Roger That: War hero Dakota Meyer blasts Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States

Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer has taken to the Internet to blast Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call for a temporary ban on allowing all Muslims to enter the United States.

“This, frankly, is the last straw in a high stack of ignorant mob panhandling ideas that have come out of his mouth since he announced his candidacy,” Meyer wrote in an essay for the website Task and Purpose.

Defending his call for a ban on Muslims in an interview with ABC News, Trump claimed that he is, “the worst thing that’s ever happened to ISIS.” Meyer slammed Trump’s proposal.

“The worst thing to happen to ISIS will be the resolve and heroic actions of our servicemen and women deployed there right now, and the thousands more ready to go,” Meyer wrote.

Meyer, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the War in Afghanistan, was awarded the nation’s highest medal for bravery for his actions during the Battle of Ganjgal on Sept. 8, 2009, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

“I’ve been critical of accepting Syrian refugees, and that’s still something I’m concerned about, but labeling a whole religion is wrong,” Meyer concluded. “Ultimately, in addressing our problems, we need solutions that are detailed and principled and in line with our values. Fear won’t win.”

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Twenty-seven retired Army and Air Force generals are asking Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to finally lift the decades-old prohibition against Sikhs serving in the U.S. military while keeping the beards, unshorn hair and turban that are required as part of their faith, according to Military.com.

In their letter, sent to Carter last month, the group likened such a move to President Truman’s order desegregating the military in 1948.

Separately, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, sent his own letter to Carter seeking an end to the ban.

“While I appreciate the importance of military protocol and understand the importance of unit cohesion, I do not believe that any American should have to choose between his or her religion and service to country,” Kaine told Carter.

One of the primary reasons the military has used to justify the ban on beards over the years has been concern soldiers would not get a tight seal on their gas masks in the event of an attack. Sikhs and their advocates have noted that Sikhs serving in other militaries, including Britain's, have no problem securing their masks.

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Male sailors aboard the USS Wyoming secretly recorded their female shipmates showering several times a day for almost a year — sometimes working in teams to prevent detection, says a new Navy Times report out this week.

At least 12 male officers were implicated in the ring, which operated for about 10 months before a electronics technician on another ship heard about the recordings and reported them. Of those 12 men, 10 were ultimately prosecuted and assigned punishments ranging from hard prison time to a pay cut.

The men were apparently able to film the women through a hole in the wall using cell phones and an iPod Touch — both of which are reportedly banned aboard the submarine.

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The Iraqis don’t want Western troops on the ground in their country to help retake cities captured by Islamic State militants, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said, according to DefenseOne

Fallon, in Washington Friday for meetings with U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at the Pentagon, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stressed the need for local forces to expel ISIS from Iraq when Fallon visited Baghdad over the summer.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Roger That: War hero Dakota Meyer blasts Trump’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States."