Yesterday Randal Mathis of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation sent a letter to Sec Def Leon Panetta.  Mathis is outraged because a combat outpost in Afghanistan was named “Combat Post Aryan,”  he wrote.  Mathis is sure that he has discovered a neo-Nazi cabal inside the military.  “Today’s stunning information concerning the base near Kandahar being named ‘Aryan’ is simply too much to be coincidental,” he complained.

So do we have Nazis flooding the ranks of the Army?  Do we need de-Nazification within our ranks?

Actually no.  The controversy is a result of a misspelling–not some fascist plot.  The actual title is “Combat Post ARIAN.”  It is named for an ancient Persian tribe that once lived in western Afghanistan.  “Their name means ‘noblemen,'”  says the U.S. Army spokesman.  ‘In historical times,  the Arians lived in an area along the river Arios,”  which is now in the Afghan province of Herat.

Okay,  Mr. Mathis.  How about an apology?