In a Saturday post to his website, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen West railed against military personnel having to go through religious sensitivity training while stationed in Muslim countries when the same is not reciprocated.

West says those serving in CENTCOM AOR and the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet have "succumbed" to "dhimmitude" during this Ramadan season. A "dhimmi," West explains, is "a non-Muslim living in a region overrun by Muslim conquest (notice this does not say living peacefully side-by-side) who was accorded a protected status and residence so long as they understood their subjugated status."

Using a story from Stars and Stripes, West highlights the 8,200 service members currently in Muslim countries who are having to change their daily routines and personal habits to appease local religious leaders during the upcoming Ramadan season, saying if they are found not abiding by the religious law, they could be fined or detained by local authorities.

West lists the "do's and don'ts" for U.S. personnel during Ramadan. Here is a selection:

• Eating, drinking, chewing and smoking in public are civil offenses in some Islamic countries.
• Men should wear long sleeves and pants. Women’s sleeves should extend below the elbow and pants or skirts should cover the knees.
• Avoid critical remarks about fasting or any religious practice.
• Arabs are good hosts and may offer you food or refreshments during daylight hours. Such offers should be declined.
• All consumption of alcohol by U.S. military personnel is prohibited at any off base public venue in the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility during Ramadan.
• It’s customary to say ‘Ramadan Kareem’ during Ramadan.
• The Stars and Stripes article also mentions drinking coffee as a no-no during the religious month.

West sounds off:

Yep, I suppose when in Rome, do as the Romans — except we in America ask no one to play that game. I suppose there are those who will say this is a good cultural lesson — all about multiculturalism. But it sure seems to me that tolerance is indeed becoming a one-way street heading straight to cultural suicide. Funny, why is it that 'infidels' can’t enter Mecca or Medina? That would be like Americans saying certain groups can’t be allowed in Washington D.C.

Oh yeah, I can hear all those tolerant liberal progressives saying we don’t want to be like them. Nope, we don’t. But we don’t want to be told to assimilate for others when there is no reciprocal action.

Ok, maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but when did the U.S. military start religious indoctrination training of its service men and women? Where is our ol’ buddy Mikey Weinstein on this one? Heck, he got his underwear in knots over a nativity scene in a chow hall at GITMO after all. Our personnel are deployed to these countries to provide security. How about our troops stationed in Japan having to accommodate Shinto customs and practices? What gets me is that even if Muslims are in America they demand us to provide – at taxpayer expense – foot washing stations, special accommodations at swimming pools, and special considerations of meals at schools.

I have an idea. Why don’t we give Judeo-Christian religious training for Muslims in America to abide by Christmas, Easter, Passover, and other traditions of those faiths– nah, we wouldn’t want to do that, would we? That would be intolerant and somehow violate the separation of church and state, blah, blah, blah.

This may seem irrelevant until you come to realize just how relevant it is. Submission, subjugation, conversion, or annihilation — those were the choices offered by Muhammad in a letter to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius. And so here we are today.