Obama Tries To Change Terrorism Rhetoric, Remove Terms Like 'Islamic Radicalism'...

Obama Tries To Change Terrorism Rhetoric, Remove Terms Like 'Islamic Radicalism' From National Security Document

MATT APUZZO | 04/ 7/10 06:46 AM | AP


WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's advisers plan to remove terms such as "Islamic radicalism" from a document outlining national security strategy and will use the new version to emphasize that the U.S. does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terrorism, counterterrorism officials say.

The change would be a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventive war. It currently states, "The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century."

The officials described the changes on condition of anonymity because the document is still being written and is unlikely to be released for weeks, and the White House would not discuss it. But rewriting the strategy document is the latest example of Obama putting his stamp on U.S. foreign policy, as with his promises to dismantle nuclear weapons and limit the situations in which they can be used.

The revisions are part of a larger effort about which the White House talks openly, one that seeks to change not just how the U.S. talks to Muslim nations, but also what it talks to them about, from health care and science to business startups and education.

That shift away from terrorism has been building for a year, since Obama went to Cairo and promised a "new beginning" in the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. The White House believes the previous administration based that relationship entirely on fighting terrorism and winning the war of ideas.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/07/obama-terrorism-rhetoric_n_528104.html

first it will go towards healing the rift with the Muslim world

second it will make sure that the threat from right wing Christian terrorists is not ignored or overlooked.

What naive egghead actually thinks this striking these words for our official documents will actually accomplish anything?

follower of Widespread Panic.

welcomes this decision, as do influential clerics and Muslims...respect is quite important, whether you think so or not.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/04/08/End-to-loaded-Islamic-terms-welcomed/UPI-23761270739326/

End to 'loaded' Islamic terms welcomed
Published: April 8, 2010 at 11:08 AM


WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- A Washington decision to strike terms linking the religion of Islam to extremism is a welcome departure to U.S. policy in the Middle East, advocates said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed a decision from U.S. President Barack Obama to strike terms like "Islamic radicalism" from the National Security Strategy. The previous administration said "militant Islamic radicalism" is one of the greatest ideological challenges of the modern era.

Nihad Awad, the national executive director at CAIR, said the measure was a welcome step toward a respectful relationship with the Muslim community.

"We hope this positive change in language will lead to policies that will deal more effectively with important issues such as peace with justice in the Middle East and withdrawal of our nation's forces from Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

Influential clerics and other Muslim advocates have recommended avoiding words like "jihad" and other Islamic terms for fear of undermining the peaceful nature of the religion. Awad stressed that his organization has called for an end to "loaded" terminology that links Islam to terrorism "for a number of years."

"We welcome this change in language by the Obama administration as another step toward respectful and effective outreach to Muslims at home and abroad," he said.

ties to Hamas are not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas

Demonizing them as a whole won't work. Which is kind of the point of the language change, to move away from the stupidity of a "good/bad" dichotomy.

no more than kissing their asses will.

Public education and medical care are not terrorism, rocket attacks arguably are, so solutions have to be found that go beyond polemic positions.

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want perpetual war and annihilation.

Terms like "Islamofascism" - a GOP favorite - link Islam to one of the most pejorative terms in the language. I think this is a very important shift.

now who are most aware of that.