A complaint about anti-Islamic materials used in a class for officers at Norfolk's Joint Forces Staff College has spurred top military officials to suspend the course and order a broad review of instructional materials across all branches of the service.
The class, called Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism, included PowerPoint slides containing what a Pentagon spokesman called "inflammatory ideas" that are not in keeping with U.S. policy.
The class was to meet Wednesday for the second session in an eight-week cycle, but the Pentagon halted it on Tuesday, days after a former student's complaint about some of the materials made it to the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In a briefing with reporters Wednesday, Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, gave one example of objectionable material used in the Norfolk classroom: a slide asserting that "the U.S. is at war with Islam and we ought to just recognize that we're at war with Islam."
"We're at war against terrorism, specifically al-Qaida, who has a warped view of the Islamic faith," Kirby said. "We don't consider ourselves at war with Islam."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a memo Tuesday saying he's concerned that academic institutions within the Defense Department may be presenting materials that advocate ideas, beliefs and actions "that are contrary to our national policy, inconsistent with the values of our profession, and disrespectful of the Islamic religion."
He directed that over the next 30 days, all military services, combatant commands and National Guard bureaus screen the course content of their professional military education programs to ensure they exhibit "cultural sensitivity, respect for religion and intellectual balance that we should expect in our academic institutions."
Cmdr. Patrick McNally, a spokesman for Dempsey's office, said the Joint Forces Staff College class is an elective that draws about 20 students a session - typically Navy commanders and captains and Army, Air Force and Marine Corps lieutenant colonels and colonels - who are preparing for high-level joint assignments.
The class, which has been offered since 2004, meets every Wednesday for eight weeks. It is taught by a combination of staff instructors and guest professors. McNally said about 100 people a year are enrolled.
The course curriculum was reviewed in 2011, McNally said. An inquiry led by a two-star general will try to establish when the objectionable material was introduced and who approved it.
This isn't the first time government-run courses have come under scrutiny over their religious content. Last fall, the FBI was criticized for using counterterrorism training materials based on stereotypical descriptions of Muslims, prompting the White House to order a review.
Mohamed Elsanousi, with the Islamic Society of North America in Washington, D.C., called it "unfortunate" that such materials made their way into a military classroom. But he said what happened in response - first that a student raised objections and then that the military took them so seriously - is more important.
"It shows a level of maturity in the institution," he said. "It's very positive."
More and more, he said, complaints about discriminatory and inaccurate messages about Islam are coming from those outside the Muslim community.
Elsanousi said he wasn't surprised by how quickly and forcefully the Pentagon responded, likening it to the military's reaction to the recent Koran burnings by American personnel in Afghanistan.
McNally said students enrolled in the suspended class will choose an alternative elective. Among the choices listed on the staff college's website are irregular warfare, joint logistics, military ethics and the Yorktown campaign of 1781.