From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 01:53:50 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: politically correct bomb graffiti
Message-ID: <199812221723.SAA13248@replay.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



..way too amusing..


 Pentagon Decries U.S. Bomb Graffiti 
Tuesday, December 22, 1998; 1:24 a.m. EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Department officials said Monday they were
distressed about ``thoughtless graffiti'' referring to the Islamic holy
month of Ramadan on a Navy bomb being prepared for dropping on Iraq. 

The Associated Press last Saturday transmitted a photograph of a
2,000-pound laser-guided bomb on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the
Persian Gulf waiting to be loaded on F-14 and F-18 jet fighters. 

The bomb bore several inscriptions, including one that said, ``Here's a
Ramadan present from Chad Rickenberg.'' 

``Department of Defense officials were distressed to learn of thoughtless
graffiti mentioning the holy month of Ramadan written on a piece of U.S.
ordnance during Operation Desert Fox'' in Iraq, chief Pentagon spokesman
Kenneth Bacon said in a statement. 

``Religious intolerance is an anathema to Secretary of Defense William S.
Cohen and to all Americans who cherish the right to worship freely,'' he
added. ``The United States deeply respects Islam. We are grateful for our
good relations with Arab and Islamic peoples, and we appreciate the
important contributions of Muslim-Americans to the U.S. military and to our
nation as a whole. 

``I know our people in uniform respect and appreciate religious practices
different from their own. This incident is a rare exception that does not
reflect American policy or values.''