According to the Washington Post, the Defense Department’s chaplain services have been directing servicepeople interested in learning more about Islam to a radical Muslim web site.

The chaplains’ service Web sites for the Navy and the Air Force refer sailors and airmen interested in learning more about Islam to Islamworld.net, a Web site that provides links to the lectures of fundamentalist clerics, some of whom advocate jihad against the United States and Israel.

Islamworld.net includes links to lectures that denigrate Christianity and Judaism as “forms of disbelief,” and to material that praises the imprisoned blind Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rahman, contending that “he was framed for the [1993] World Trade Center bombing and sentenced by a Jewish judge for life in solitary confinement.”

The chaplains’ Web sites describe Islamworld.net as “rich in information about the Islamic faith,” including “an introduction for non-Muslims” and “basics for new Muslims.”

Although the number of Muslim chaplains in the military is small, some officials are concerned that only Sunni Muslims have been appointed and that they are selected by two Muslim organizations that tolerate hard-line views. The situation is similar to complaints from some segments of the Muslim community that chaplains who espouse a strict brand of Islam have come to dominate the ranks of prison chaplains. That situation has gained the attention of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies concerned that prisons are a breeding ground for extremists.