On January 7, President Obama nominated John Brennan for Director of the CIA. As usual, the nomination was met with a full slate of supporters and detractors which can, and will, be debated at length. Of particular concern, however, is either Brennan’s ignorance of Islam or his support of Barack Obama’s belief that it is possible to negotiate with the Islamic world.
During a speech in
According to Brennan, more than 30-years of global travel have taught him about “the goodness and beauty of Islam.”
“Like the president during his childhood years in Jakarta, I came to see Islam not how it is often misrepresented, but for what it is – how it is practiced every day, by well over a billion Muslims worldwide, a faith of peace and tolerance and great diversity,” Brennan said.
Speaking at the Islamic Center at
Brennan has been a leading proponent of eliminating many terms he says Muslims find offensive, including the word, “jihadist.” As Brennan points out, “They are not jihadists for jihad is a holy struggle, an effort to purify, for a legitimate purpose. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing holy or pure or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children.”
Brennan is correct that the word “jihad” means struggle and has a basis in a person’s human struggle through life, but he failed to mention that it also means “holy war” which is another form of “struggle.”
Not to worry however, because in an interview on Saudi Arabian TV on December 27, the Executive Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad, stated that “Islam and the U.S. are twins linked by common values. The values upon which the
Of particular interest was Awad’s history lesson in which he claimed there are historical accounts showing that Muslims discovered
“Islam’s worldview is one of coexistence, of respect for pluralism, and of peace,” Awad went on to say.
Agree or disagree with Awad, the truth lies not in what he says but what he doesn’t say. Just as we were falsely led to believe the Muslim Brotherhood had become a moderate organization after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in
For example, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator by the
Awad failed to say that he supports Hamas, whose activities around the world promote and carry out suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.
A vocal advocate for permitting Muslim radical Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni to enter the
Speaking about Americans, Al-Qarni has been quoted as saying “We curse all of them every night and pray that Allah will annihilate them, tear them apart and grant us victory over them. Throats must be slit and skulls must be shattered.”
Seems like a perfectly obvious reason to let the good sheikh into the country.
And so the erosion of American values continues to gradually seep beneath the radar. Suicide bombings may be more spectacular, but patience and stealth may be far more effective.
Peabod is Bob Taylor, owner of Taylored Media Services in
Inquiries for groups can be made at Peabod@aol.com Taylored Media has produced marketing videos for British Rail, Rail Europe, Switzerland Tourism, the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council, the Finnish Tourist Board, the Swiss Travel System and Japan Railways Group among others.
As author of The Century Club book, Peabod is now attempting to travel to 100 countries or more during his lifetime. To date he has visited 71 countries. Suggest someplace new for Bob to visit; if you want to know where he has been, check his list on Facebook. Bob plans to write a sequel to his book when he reaches his goal of 100 countries. He also played professional baseball for four years and was a sportscaster for 14 years at WBTV, the CBS affiliate in Charlotte.
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