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According to my colleague, CBN Military Correspondent Chuck Holton, the 09 Lima program, which these men are a part of:

...is specifically geared towards non-US citizens who bring to the table one very in-demand skill - the ability to speak fluent Arabic, Dari, Pashto, or some other needed language.  But these recruits also have a handicap - their grasp of the English language is not sufficient to allow them to make it through basic training.  So the 09 Lima program puts them through a sort of pre-basic basic, where they learn American culture, Army culture and work on their English language skills.  Once they finish the course, they are then able to enter normal basic training.  It' is a very small program, with something less than forty recruits in each class.

Holton continues:

Here's the interesting part.  According to Lt. Col. Frank Demith, these recruits are offered an "expedited citizenship program, once they serve one day of honorable active duty."

Military service has always been a way for non-citizen US residents to obtain citizenship, and thousands have performed honorably in service to our country before it actually became their country.

Though the Army must certainly have a thorough vetting process in place to try and avoid a scenario like that described by Erick Stakelbeck's recent blog, in the case of the 09 Lima program, the ability to receive "expedited American citizenship" must present a tempting opportunity for jihadi extremists with ulterior motives.

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Investigation into alleged plot by Muslim soldiers kept quiet by US Army
February 21, 6:04 AMNorfolk Crime ExaminerDave Gibson


Fort Jackson, just outside Columbia, SC
AP
A few days ago, CBN News reported that shortly before Christmas, five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested in connection to an alleged plot to poison the base’s food supply.

The soldiers are all members of the Army’s Arabic Translation program.

The day after CBN broke the story, the U.S. Army confirmed the ongoing investigation.

On Friday, Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver told the Associated press that the allegations did indeed involve soldiers' food being poisoned, but could not release any specific information about the investigation.

Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, told Fox News that the Army is taking the alleged plot “extremely seriously.”

Of course, this incident came on the heels of the Fort Hood attack, in which jihadist and U.S. Army Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, 39, went on a shooting spree, killing 13 soldiers and civilian workers. Despite several eyewitnesses reporting that Maj. Hasan shouted “Allah Akbar” as he gleefully gunned-down his fellow soldiers, Army officials initially denied the mass murder was an act of terrorism.

It was not until recently that the Obama administration even publicly acknowledged that the Fort Hood shooting was in fact, an act of terrorism. The lack of candor on behalf of the White House, as well as the president’s refusal to classify the event as another example of Islamic terror, angered many Americans, as well as some of those in Congress.

In a late November interview with Fox News, Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI) said that the Obama administration was still delaying information to Congress on the terrorist attack, raising suspicions that the White House is hiding facts about the case.

Hoekstra said: “When they withhold information, you always start asking questions. That's what raises red flags. What do they know that they don't want us to know?”

The Congressman continued: “It is political correctness that is making it unable for us to identify the real threat of homegrown terrorism.”

He ended the interview with the chilling warning: “we have similar Hasans” in the United States.

Of course, the Fort Hood attack was not the first act of Islamic terrorism committed by a member of the U.S. military.

In 2003, in Kuwait, Sgt. Hasan Akbar tossed several grenades into the tent of two officers (Army captain Christopher Scott Seifert of Easton, Pennsylvania and Air Force Major Gregory Stone of Boise, Idaho), killing them and injuring 14 other soldiers who were catching up on some much needed rest.

Akbar, who was born Tony Kooks, converted to Islam after joining the Army, and while the mainstream press avoided the term, after questioning him, it was learned that it was a clear case of Muslim terrorism.

Akbar was eventually sentenced to death for the attack and is still awaiting his date with the executioner.

In April 2008, the Defense Department reported that there were 3,409 Muslims on active duty. However, military officials now claim the actual number of Muslim soldiers could be much higher.

World Tribune recently quoted an anonymous source from within the Pentagon as saying: “We believe there are many more Muslims who when recruited did not list their religion. Some of these people simply wanted to avoid harassment; others might have had a sinister agenda.”

According to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, there are currently 2.5 million Muslims living in the U.S., with at least 1,209 mosques across the country.