Friday, April 09, 2010

Say What?

Notwithstanding President Bush's mantra-like recitation that Islam is a religion of peace, the Obama administration is determined to erase the Bush language of hate that makes the Islamic world think we are at war with all of Islam:

President Barack Obama's advisers will remove religious terms such as "Islamic extremism" from the central document outlining the U.S. national security strategy and will use the rewritten document to emphasize that the United States does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terror, counterterrorism officials said.

The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war and currently states: "The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century."

That statement about the struggle is indeed in the 2006 strategy paper. It's on page 41 of the PDF's 54 pages (Numbered page 36). So that's right out.

So let's see how many cases of "Islamic extremism" we have to find and replace, since the Obama administration finds that term odious. It must go!

Huh. Using the search function of the document, it tells me "No matches were found." That's odd. I mean, for a document that supposedly shows the Bush administration's ham-handed attitude toward the Islamic world, surely it would crash the search function.

Well how about just "extremism"? We all know what that has to mean!

Ah hah! There are two mentions of "extremism!" One even specifies "religious" extremism! I'm sure getting rid of that adjective for all the Moslems who pore over our 2006 strategy document right before they decide whether or not to sign up for the global jihad will lead them to choose to enroll in community college to learn that plumbing trade instead.

Well how about the word "Islam" or its variations? Surely the Crusader document drips with scathing references to Islam in thinly veiled attacks on the great religion.

On page 14 of 54:

While the War on Terror is a battle of ideas, it is not a battle of religions. The transnational terrorists confronting us today exploit the proud religion of Islam to serve a violent political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for murder against those they regard as apostates or unbelievers–including Christians, Jews, Hindus, other religious traditions, and all Muslims who disagree with them. Indeed, most of the terrorist attacks since September 11 have occurred in Muslim countries – and most of the victims have been Muslims.

Hate speech against Islam, pure and simple. Read between the lines, folks!

What else is there that damns the Bush approach to the war?

The very next page! On page 15 we read:

Terrorism ultimately depends upon the appeal of an ideology that excuses or even glorifies the deliberate killing of innocents. A proud religion – the religion of Islam – has been twisted and made to serve an evil end, as in other times and places other religions have been similarly abused.

Where's CAIR when you need them? Bush kisses his mother with that mouth?

And on page 16:

The strategy to counter the lies behind the terrorists’ ideology is to empower the very people the terrorists most want to exploit: the faithful followers of Islam. We will continue to support political reforms that empower peaceful Muslims to practice and interpret their faith. The most vital work will be done within the Islamic world itself, and Jordan, Morocco, and Indonesia have begun to make important strides in this effort. Responsible Islamic leaders need to denounce an ideology that distorts and exploits Islam for destructive ends and defiles a proud religion.
My God! It's like we're deliberately trying to provoke them!
 
There's the above-cited damning reference on page 41. What else?
 
Nothing else.

Well how about "Muslim?" (There are no references to "Moslem".)

Skipping the repeats, we have this arrogant assertion (page 16) that we actually fight with Moslems against the terrorists! The nerve!
 
Many of the Muslim faith are already making this commitment at great personal risk. They realize they are a target of this ideology of terror. Everywhere we have joined in the fight against terrorism, Muslim allies have stood beside us, becoming partners in this vital cause. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have launched effective efforts to capture or kill the leadership of the al-Qaida network. Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat al-Qaida in their own country. These brave citizens know the stakes – the survival of their own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and humanity of their own traditions – and the United States is proud to stand beside them.
 
Proud to stand beside them, indeed. More like proud to slaughter them all, eh? Who's kidding who, here?
 
And check out page 50 on what we need to do:
 
Strengthening our public diplomacy, so that we advocate the policies and values of the United States in a clear, accurate, and persuasive way to a watching and listening world. This includes actively engaging foreign audiences, expanding educational opportunities for Americans to learn about foreign languages and cultures and for foreign students and scholars to study in the United States; empowering the voices of our citizen ambassadors as well as those foreigners who share our commitment to a safer, more compassionate world; enlisting the support of the private sector; increasing our channels for dialogue with Muslim leaders and citizens; and confronting propaganda quickly, before myths and distortions have time to take root in the hearts and minds of people across the world.
 
Thinly disguised code words for putting JDAMs through minaret windows is more like it! No wonder the Islamic world thinks we're at war with all of them!
 
Thank goodness the Obama administration will fix these glaring insults that clearly make the whole conflict a grand misunderstanding. If we can only change the language of hate that permeates our basic strategy document, that outreach to the Islamic world will kick into high gear and erase the causes of jihadi recruitment.
 
Finally, at long last, we've answered the Leftist question they've asked since 9/11 when misunderstood Moslems killed nearly 3,000 of our people of  "why do they hate us?"

UPDATE: Per Mark Steyn, if you go just by the body count and human wreckage, you should be asking why do Moslems hate Moslems? We're pikers, even with all our Predators and whatnot.