Military officials are investigating how "inflammatory" anti-Islamic material became included in the classroom curriculum at a prestigious military college that trains officers for high-level joint assignments.
The Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., has suspended its elective class entitled "Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism" in response to a complaint from a student who took the class in March.
The course included a PowerPoint slide that suggested "the United States is at war with Islam and we ought to just recognize that," said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.
"That is not at all what we believe to be the case. We are at war against terrorism, specifically al-Qaida, which has a warped view of the Islamic faith. We don't consider ourselves at war with Islam," Kirby told reporters on Wednesday In addition to the inquiry at the staff college in Norfolk, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has ordered a force-wide review of all training materials to "scrub" and remove any anti-Islamic elements.
Dempsey's letter on April 24 said all military training curriculum should be reviewed to ensure the proper "cultural sensitivities, respect for religion and intellectual balance."
The Joint Forces Staff College is attended primarily by officers at the O-5 and O-6 pay grades. The school's program is "Phase Two" of Joint Professional Military Education and is a requirement for many high-level joint assignments, such as those at the Pentagon or with the combatant commands.
Hundreds of military officers have enrolled in the elective class on Islamic radicalism since it was first offered in 2004. The curriculum was reviewed and approved in 2011, but it is unclear when the information about a broad war between the U.S. and the Islamic religion was added.
"What we do not know is when this inflammatory language got inserted into the actual course material. That is what the inquiry is going to find out — how long have some of these notions been taught?" Kirby said.
American presidents have repeatedly rejected any notion that the U.S. military actions in the Middle East represent a broader war on the Islamic religion.
Just days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, President George W. Bush drew a clear distinction between the Islamic faith and the violent extremists' view of the religion.
"I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah," Bush said on Sept. 20, 2001, before a joint session of Congress in a speech that drew the world's attention.
"The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them," Bush said.