It’s very easy to be irritated and suspicious of those who spout the “Islam is a religion of peace” idiocy. I had the impression that Dubya believed the garbage that he was saying, but that Obama didn’t and was knowingly working for the great enemy of western civilization.
I don’t think Mattis and McMaster actually say that Islam is a religion of peace. I think it’s more that they only condemn ‘political Islam’ and they leave the door open for a peaceful version of Islam. It’s hard to know exactly what they think because of the nature of their jobs. When you have had to cultivate Muslim allies in a war against Muslim enemies you can’t very well be denouncing all of Islam.
I don’t believe that Islam can ever be peaceful- there are at best Muslims who chose not to kill everyone who isn’t their own particular flavor of Islam. But Islam itself is inherently murderous. And it has ignited a war of civilizations that only one side will emerge from. The West is in a fight for its very existence. Europe is soon going to be a bloodbath. It starts there. I have no idea how we will balance our relations with the Muslim world when that happens.
After considering, I think McMaster (and Mattis) know what Islam is, but are speaking in a military strategy way, which is not the same at all as giving a 360 definition or assessment of the whole of Islam.