By David R. Graham
1 November 2003
All Saints' Day

Letter To Secretary Rumsfeld And Deputy Secretary Wolfowitiz

An Offer To Help      

Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz,

I was pleased today to see a news item in the Washington Post that you are pondering the problem of dealing with the madrassas.

I am a theologian (Union Theological Seminary, New York City, 1969), a parent of a West Point Graduate and a West Point Cadet, and I am a strong supporter of our United States Armed Forces. Also, frankly, I am the theologian in our country who can help think through and act upon the profound threat posed by these madrassas and their so-called clergy/heads.

The matter has been exercising me because I was aware long ago that it was and would be exercising our decision makers, and rightly.

The problem is simple yet not available for solution within the customary parameters of religious or intellectual thought. That we are facing it is evidence of our birthing, in fact, a new era of human history, one of peace, of which our involvement in Iraq is an integral and essential preparation.

This era is defined by intellectual (stochastic) structures ("metrics" in the language of Secretary Rumsfeld's recently "leaked" memo) that are fresh to us and which we understandably perceive dimly, with fascination and also with trepidation. All births are of this character.

I offer to help. Here are two recent efforts addressing the problem posed by the madrassas and their so-called clergy/heads. The gist is: we should not treat either as religious but rather treat them as military academies led by soldiers deliberately out of uniform.

http://www.adwaitha-hermitage.net/agg-misc/SecurityBrief.pdf

https://www.adwaitha-hermitage.net/ecc-aff/Vetting.pdf

Thank you for your service to our nation! I hope you will persevere in what you feel is right to do. You certainly have my support.

David R. Graham
Snoqualmie, WA USA