, but it was after
midnight, and I needed to get home and write this to my friends. Tell
me -- tell me -- what am I supposed to say to them?"


When acting as a representative of Military Religious Freedom
Foundation (MRFF), the 501(c)3 non-profit organization that I work
for, I cannot engage in political activities. The distribution of
Obsession, however, although a political campaign scheme, clearly
crosses over into the mission of MRFF. So, I'm going to make two
statements here -- one in my capacity as MRFF's Research Director, and
another as an individual whose disgust at the vile campaign tactics of
John McCain's supporters completely boiled over when I opened up the
email about children being gassed.

My statement as MRFF's Research Director:

The presidential campaign edition of the Obsession DVD, produced and
currently being distributed by the Clarion Fund, carries the
endorsement of the chair of the counter-terrorism department of the
U.S. Naval War College, using the name and authority of an official
U.S. military institution not only to validate an attack the religion
of Islam, but to influence a political campaign. For these reasons,
this endorsement has been included in MRFF's second lawsuit against
the Department of Defense, which was filed on September 25 in the
Federal District Court in Kansas.

My opinion as an individual and thoroughly appalled human being:

John McCain has a moral obligation to publicly censure the Clarion
Fund; to denounce the inflammatory, anti-Muslim message of Obsession;
and to do everything in his power to stop any further campaign
activities by his supporters that have the potential to incite
violence.