'Islam', 'Islamic', and 'Jihad' to Be Expunged from National Security Documents

The Obama administration is busily revising the document that outlines the national security strategy of the United States and is expunging terms like "Islamic" to describe radicalism, extremism, and terrorism, as well as the word "jihad."

The stated purpose appears to be to reassure peaceful Islamic countries that in fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban and in confronting Iran, the United States is not, ipso facto, at war with Islam. Some analysts consider the effort an exercise in political correctness.

AP reports:

"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.'"

The Obama administration is keen to conduct outreach to Islamic countries, including many in Africa, the better to help solve problems of disease and poverty in those countries. The feeling seems to be that saying that one is conducting a "struggle against militant Islamic radicalism" will get in the way of all that.

Of course American Marines and soldiers will still fight the Taliban and Afghanistan and Predator drones will still fire Hellfire missiles at Al Qaeda targets in places such as Waziristan and Yemen. America will still push for sanctions against Iran to prevent that Islamic country from getting nuclear weapons and reserves the right to use military force for the same purpose.

The exercise seems to be more an attempt to change the tone rather than actual policy. It does seem, though, to be the rough equivalent of, say in World War II, expunging the term "fascist" from war planning documents the better not to offend fascists who were not German or Italian. There were, after all, fascists in Spain and South America at the time with whom the United States was not at war and even maintained cordial relations.

The expunging of references to Islam in national security documents seem also to coddle Muslims who, while peaceful enough, are rather passive when their coreligionist use Islam as an excuse to commit murder and mayhem. Al Qaeda and the Taliban call themselves Muslim and wage jihad in the name of Islam. It seems incongruous that the United States will not acknowledge the same thing.

It should also be noted that the Obama administration and its supporters are not so finicky as they are with Islamic terrorists when referring to Tea Party protesters, calling them "racists," "homophobes," and worse. And yet the Tea Partiers have killed no one, harmed no one, threaten no one, except at the ballot box. The dichotomy could not be more apparent.

Source: Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document, AP, April 7th, 2010