What if he is?

Colin Powell in the course of his endorsement of Obama this morning made this point:

And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

And then he mentioned a picture that struck him.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.

This picture.

Elsheba Khan at the grave of her son, Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan
New Yorker magazine/photographer Platon

His life story demonstrates like he was just as much a part of real America as anyone who lives in southern Virginia.

Campbell Brown made the same point last week. What would this election season have been like if more leading public figures and eminent journalists had stepped up and clearly made the same point in 2007 or early 2008? We can only imagine. But it didn't happen. And now we have been subjected to a campaign of slurs and hate-mongering.

I cannot say it better than NavyBlueWife did.

The highly charged rhetoric used by McCain and Palin to tie Obama to terrorism and Islam is once again an affront to all Muslim Americans. We saw this type of fear and backlash just after 9/11. We see it also in the McCarthy-like invocations of Michele Bachmann. I challenge Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin to tell this grieving mother that her son is anti-American because of his faith.

The answer to who is evil is NEVER as neat, clean, and easy as a label. Thank you, Colin Powell, for reminding America that those who serve in our military represent the awesome diversity of faithful and patriotic Americans.

Thank you, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, for your service and your ultimate sacrifice. I am humbled to honor you and your fallen comrades.

And so am I. So are we all.


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