A complete retreat from his campaign vow to speak honestly about the motivating ideology behind the global jihad threat, and from his repeated use of the phrase (which is imperfect itself, but better than the denial and willful ignorance of Bush and Obama) early in his presidency. No force can defeat an enemy it does not understand, much less one it refuses to understand, and here we are again.
“‘The president will call it whatever he wants to call it,’ said McMaster said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ ‘But I think it’s important that, whatever we call it, we recognize that [extremists] are not religious people.'”
Not religious people? They certainly think they are. How does the imam McMaster know that they aren’t? A sampling:
“Jihad was a way of life for the Pious Predecessors (Salaf-us-Salih), and the Prophet (SAWS) was a master of the Mujahideen and a model for fortunate inexperienced people. The total number of military excursions which he (SAWS) accompanied was 27. He himself fought in nine of these; namely Badr; Uhud, Al-Muraysi, The Trench, Qurayzah, Khaybar, The Conquest of Makkah, Hunayn and Taif . . . This means that the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) used to go out on military expeditions or send out an army at least every two months.” — Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of al-Qaeda, Join the Caravan, p. 30
“If we follow the rules of interpretation developed from the classical science of Koranic interpretation, it is not possible to condemn terrorism in religious terms. It remains completely true to the classical rules in its evolution of sanctity for its own justification. This is where the secret of its theological strength lies.” — Egyptian scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
“Many thanks to God, for his kind gesture, and choosing us to perform the act of Jihad for his cause and to defend Islam and Muslims. Therefore, killing you and fighting you, destroying you and terrorizing you, responding back to your attacks, are all considered to be great legitimate duty in our religion.” — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his fellow 9/11 defendants
“Allah on 480 occasions in the Holy Koran extols Muslims to wage jihad. We only fulfil God’s orders. Only jihad can bring peace to the world.” — Taliban terrorist Baitullah Mehsud
“Jihad, holy fighting in Allah’s course, with full force of numbers and weaponry, is given the utmost importance in Islam….By jihad, Islam is established….By abandoning jihad, may Allah protect us from that, Islam is destroyed, and Muslims go into inferior position, their honor is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligation and duty in Islam on every Muslim.” — Times Square car bomb terrorist Faisal Shahzad
“So step by step I became a religiously devout Muslim, Mujahid — meaning one who participates in jihad.” — Little Rock, Arkansas terrorist murderer Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad
“And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives, and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for Jihad.” — Texas terrorist bomber Khalid Aldawsari
“McMaster suggests Trump won’t say ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ in speech,” by Max Greenwood, The Hill, May 20, 2017:
White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster suggested that President Trump may abandon the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” in a scheduled speech in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
“The president will call it whatever he wants to call it,” McMaster said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But I think it’s important that, whatever we call it, we recognize that [extremists] are not religious people. And, in fact, these enemies of all civilizations, what they want to do is to cloak their criminal behavior under this fall idea of some kind of religious war.”
“But I think what the president will point out is the vast majority – the vast majority of victims from these people are Muslims. And of course the Muslim world is very cognizant of that, having born witness to and experienced directly this humanitarian catastrophe that’s going on across the greater Middle East and beyond.”
Trump frequently used the phrase “radical Islamic terror” on the campaign trail to describe Islamist extremists and militant groups. But the term has historically been avoided by presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
In fact, McMaster himself has urged the president to refrain from using the phrase, arguing that violent extremists, such as ISIS militants, push a perverse view of Islam and that the phrase “radical Islamic terror” ultimately hinders U.S. goals, according to CNN.
In his speech on Sunday, Trump is expected to cast the fight against extremism as a “battle between good and evil,” rather than a religious war, while calling for unity with allies in the Islamic world.