U.S. MARINE FIGHTER SQUADRON SWITCHES TO SAME “CRUSADER” LOGO
USED BY NORWEGIAN TERRORIST BREIVIK
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
UPDATE - Prestigious Int’l Law Firm Jones Day Sends Removal Demand on MRFF’s Behalf: http://tinyurl.com/
ALBUQUERQUE,
NEW MEXICO – Does the U.S. Military think it’s engaged in a holy war?
The constitutionalist watchdogs at the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation (MRFF)
are asking this question following the recent decision to rename Marine
Fighter Attack Squadron 122 (VMFA-122) the “Crusaders” and adopt the
red cross of the medieval Knights Templar.
As
the dust in Afghanistan settles following weeks of violence resulting
from the burning of the Qu’ran at Bagram Air Base, resulting in 30 dead
and the death of six Americans, the decision to rechristen the jet
fighter squadron as Crusaders threatens to reignite passions across the
Muslim world. Meanwhile, the same red cross was heavily utilized in the
video “manifesto” of
Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who claims to have carried
out his gruesome attacks for the sake of advancing a “crusade” against
multiculturalism and European Muslims. Breivik, who is currently
standing trial for his gruesome attacks that claimed the lives of 77
people, claims allegiance to a network called the “Knights Templar” and
has stated that he aspires to a “crusader” mentality. The Knights
Templar was a Christian military order that participated in bloody
campaigns across the Middle East, wearing white uniforms emblazoned with
a red cross.
This
same red cross has now been re-adopted as the logo for Marine Fighter
Attack Squadron 122. Confidential MRFF sources have confirmed that
VMFA-122 F/A-18 Hornet jets have been repainted to reflect last month’s
name change. Base commanders have confirmed that the new artwork is
identical to that shown in images from 2004 which have been uncovered online,
which depict designs on the tails of the Hornets displaying a white
teardrop-shaped medieval “kite shield” bearing the red Knights Templar
cross against an Old Glory Blue backdrop.
FROM MSNBC Group blasts Marine Corps for reviving Crusaders name, symbols
In
2008, VMFA-122, based out of Beaufort, South Carolina, was renamed the
“Werewolves” after having borne the “Crusaders” label since 1958. With
United States service personnel based across the Arab and Islamic world,
the “Crusaders” name was dropped due to its clearly incendiary and
offensive nature. At the time, Lt. Col. William Lieblein stated “The
notion of being a crusader in that part of the world doesn’t float.”
“Crusader”
is an epithet that is routinely used to describe U.S. service personnel
throughout the Arab and Islamic world. A phrase with deeply resonant
connotations in the region, “Crusader” recalls a history of colonization
and a campaign of conquest and plunder spearheaded by European
Christian military orders that claimed the lives of millions of
inhabitants throughout the Middle East. In March 2012, Al-Qaeda chief
Ayman al-Zawahiri referred to International Security Assistance Force
troops stationed in Afghanistan as “Crusader Swine”. During last year’s
NATO intervention in Libya, then-leader Muammar Gaddafi referred to
Western forces as a “crusader alliance.” Likewise, insurgent forces in
Iraq have regularly called U.S. personnel “crusaders.”
However,
on the occasion of the squadron’s 70th anniversary in March, present
commander Lt. Col. Wade Wiegel stated that the “Crusader” label was “not
politically incorrect”, according to a story broken by the Beaufort Gazette.
According to Wiegel, “It’s a way for our Marines to draw on the service
of the Marines before them, and to make their own history under the
same name… the name change is a reflection of our heritage.”
Michael
L. “Mikey” Weinstein, president and founder of the four-time Nobel
Peace Prize nominated MRFF, blasted the decision to rename the
Werewolves, stating that “It will absolutely serve as a priceless
propaganda bonanza of jovian magnitude for our nation’s fundamentalist
Islamic foes and, thus, represents a veritable national security threat
to the United States of America. Likewise, it will incontrovertibly,
directly and indirectly hasten the maiming and deaths of our armed
forces members.”
Just
under one hundred U.S. Marines, the vast majority of whom are
Christians who wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, contacted
Weinstein after the renaming was brought to light. One “Crusader”, a
member of VMFA-122, expressed his disgust and confided that he expected
MRFF, an organization that represents over 27,000 clients within the
U.S. armed forces (approximately 96% of whom are Christian), “to do
something about this”.
Many
Christian fundamentalist extremists endorse the idea of a new
crusade, believing that it fulfills biblical prophecies. In August
2001, Protestant prophecy magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet published an
article opening with the lines “Most people think the crusades for
Jerusalem are a thing of the past—over forever. They are wrong.
Preparations are being made for a final crusade, and it will be the
bloodiest of all!” Immediately following the attacks on September 11,
2001, George W. Bush raised the hackles of European allies after
referring to “This crusade, this war on terrorism”.
MRFF
holds that much of U.S. Military doctrine has been tainted by
supernatural theological concepts and a “Clash of Civilizations”, “us
vs. them” ideology which warps order, discipline, and servicemember
morale. The latest news of the “Crusader” renaming comes hot on the
heels of recent controversies in Afghanistan involving brazen religious
and cultural insensitivities by U.S. forces which have dramatically
enflamed tensions in the region. These incidents have included the display of
a Nazi Waffen-SS banner by U.S. Marine Corps Scout Snipers, a video of
Marines urinating on dead irregular fighters, the widespread phenomenon
of “Pork-Eating Infidel” patches worn by U.S. service personnel (which feature uniformed Templar knight crusaders), and the mass-burning of Qu’rans by U.S. forces at Bagram Air Base.
For more information, please see this article by MRFF Senior Research Director Chris Rodda: Marines Return to Being "Crusaders"
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ABOUT MICHAEL L. “MIKEY” WEINSTEIN:
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