January 31, 2006: CAIR to President Bush: Don’t say 'Islamo-fascism,' 'militant jihadism,' 'Islamic radicalism,' or 'totalitarian Islamic empire’ in the SOTU

by Laura Mansfield

That’s the advice given to US President George W. Bush by Parvez Ahmed, board chairman at CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations according to a press release issued yesterday by CAIR.

It seems that CAIR doesn’t want President Bush to use any words that might link “Islam to terms of violence and extremism”.

In the letter Ahmed says:

"You have stated repeatedly that the war on terror is not a war on Islam. Unfortunately, the use of loaded and imprecise terminology by our nation's representatives has often served to promote that negative perception.

"When you describe America's efforts to fight terrorism and spread democracy worldwide in Tuesday's address, I think it would be best to avoid the use of hot-button terms such as 'Islamo-fascism,' 'militant jihadism,' 'Islamic radicalism,' or 'totalitarian Islamic empire.'

"As you said in the past, 'this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam.' However, I believe the repeated rhetorical linkage of Islam to terms of violence and extremism is counterproductive and complicates our legitimate foreign policy initiatives.

It looks to me like CAIR is talking to the wrong person.

Just yesterday, Al Qaeda second in command Ayman Zawahiri released a message where he said he was hiding in the Muslim masses, and promises attacks that we will see in our homes. Over and over we see tapes released by Zawahiri, Bin Laden, Zarqawi, and others calling for the Muslim Ummah to rise up against the infidels, meaning everyone who isn’t Muslim.

Al Qaeda has repeatedly used the Qu’ran to justify their violent actions. They have called for a jihad against America and her allies. They have rammed airplanes into our buildings, beheaded our citizens, and bombed innocent civilians around the world.

Al Qaeda is making it clear that they believe they represent Islam.

Maybe CAIR needs to get in touch with Bin Laden and Zawahiri and take them to task or defaming the name of Islam. After all, CAIR has appointed itself the protector of the name of Islam in the United States. So why not go after those who are in their actions linking “Islam to terms of violence and extremism”.

The enemy in our War on Terror has defined itself as representing Islam.

If these Muslims, who claim to represent the Islamic Ummah, don’t fall into the category of advocates of 'Islamo-fascism,' 'militant jihadism,' 'Islamic radicalism,' or 'totalitarian Islamic empire’, then what category do they fall into?

Surely they don’t represent mainstream Islam