Posted on 09/19/2006 1:42:14 AM PDT by LibWhacker
President Bush told a group of radio talk show hosts that the war on terror must be framed in terms of values, not religion.
Coulter found herself in the uncharacteristic position of being upstaged by her introducer, Mike Gallagher. He told the audience he was fresh back from an hour-and-45-minute session which President Bush held in the Oval Office Friday afternoon with him and four other conservative talk show hosts: Atlanta’s Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Michael Medved. Rush Limbaugh couldn’t make it, he said.
Though he said this session was supposed to be off the record, Gallagher described it at some length, including Bush’s observation to the right-wing radio jocks that the War on Terror has to be about right versus wrong, “because if it’s about Christianity versus Islam, we’ll lose.”
“Remind me never to invite you to an off-the-record session,” Coulter said after his introduction.
Indeed.
Still, if Bush said what Gallagher said he did, he’s right. Islam is, of course, a big piece of the puzzle. But the battle over ideas has to be fought by finding common moral ground, not bashing Islam in general.
It’s no small irony that this was revealed while introducing, Ann “invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity” Coulter.
Those so called "moderates" should start calling themselves something other than muslims.
Muslim theologians since the middle ages have felt that it bad for Muslims to live in a non-Muslim country, but that it was better to live in a country where the laws were not supportive of Islam. They felt that the danger of becoming apostates was too great in permissive countries, and it was better to live somewhere where your faith was not accepted, so you'd be forced to defend it.
This is no different. Muslims in permissive countries tend to backslide into a soft, inauthentic form of Islam. What we in the west would call 'moderate Islam'. Increasingly, some people in these permissive countries create tension where there is none, and force everyone to choose sides. They invent injustices out of thin air, as with the Danish cartoons or the Pope's comments. This makes for poor neighborly relations, but it leads Muslims to a more pure form of Islam.
True Islam cannot exist without the force structure from the top enforcing Sharia, or from an external threat that forces radicalism. 'Moderate Islam' is the rejection of jihad, and the acceptance of apostasy.
Great post...and I agree with you and President Bush --- and what Bush supposedly said is completely consistent with his "theme" since 9/11...
About how people that are "free" don't choose to go war with their neighbors..
Yes, Freedom is the key.
"Any child with the ability to use a computer and google stuff can up with tons of muslim websites in support of those who act against the terror."
I can find sites on Wiccans and witchcraft - lots of them, but that doesn't reflect any substantive belief in it in western society or culture.
"there's even a muslim commander of a british battle group."
That's particularly unsettling and disturbing in the present atmosphere of Islamic aggression. The Brits used Muslim troops in the past and they performed well - under British control, although the Sepoy Rebellion showed just how tenuous that control could be.
"Capitalizing words or using multiple question marks btw are a sure sign of emotional over-envolvement. "
I don't think I'm emotionally over-involved. I haven't burned any Mosques, killed any Muslims or threatened any non-Christians.
But I don't believe a pretty woman who wears a bikini is a "slut", I have no intention of giving up pork and beer, I love dogs, I don't want to have to grow a beard, pray to Mecca several times a day, not wear shorts, treat my wife like a serf, lock up my daughters, or strap a bomb to my son and tell him to blow himself up. I don't believe Jews and Zionists are servants of the Devil, and don't draw a line between followers of my religion and any other - except for Muslims.
I think the entire threat of Islamicization can't be emitonally over-involved enough.
Did any of usual hysteric Muslim haters with their "No Muslims are helping us" screaming even stop to think the Northern Alliance and the Kurds are Muslims? But of course not. It is not about facts, it about self validation of their emotional based hysteria for the Know Nothings.
The President is right and the Know Nothings DEAD wrong. Any successful Counter Insurgency effort needs local support for intelligence gathering, combat forces and longer term stability. WE cannot stay there forever. Some day the locals are going to be running their own country. This is about making sure those locals running their country are more in line with our values then our foes values. Turn this into a Us Vrs Them and we lose all our local allies.
When 50% of us question why we are fighting at all, if we lose our local allies via this sort of heavy handed ignorance and bigotry then we will lose the war.
