The April 22, 2002 issue of U.S. News & World Report contains an article which states, "Don�t believe all those stories that the Pentagon wants to move the Air Force command center out of Saudi Arabia to Qatar only for security reasons. The truth is, our flyboys don�t like the desert base in the booze-free kingdom...they tell us they like Qatar�s more �permissive� climate where �Miller Time� includes frosty mugs of beer." Imagine how reliable a fighting force can be, when their principle concern is the availability of alcoholic beverages.

More disgraceful is the attempt to whip up a storm of hatred against innocent Muslims, knowing all the time that what is being spread is a bunch of vicious lies against an innocent people. Ever since the suicidal air attacks upon the "twin towers" on September 11th, the anti-Muslim fever has continued to rise�fed continually by unsubstantiated news reports and rumors. Scant attention is paid to such news items as the April 6th Associated Press release under the headline "Muslim 9/11 Hero Finally Recognized." It begins, "For six months after Sept. 11, the family of Salman Hamdani had to endure the rumors that he was a fugitive terrorist or that he was in federal custody. On Friday, he was remembered for what he truly was: a hero who died in the rubbish of the World Trade Center.

"His remains in a flag-draped coffin at a Manhattan mosque, the 23-year-old Muslim was praised at his long-delayed funeral for a selfless and fatal choice: heading to ground zero to help his fellow Americans.

"In the weeks after his disappearance, a newspaper linked him to the terrorist attacks, a flier with his picture was circulated among city police officers, saying an FBI-Police Department joint terrorist task force wanted to speak with him.

"On Friday, his mother blasted the news reports, saying �If your name was David, the story would have been different.� "

At the funeral, where reportedly "scores of police cadets sat on the floor, their shoes removed in accordance with Muslim custom," Mayor Michael Bloomberg is quoted as stating, "We have an example of how one can make the world better. Salman stood up when most people would have gone in the other direction. He went in and helped people."

Meanwhile back at the raunch (the spelling is correct), a couple of weird circumstances occurred. According to press reports, an Israeli government-owned company with 200 employees, moved out of the World Trade Center, two weeks before the attack.

"Of equal importance," states one news article, "is the added report that another Israeli-owned company in the Twin Towers, ClearForest, suffered no casualties. It just so happened that no employees showed up for work that day!!!"