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.
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The entire Republican Party establishment has been promoting hate for the last 16 years. The murders at the Unitarian Church in Tennessee is another example of their handiwork.
Horrifying. I had heard about the mailing, but not about the endorsement from the Navy.
I remember when the king of Jordan went down on his knees to apologize to an Israeli family who had lost a family member because of some crazy/extremist Jordanian shooting.
I think the chair of the counter-terrorism department of the U.S. Naval War College owes these families the same type of complete apology. It won't make up for what happened, but it will make a statement about where we stand as Americans. I say this as Jewish American.
And Ms. Rodda -- I greatly admire your organization. Keep up the good work.
Two of the promoters of this video version of hate mail are Elliott Abrams (#2 in the National Security Council) and Richard Perle, who was chairman of the civilian commitee that set Defense Dept. strategy in the run-up to the Iraq War. Perle and Abrams want permanent war in the Middle East, to keep the American public frightened and confused.
See Chris Rodda's Profile
The use and promotion of this DVD by our military has been well documented by MRFF, and several of the people who appear in the video have actually lectured at our military colleges and academies. I wrote about this in another post:
http://www
In that post, I asked people to let MRFF know if they've seen any other instances of the military using or promoting the video, and we have since received detailed reports of its use at specific Army training events. And then, on Thursday, I found out from a member of MRFF in Ohio, who had just received the DVD in the mail, that the packaging contained an endorsement from a professor at the U.S. Naval War College. I wasn't aware of this endorsement before because, living in a blue state, I didn't receive a copy of the DVD.
Link?
Why does article say that Mccain must say or do something? I have been to the Clarion Fund website and no where does it state that they endorse one candidate or another nor does one candidte or another endorse their group or their actions in the production or disbursement of this video. Why is Mccain being blamed and it being said Mccain should take up this fight against the injustice these people have suffered? This is not a Barack issue or a McCain issue this is an American issue. At the very basic level the people of Dayton of which I am one, need to adddress the cultural bias in and around our own area before expecting the future President 9whoever it is) to address it. Let the Dayton police and investiffgators do their job. Who knows this incident, though unfortunate may produce grassroot initiatives and education that will impact this whole region.
See Chris Rodda's Profile
The Clarion Fund has scrubbed pro-McCain content from their website, but this has all been saved and documented by the people who have been investigating the organization since the start of the targeted distribution of the DVD in the swing states.
This organization, as well as others, have clearly been spreading anti-Muslim propaganda to help McCain, and there is no way that the McCain camp is unaware of this, so I'm sticking by my opinion that McCain himself needs to condemn what these supporters of his are doing. He needs to say, "I'm John McCain, and I DO NOT approve this message."
Ms. Chris Rodda and dear readers,
Please explain to me how the release of a DVD on Radical Islam is directly connected to this action at the Dayton Mosque. This story has holes, holes, holes and blatant assumptions. Ms. Rodda wishes to portray as truth where only speculation, at best, exists.
Irresponsible and not-even-amatuer reporting.
If Ms. Rodda can make her claim I can likewise assume:
CAIR has known this video was released for almost 2 years without any, ANY incidents of violence..
Ms. Rodda, if you challenge my assumption
Unreal
Does your boy McSame represent all Americans? Or only the Republican party of racism?
And don't make excuses for how McSame isn't responsible to TAKE responsibility as one who wants to be the person charged by the Constitution with seeing that the laws "are faifthfully executed".
What sort of American are YOU for making excuses for ANY of your fellow citizens not being "responsible"? Where does your war-mongering candidate, who has spewed antiArab/Muslim lies, stand on TERRORISM WITHIN the US by AMERICAN BIGOTS?
HuffPo: This story should be on the front page of the site, not buried where people have to hunt for it!
This is a shocking incident that more people need to be made aware of.
I agree. This needs to be featured front page, and the word gotten out- especially before Thursday's debates.
Sorry for being so cynical, but what kind of bubble world are you people living in where you find such a (relatively) minor incident like this "shocking" and "unspeakable"? This is a country where bloggers receive death threats for driving a nail through a cracker. Where Matthew Shephard was hung from a fence. Where competing Mormon cults in Missouri fight over the plot of land where the New Jerusalem(tm) is going to be built. Where even with all the anti-Muslim feeling, more people would be willing to vote for a Muslim for President than an atheist. Where newspapers are afraid to publish cartoons, and get death threats if they do.
Let's face it, an awful lot of religious people are nuts. And the US is awfully religious (in all senses of the word).
I am disturbed that not a single outlet like CNN, MSNBC, etc has not covered this....th
Please note that, as of Monday, Sept. 29, I have found no mention of this incident in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, or on their website, Ohio.com.....Although, as subscribers, we DID receive a copy of "Obsession" about a week ago, tucked inside an issue of the Beacon Journal. (We received another copy in the mail several days later.)
Support for the mosque. Information can be found here. http://www
You can email a letter of support to the mosque from the info with the link. Let our fellow citizens know that they have a right to worship however they chose and they are supported by other citizens to do so without being attacked or harassed. A chemical terrorist atttack has just occurred on our soil. Where is the media /!!!
Why are we silent? Where is the outrage that children were attacked for their religious affiliation? Even if the link to "obsession" can not be verified, it can be implied. Even without the link this is a HATE CRIME in America.
Not to be overly dramatic, but this kind of silence, was the precursor to Hitler's ability to carry out his solution. No one spoke up until it was too late, and those that spoke up were dismissed because of the populations being targetted.
This is going on in every swing state, as well as phone calls to Jewish voters in Florida, that said, how would you feel if you knew Obama had given money to Palestinian welfare organizations.
Rovian politics of smear and innuendo. Although I have to say, Richard Nixon is the one who perfected this type of campaigning.
It is the season of Eid and Yom Kippur. Where are the people who have sworn never to forget? To never let it happen again?
It is our silence that will bring on the dark of Night, Elie Weseil's type of Night. It may start with Muslim Children, but where will it end?
Yes, it is a hate crime. And the REpublican party is opposed to hate-crime laws because it wants to prey upon the vulnerable for political reasons "legally".
Terrorism right here at home. Is this the America THEY dream of?
"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."
You're absolutely right, but he won't...wh
This is distressing, but not at all shocking. America has too many ignorant, cowardly people who hate and fear Muslims. Hate crimes of all types are vastly underreported here.
I cannot imagine the mental, emotional and physical pain that these children, their parents and other family members experienced.
requires more attention
HuffPost's Pick
Its disgusting that some of our fellow Americans would do such a hateful and misguided thing. You're 100% correct to label this a terrorist incident.
Are the americans so afraid of what is different that they would resort t this? How different is this from 9/11? And this violence is perpertrated by Americans! Shame On You!
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