The people of the US have neither the will, nor the need, to wage a war of conquest in the Middle East. We win this war by backing various groups of Muslims to slaughter the other group of Muslims.
The Know Nothings with their wacko fantasies that this some how can be turned into a "Holy War" against all Islam need to come to grips with the political, and practical, limitation we operate under.
Your post is well-intentioned, but illustrates that you (perhaps like President Bush) have absolutely no idea as to what we are up against in this struggle.
The notion of "understanding and moderation" when dealing with Muslims is right out of the liberal's playbook. The reality is, that Islamics view moderation on the part of the West as weakness, and will only attack with more viciousness.
This war might very well last 100 years. We of The West have no choice about its length. Well, actually, we DO have a choice. That choice is:
1. Fight to win, no matter how long the conflict lasts and no matter how hard the sacrifices and setbacks may become, or
2. Surrender to Islam
It is not The West that has defined these terms of victory; it is Islam.
They seek to destroy or dhimmify us, to bring the entire world under Islamic rule. What part of that don't you understand?
I voted for G.W. Bush two times, and believe he has done - well, certainly done a better job than Gore or Kerry could do (their "job" would be to hoist the white flag of surrender). And I realize he has to temper his statements about the war, as The West (in general) and Americans (in particular) aren't of the mind yet to fully comprehend the enemy we face. But George should have ducked the question. He either knows better, or he is naive.
What The West requires is someone of "Churchillian stature" to stand up and speak plainly regarding the struggle before us. The truth may be hard and it may hurt, but it is the truth.
For an example of what we face after such truths be told, witness what's going on now regarding the Pope's recent comments regarding Islam! There will be much more of that to come. So be it.
- John
"'Kill all the Muslims' crowd"
I haven't run into may of the "kill all the Mooslims" crowd you're referring to, Minnesota. The acts of terrorism I witness on the news are invariably Mooslims trying to kill all the Christians, Jews, Hindus, and others that they can.
If you don't think there is a large proportion of the Mooslim world out to conquer and/or convert the world by force you're not paying attention.
You must not have read very many of these threads.
There you go again (I responded to a previous posting of yours).
Do you _really_ believe the "hearts and minds" of the "moderate" Muslim world could _ever_ be "with us"? Really?
Their hearts and minds are with ISLAM, and with nothing else.
In this struggle, there is not a Muslim on earth to be trusted to favor our side over theirs when the chips are down. I truly believe that.
- John
Very well said, thank you.
"I'm not sure what you are referring to when you use the phrase "moderate Muslim world"."
Turkey, member of NATO, trying to bridge the gap between its Muslim roots and Western modernity.
"In this struggle, there is not a Muslim on earth to be trusted to favor our side over theirs when the chips are down. I truly believe that."
My guess is that President Bush may have been expressing his concern about your position in his meeting with radio talk show hosts.
Oh - I was wondering who would find a way to "blame" Bush over this action.
You win. What a shame to have such a man as President. The gall invite people for a discussion in the White House. Far better to ignore people.
And just what makes you think that was the purpose of the visit? One leaker leaks one off the record comment and of course you immediately deem that the purpose of the interview was based on that one leak.
Gosh, maybe someone else will leak another sentence and you can "blame Bush for calling a meeting over that too".
Get real. Maybe you are a democrat.
I find your summation despicable. I believe the President of the United States has a better view of what is going on in this country than you do.
I'm a conservative, but like it or not, there has been a ratcheting up of anti- Muslim rhetoric that has begun to steamroll. I've been guilty myself of lumping terrorists and non violent Muslims together. The violent terrorists who have adapted rabid 'hate everyone of other faiths and desire to kill them' are still in a huge minority amongst the billions of Muslims in the world.
The President's generous invitation to these media conservatives with influence was brilliant on his part. And whether you like it or not, we cannot go to war with evey Muslim in the world. Framing the debate between good vs evil is a winning strategy. Condemning Islam and lumping non-violent Muslims with terrorists is not only stupid, but a losing tactic that will only grow the divide between the religions.
And don't kid yourself. Rush would have been honored to have spent time with the President in that setting had he not already had plans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.