Were they selling prayer mats??  That may explain their reply. Chips582007-01-22 17:12:50

Some of us are e-mailing this company, politely axing them what the poop is wrong with them.
(This is NOT promoted by this site(C3VR), but, feel free to share YOUR thoughts with them. )

                                       contact@discount-mats.comAdams' Apple2007-01-22 20:48:34

Thanks Joel for the level head.  Thats what i should have done, comment on the article and call for a peaceful emailing.  My temper got the better of me.  I  did use their contact us section asking them what was up with it, but that was the day before the site went down.  Dont recall exactly how polite i was when i did it though. .

I am still, however, of the opinion that if it were not the entire company, they would have responded to Snoops, which they didnt, given an apology to the solider, and/or put up a section on the web site explaining.  Instead they hid and did nothing, which i interpreted as an admission of  guilt.

By the way, I was able to look around their site for a while before they went down, and they sold many types of floor mats, like the ones i had in my garage before i moved, or that would be stood on in a machine shop.  The ones that i think the soldiers wanted were heat resistance ones. No prayer mats in the bunch.  I was looking around trying to find any signs of them being Arabic or Islamic, to explain the reasoning behind the email.  I found none.
d.

The Associated Press picked up on this story. Here's what ran on the AP wire today:

(01-23) 12:34 PST MILWAUKEE, (AP) --

An American GI in Iraq who e-mailed a Wisconsin company to ask for a shipment of some floor mats got a brusque reply: "We would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq."

The two-line e-mail response quickly circulated on the Internet and has led to threats against the Muslim-owned business and demands for a boycott.

Bargain Suppliers, an online retailer based in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, shut down its Web site Monday and fired the unidentified employee who sent the e-mail, WTMJ-TV reported.

Co-owner Faisal Khetani, a Muslim from Pakistan, has received threatening calls, the TV station said. An answering machine at a number listed for the business said the mailbox was full and would not accept a message Tuesday.

In an e-mail dated Jan. 16, Sgt. Jason Hess asked about getting floor mats from the company.

"Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first," the e-mail said.

A response e-mailed the same day said the company did not.

"And even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq," said the e-mail, which was signed "Bargain Suppliers."

In an e-mail to the AP, Hess said Tuesday the employee's firing did not ease his anger over the original response.

"There should be standards set and upheld (by) the company on responding politely to e-mails from whoever goes to their site," wrote Hess, a 31-year-old Fayetteville, N.C., native who is stationed in Taji, Iraq.

Hess said he wanted some mats to cover the ruts in a concrete floor in a former parking garage or storage unit now used as a conference room.

Bloggers spread the original e-mail exchange far and wide, along with the company's address and phone number. At least one site included a link to a photograph of Khetani's home.

"It's really getting out of control," Bargain Suppliers vice president Sajid Nasir told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Our main concern is for the safety of the family. That's more important than the business."

West Allis police said they were watching the situation but had received no immediate reports of any vandalism or threats from the Khetani family.

Othman Atta, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, said the employee's response was inappropriate. He said feared a backlash against Muslims.

"This whole thing is taking on a life of its own. It's making me nervous," he said, adding that the center would increase security.

Sgt. Colby Howser, spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, said it is not unusual for soldiers to make purchases on their own.

"He wasn't ordering for the unit," Howser said. "If the unit needed to purchase something, it would be a lieutenant colonel placing the order, not a sergeant."

HHHHMMMPPPHHH, I can't imagine how the Ap caught wind of this....


Shame Shame on all you Vette boys N girls with yer dirty lil e-mail chain....

Long live the power of the web.(Formerly Known As Power To The PEOPLE)

They will change the name of the business, and carry on as usual. Does it shock anyone to find out it is Muslim owned? This is not to say that all Muslims are like that, 'cause they're really not. But it does seem to be a specific group of them that always have to be pita's.

I sent an e-mail today, maybe not too PC but I don't care ! Too bad they don't follow their on advice, If they had any sense they should leave the U.S. ASAP.