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Washington Times - April 22, 2008
Islamophobia in presidential race:
McCain declines to drop 'Islamic' terror label
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain has declined to stop using the adjective "Islamic" to describe terrorists and extremist enemies of the United States.
Steve Schmidt, a former Bush White House aide who is now a McCain media strategist, told The Washington Times that the use of the word is appropriate and that the candidate will continue to define the enemy that way.
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.
Mr. McCain, an ex-Navy fighter pilot and leading hawk on the Iraq war, regularly uses the term "Islamic" in major foreign-policy speeches and in news conferences.
In a speech last month to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Mr. McCain said the formation of an international coalition "will strengthen us to confront the transcendent challenge of our time: the threat of radical Islamic terrorism."
In a Republican debate in January, Mr. McCain turned to then-rival Mitt Romney and said, "I raised it many times, as to whether you have the experience and the judgment to lead this country in the war against radical Islamic extremism."
In a July speech to Christians United for Israel, Mr. McCain said, "Violent Islamic extremists would have us believe that there is only one acceptable religious practice, and that those who diverge from it are not entitled to life or liberty. They are wrong; very, very wrong."
Muneer Fareed, who secretary-general of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), said such usages are wrong.
"My own take on this is that we tried and failed to stylize this particular onslaught against the United States as one that has religious connotations and regional connotations," said Mr. Fareed, a former associate professor of Islamic studies at Wayne State University.
"I think this is just criminality, fair and square. We should just call them criminals. You want to call them terrorist criminals, fine," he said. "But adding the word 'Muslim' or 'Islamic' certainly doesn't help our cause as Americans. It's counterproductive. It paints an entire community of believers, 1.2 billion in total, in a very negative way. And certainly that's not something that we want to do."…..
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080421/NATION/438135169/1001
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