US firm to remove Biblical references on gunsights

[bmc]

How long before the holy hand grenade? (Count to three and not to four)

Oh, and don't forget, it's the Muslims that are dangerous religious fanatics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8468981.stm

Great line:

"I don't have to wonder for a nanosecond how the American public would react if citations from the Koran were being inscribed onto these US armed forces gunsights instead of New Testament citations," he said.

[Nark]

Having used the ACOG extensivly it's a great product, however I still prefer the mk 1 eyeball.

Your right, no advocacy group has enough balls to take on Islam. Look no further than the Ft Hood shooting.

[Rockie]

I can't believe that supplier got away with it for two decades before anyone thought to question it. There still doesn't seem to be any opposition to it beyond how the soldiers may be treated in captivity because of it.

[Siddley Hawker]

Kind of a tit for tat situation if you use a Christian gunsight to take out a member of the opposition who has donned the blessed semtex. Or have planted a holy IED.

[JakeYYZ]

WHAT! no mention of the “pig fat and grease” Used to coat the FMJ bullets used in the weapons themselves?
BMC must be slippin’!

[iflyforpie]

WHAT! no mention of the “pig fat and grease” Used to coat the FMJ bullets used in the weapons themselves?
BMC must be slippin’!

Don't laugh, that was one of the causes of the Indian Rebellion...

The final spark was provided by the reaction of Company officers to the controversy over the ammunition for new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle. To load the new rifle, the sepoys had to bite the cartridge open. It was believed that the paper cartridges that were standard issue with the rifle were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (beef fat), regarded as anathema to Hindus.[16] East India Company officers first became aware of the impending trouble over the cartridges in January, when they received reports of an altercation between a high-caste sepoy and a low-caste labourer at Dum Dum.[17] The labourer had taunted the sepoy that by biting the cartridge, he had himself lost caste, although at this time the Dum-Dum Arsenal had not actually started to produce the new round, nor had a single practice shot been fired.[18] On January 27, Colonel Richard Birch, the Military Secretary, ordered that all cartridges issued from depots were to be free from grease, and that sepoys could grease them themselves using whatever mixture "they may prefer".[19] This however, merely caused many sepoys to be convinced that the rumours were true and that their fears were justified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857

[Phaedrus]

I'm not sure this is newsworthy; it's certainly not new. Trijicon has been inscribing quotes and passages which mimic their beliefs onto their products since they began, and the US military has been buying their scopes for 20+ years. I even remember reading an article on this a few years ago.

Maybe next the media should study whether it's necessary to include cross-hairs on their scopes too.....

[Nark]

The ACOG we used didn't have cross hair's but a chevron.

This is a moot story.

[reality check]

Cute......

US firm to remove Biblical references on gunsights


A US military contractor has said it will stop engraving Biblical references on rifles used by the US army.

The markings, in the form of coded references, have been appearing on products made by the US firm Trijicon, based in Michigan, for decades.

But on Thursday, US military chief Gen David Petraeus, said the practice of scripture references was "disturbing" and "a serious concern".

The firm also sells the gunsights to Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The inscriptions - which include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of II Corinthians and John - appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number.

The company pledged to remove the inscription reference on all products destined for the US military yet to be shipped and ensure all future procurements from the department of defence are produced without scripture references.

Religious sensitivities

It also said it would provide 100 modification kits to forces in the field to remove the references.

"Trijicon has proudly served the US military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate," the firm, founded by a devout Christian, said in a statement released on Friday.

The references - first reported on by ABC News - had raised concerns that they broke a US rules barring troops proselytising in the predominantly Muslim countries of Afghanistan and Iraq, where they are widely used by both the US and British military.

Gen Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, said: "Cultural and religious sensitivities are important considerations in the conduct of military operations."

In a letter sent to the US president on Thursday, the head of the Interfaith Alliance said the gunsights "clearly violate" the rule.

"Images of American soldiers as Christian crusaders come to mind when they are carrying weaponry bearing such verses," Welton Gaddy said.

Earlier in the week, the Church of England told the UK's Guardian newspaper: "People of all faiths and none are being killed and injured in these ­conflicts, on all sides, and any suggestion that this is being done in the name of the Bible would be deeply worrying to many ­Christians."

On Thursday, New Zealand's defence ministry said it was in talks with Trijicon about the best way to remove the markings without damaging the sights.

Australia too is reportedly assessing how best to respond.

