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Three more to speak on Islam at academy

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — The Air Force Academy has invited three more speakers to give cadets their vision of Islam.

Mikey Weinstein, head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, former U.S. Ambassador to Niger Joe Wilson and Islamic expert Reza Aslan, a research associate at the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy, will speak to cadets April 9 at a forum on terrorism. Weinstein, a retired Air Force judge advocate general officer, has criticized the Air Force for years over claims the service improperly promotes Christianity.

Academy officials invited the three amid criticism of the appearances of Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani at a Feb. 6 forum on the topic, “Dismantling Terrorism.”

Although academy spokesman Johnny Whitaker said the invitation was not made in response to the criticism, he acknowledged that it occurred only after the complaints were made.

Academy officials insisted that Shoebat, Saleem and Anani, who claim to have abandoned terrorism after converting to Christianity, are genuine.

Maj. Brett Ashworth, academy spokesman, said the three had been checked out by Air Force intelligence. Ashcroft had insisted in advance they would not be proselytizing on behalf of Christianity and disputed reports that the three had pushed a Christian agenda during the February.

Religion has been a sensitive topic at the Air Force Academy in the past. A lawsuit filed by a group of cadet graduates claiming that the academy had violated their rights and that evangelical Christian values were forced onto them was dismissed in 2006. A judge said they couldn’t claim their rights were violated because they no longer attended the academy.

An Air Force task force also concluded there was no religious discrimination at the academy but noted that some cadets and staff were insensitive. In February 2006, the Air Force adopted new guidelines cautioning top officers about promoting their religious views.

Shoebat has published an online autobiography describing his journey from membership in the Palestine Liberation Organization to Israeli sympathizer. Saleem says he also is a former member of the PLO, and Zak Anani describes himself as a former member of several Lebanese terrorist groups. The three appear together regularly.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized the speakers, saying one of them, Shoebat, has said that “Islam is the devil.”

Weinstein said his foundation fights what it calls the spread of evangelism in the armed forces and stresses the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.

Referring to the Feb. 6 panel, Weinstein said, “We may add ‘deprogramming’ to our list.”

Weinstein is a lawyer, while Wilson and Ansla are experts on Islam.

The only member of the three self-described former terrorists who could be reached this week defended his credibility. He said he could “not really” speak for the other two.

“I am who I am,” Shoebat said.

Asked if he gave up terrorism after converting to Christianity, Shoebat said, “Absolutely.”

His publicist, Keith Davies, said Shoebat never killed anyone but once tried unsuccessfully to lynch an Israeli soldier. Davies said Shoebat tossed a bomb at an Israeli bank that injured no one, and that Shoebat was jailed by the Israelis but released because he is a U.S. citizen.

Davies also said Shoebat has been in hiding because of what he called threats from Arabs.