Muslim threat is within U.S. military
At left, Yonathan Melaku, 22, of Alexandria, Va., after his May 2011 arrest in Loudoun County, Va., has been charged with four counts of grand larceny. At right, law enforcement authorities collect evidence from the residence on June 17, 2011. Credit: Handout / AP
While Rep. Peter King's (R-Seaford) hearings got prime space and coverage in Newsday, it was usually to highlight the insensitive nature of and the hurt feelings created by the proceedings. When the very issue he is trying to point out and possibly prevent does occur, it is carefully buried on page A48 in a few lines ["Suspect in shooting spree," News, June 23].
Conspicuously absent was the fact that Marine Corps reservist Yonathan Melaku is Muslim. Just another isolated extremist I guess. Or not.
Melaku is one of several naturalized or American-born followers of Islam in the U.S. military who are suspected or convicted of perpetrating acts of terror against Americans here and abroad. Why isn't this noted?
Arrested inside Arlington Cemetery, Melaku allegedly had bomb-making materials in his backpack and a notebook with references to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. There is also reportedly a self-made video of him firing shots and talking about targeting military buildings.
Many on the left will call this racism, Islamophobia or Muslim-bashing. I call it spotting a pattern. Wake up America! By the time we as a nation realize and admit what is going on, it may be too late. We are slowly being destroyed from within. Mass casualties are not the only way. We could just as easily succumb to death by a thousand cuts.
Ronald O. Roveto, Plainview