[Jastapilot]

2COR4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

[Rockie]

Bunch of nutbars if you ask me. Expecting salvation at the end of a gun barrel.

[Siddley Hawker]

Expecting salvation at the end of a gun barrel.

Worked for Mao.

[JakeYYZ]

What about the “Hellfire” missile system? I hear it’s bringing salvation 5-6 times a week
along the Afghan/Pak border. In the interest of cultural sensitivity, I vote renaming it
“The martyr-maker”. Has a nice ring to it.

[Rockie]

Yes I know, there are endless possibilities for jokes and I could probably come up with a few myself. But the braintrust of this company actually thought their product was facilitating God's work. How demented is that? Plus assuming the US military inspects their weapons at least once a year they had 20 or more chances to question it, and nobody did.

Maybe Canada should take a closer look at our stuff.

[Nark]

Rockie,
This isn't the Canadian Forces, who perhaps in your day only did one inspection a year. The powers-at-be didn't have a problem with these inscriptions, and I can guarantee you not all of them are Christians.

It was not until some pissed off atheist-PFC ran his mouth to a liberal UK rag did this pose a problem.

Next thing to go is the religious preference on our dog tags.
And shortly after that, we'll (they) no longer be able to name the rifles after our girlfriend.

Mothers Against America won another round...

[Rockie]

Tongue in cheek about the yearly inspections Nark, you know that. You also know there is no similarity between religious affiliation on a dogtag and manufacturer installed religious inscriptions on an entire weapon system equipping a nation's military that supposedly separates state from church.

Aside from being offensive to religious and non-religious people alike, it gives Muslim extremists all the proof they need that this is a war between religions. It's not supposed to be is it? Or is it?

[Nark]

Rockie I appropriate your humor, just as I hope you can appreciate mine.

If I was free to shoot Muslims at will, I would've had to change my barrel at lest twice during my stint 'over there.'

[The Old Fogducker]

Nark:

I think you should have been issued 2 barrels, as we were with the Bren Gun, which was at the end of its service life when I joined the first time. Most units had already been issued the FN C-2 as the section automatic weapon.

When one barrel got so hot it didn't shoot straight, you'd change out the barrel in about 20 seconds, insert another magazine, cock it, set the fire select lever from safe to auto, and resume firing. An experienced Light Automatic Weapons crew could do it almost as fast as it took you to read this sentence and be back in sustained action.


Bren Gun vs Browning BAR ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-CfuvCHq4I

Detailed look at the British Army version .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie88A51IxY4

Live fire video by what appears to be some kind of reinactors ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA9JP_DHVKM

...and to finish off, a little British Army style humour on the parade square from the "Carry on" series of movies, an excerpt from "Carry On Sergeant" .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQlEnKoQv_8

[niss]

I don't get what all the hullaballoo is about.

When ever I kill somebody (mostly hobos) I always say the same thing:

'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.'

But what can I say, I'm one bad ass motherfucker.

[Nark]

Does your wallet look like this:

[niss]

Yes and it's made out of hobo skin so it's the exact same colour (or color where you're from).

[2R]

I give thou the Holy Hand Grenade ,
Count to three as per Armanants Chapter 2 Vs 9-21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9l ... re=related

Enjoy

[Nark]

I remembered I took this during my stint in Iraq.

This is the view through the ACOG:

[Dash-Ate]

Bin Laden's Impeccable Timing Boosts Obama Ahead Of SOTU Address
Another State Of The Union Address preceded by the phantom menace

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, Jan 25, 2010





Related Content

A purportedly new audio tape of Osama Bin Laden claiming responsibility for the failed Christmas Day underwear bombing attempt has surfaced, once again, at the most politically opportune time for the White House, with the State of The Union Address now just 48 hours away.

The voice on the tape, claiming to be Bin Laden, personally addresses the president with the opening "From Osama to Obama."

The tape, aired by Al Jazeera yesterday, praises the actions of "the heroic warrior" Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and warns that "God willing, our attacks against you will continue as long as you maintain your support to Israel."

It is unclear as to why Bin Laden waited over four weeks to deliver his message at a time when the underwear bomber story has all but dropped out of the headlines.

One thing is certain however, Al Qaeda seem to like running P.R. for the White House. Previously tapes have been released hours before the State of The Union Address in both 2006 and 2007. Bin Laden also previously popped up on the eve of the 2004 election, leading the late Walter Cronkite to muse that the whole farce was a Karl Rove orchestrated set-up.

