Muneer Fareed, the secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), has told the Washington Times that the ISNA (a coalition of several American Muslim groups) is demanding that John McCain stop using the adjective "Islamic" to describe terrorists and extremist enemies of the United States.But demands notwithstanding, McCain has no plans to drop the adjective.
McCain media strategist Steve Schmidt says that use of the word is appropriate and that the candidate will continue to define the enemy that way.
"Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda represent a perverted strain of Islam at odds with the great many peaceful Muslims who practice their great faith peacefully," Mr. Schmidt said. "But the reality is, the hateful ideology which underpins bin Ladenism is properly described as radical Islamic extremism. Senator McCain refers to it that way because that is what it is."
Mr. McCain often uses the term "Islamic" to describe terrorist enemies. The two remaining Democrats in the presidential field, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, generally shun such word usage...
As should be expected in responsible press reports, the Washington Times' story goes on to give important background material by which the reader can better understand the issues involved. Here are a couple of those items:
The ISNA promotes itself as a voice of moderation that seeks Muslim-Jewish reconciliation and campaigns against what it calls "Islamophobia."...
Some counterterrorism specialists criticize ISNA for failing to condemn terrorist attacks on Israel. Steven Emerson, who directs the Investigative Project on Terrorism, recently wrote that the silence of ISNA and other Muslim groups after Hamas killed eight Israeli students "shows their unwillingness to condemn the terrorist act and its glorification."
