From The Where Do We Get These Guys Department

Comes this interesting piece of news.

Whether the chaplains are Christian or Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist, the military relies on religious groups themselves to recommend and to educate their own candidates. The military says that because of the constitutional provisions that govern the division of church and state, only churches and religious organizations can ordain or appoint their own clergy.

With Muslim chaplains, however, this has proved particularly problematic, especially since Islam has no centralized hierarchy. Most other faiths and denominations have a single authority responsible for chaplains, like the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services. But in the absence of such an equivalent Islamic authority, the military has relied on grass-roots Muslim groups.

'Because of the separation of church and state, and the decentralized nature of Islam, we are dependent on loosely affiliated Islamic groups to certify the credentials of Muslim clergy in order for them to apply to be chaplains in the military,' the Pentagon said in a statement."

Yes, I do realize that muslims chaplains have to come from someplace, but c'mon! Allowing "loosely affiliated" Islamic groups to certify the credentials of their own clergy is not the best policy, especially when those same chaplains are stationed at a military base such as Gitmo. Here's an idea for the Pentagon to consider, how about you, oh I don't know, actually vet these individuals yourself? In a post-9/11 world we cannot afford to take chances anymore. The world has changed and it's high time the Pentagon woke up to reality, and stop engaging in politically correct bullcrap such as allowing only "grass roots" muslim clergy recommend and pass on military chaplains.

And this whole thing smacks of that old saying, "the fox investigating the chicken coop."

link via (Little Green Footballs)