With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq still at the height of unpopularity, Obama has found his approval rating lower at this stage than for any US president since Eisenhower.

Following decisive blows to his agenda, in the shape of last week's health care setback in the Senate and the victory of Republican Scott Brown in a 47 year Democratic seat in Massachusetts, Obama has admitted he has “run into a bit of a buzz saw”.

Leading Democrats have begun to express disillusionment. Sen. Bill Nelson's (D-FL) call to scale back the agenda, is just one example.

It has not been a good run in to the SOTU Address for Obama, until now that is. Now he can wax lyrical about Bin Laden being intent on killing us over here, killing us over there, killing us everywhere, justifying the expansion of the U.S. led wars in the middle east through the past year.



The new audio tape was again released by U.S. monitoring group IntelCenter, who have described it as an "indicator" of an upcoming attack. This was the exact same language used by the group the last time Bin Laden surfaced in September 2009.

As we have exhaustively documented, Intelcenter is an offshoot of IDEFENSE, which was staffed by a senior military psy-op intelligence officer Jim Melnick, who has worked directly for Donald Rumsfeld. The organization released the “laughing hijackers” tape and claimed it was an Al-Qaeda video, despite the fact that the footage was obtained by a “security agency” at a 2000 Bin Laden speech.

IntelCenter was also caught adding its logo to a tape at the same time as Al-Qaeda’s so-called media arm As-Sahab added its logo, proving the two organizations were one and the same.

The Pakistani based Al-Qaeda group Jundullah, formerly headed by the alleged mastermind of 9/11, an organization which enjoys the funding, support and protection of the CIA, also produces propaganda tapes and literature for As-Sahab and in turn IntelCenter.

We have just about lost count of the amount of times IntelCenter has released a tape from “Al-Qaeda” or “Bin Laden” at the most politically expedient time for the government, whether that be Bush or Obama.

"Intelligence officials say they can't verify the authenticity of the tape, but they say there has never been a fake and there is no reason to believe this one is not real." ABC News reports.

Clearly those intelligence officials have forgotten that several of the previous Bin Laden tapes have been denounced as fake, including a 2002 audio tape which was not authentic according to a Swiss research institute. Experts at the Lausanne-based Dalle Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence compared the tape with 20 earlier recordings of Bin Laden and concluded that the November 2002 tape was fraudulent, in other words that it was someone pretending to be Bin Laden.

In 2007, the last "new" video of Bin Laden, appearing with a dyed beard, was found to have freezes in the sections where the Al Qaeda leader referred to current events.

A leading expert on Bin Laden, Duke University professor Bruce Lawrence, is also adamant that the so called "9/11 Confession" tape, released shortly after the attacks, is an outright fake that has been used by US intelligence agencies to deflect attention from “conspiracy theories” about 9/11.

Every single notorious Bin Laden tape released since 2001 has contained vague non-specific messages and in many cases the footage is old and re-hashed.

"Some lawmakers say if bin Laden is now claiming Abdulmutallab as a soldier in his army, then the United States should treat him like an enemy combatant." the ABC News report on the latest Bin Laden tape continues. Perfect - the underwear bomber stops talking as soon as he gets access to a lawyer, the solution? Connect him to Bin Laden and remove due process of law.

"Intelligence analysts say there's no way to know how closely bin Laden is linked to the Christmas Day attack, if at all, but his message makes one thing clear."

"Osama Bin Laden is still alive. He's still having an influence on the al Qaeda movement and the al Qaeda narrative and he does have the ability to plan attacks," Rick Nelson, a senior fellow with the Center for Security and International Studies in Washington D.C. said.

While the majority of Americans will glance at the headlines and note that Goldstein has re-surfaced, the truth remains that Bin Laden, according to anyone in the know, is long dead.

However, if by some chance everyone else is wrong and Rick Nelson is correct, and Osama Bin Laden really is still alive, then the CIA owe him a pay rise for his continued sterling efforts to bail out the incumbent president every time the administration is about to capsize.

The likely reality is that this is just another crude propaganda ploy and the latest installment in a series of hoax terror tapes edited and released at another politically expedient time as part of the illegitimate marriage between big government and the military industrial complex.

[. ._]

I wonder how many soldiers have said, "Oh God, why did I sign up for this crap?"

That's sort of religious.