by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright January 28, 2015
All Rights Reserved.

                   White House officials led by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have stretched political correctness to the breaking point, rejecting the label of ?Islamic extremism.?  In the wake of the Jan. 7 Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris by the radical Kouachi brothers, Kerry told attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Jan. 23 that extremists should not be branded as Islamic or Muslim.  ?We have to keep our heads,? said Kerry.  ?The biggest error we could make would be to blame Muslims for crimes . . . that their faith utterly rejects,? forgetting that the Kouchi brothers were devotees of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP]?s extremist leader Anwar al-Awlaki, killed by an American drone strike Sept. 30, 2011.  Less than a year later, AQAP struck the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya Sept. 11, 2012, killing Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

             Kerry?s refusal to use ?Islamic extremism? defies all common sense and the long history of terror attacks against the U.S. over the last 30 years.  ?The biggest error we could make would be to blame Muslims for the crimes . . . that their faith utterly rejects,? insisted Kerry.  Tell that to Turki al-Binali the fiery 30-year-old Bahraini Islamic cleric that delivers sermons for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Al-Binali gives the Islamic rationale behind ISIS?s four-year reign of terror, murdering thousands of Muslims, Christians and Zoroastrians or anyone else that gets in the group?s way.  Jihadi  researcher Iraqi Hishram al-Hashimi says Binali is a senior cleric loyal to secret Salafist Iraqi leader Abdullah Abdul-Samad, the spiritual leader behind ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.  ?He?s [al-Binali] is a very important part of the religious council of Daesh [ISIS],? said al-Hashimi.

             Kerry?s rejection of the term ?Islamic extremism? sends a mixed message to worldwide battle against Islamic terrorism, confronting radicals at various spots around the globe.  ?He is the fence that defends the ideology of Daesh from penetration,? said al-Hashimi.  Al-Binali wrote the official biography of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.  ISIS pays al-Binali to give lectures in mosques throughout the groups 30% of territory seized from sovereign Iraqi and Syrian territory.  Like the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, al-Binali comes from a prominent Bahraini family   Al-Binali studied at Dubai?s Islamic and Arabic Studies College before his deportation for radical activities.  Al-Binali continued his studies in Bahrain and Beirut before joining ISIS in Syria.  Massacring Iraqis and Syrians of all faiths under the twisted Islamic mandate of ISIS?s self-anointed chief cleric and spiritual leader defines Islamic extremism.

             Kerry wants to change ?Islamic extremism? to ?violent extremism,? a kind of non sequitur when you consider that terrorism is always violent.  Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Kerry?s semantics run counter to the dismal reality faced in Europe and around the globe.  French President Francois Hollande referred to the Paris attacks as ?Islamic extremis,? the same as British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond calling on the civilized world to defeat ?the scourge of violent Islamic extremism.?  More euphemisms from the White House give the GOP added clout heading into the 2016 presidential campaign.  ?We will certainly not defeat our foes by vilifying potential partners,? said Kerry in Davos, worried that using the word ?Islamic extremism? helps radicalize law-abiding Muslims.  ?We very well may fuel the very fires that we want to put out,? showing Kerry?s tortured logic.

             Blaming Islamic extremism on failed states, offering wayward youth no hope of jobs or a future, sheds light on the sociology but doesn?t for one minute change the hoards of true believers that flock to ISIS because it offers a kind of religious experience to maladapted youth and disenfranchised adults.  Kerry?s politically correct language raises more doubts about the administration?s handling of rising terror attacks around the planet.  Expressing ?bipartisan concern? with Kerry?s awkward avoidance of ?Islamic extremism,? Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) showed concern for the White House and State Department tactics.  As ISIS?s Islamic advisor, al-Binali justified the Koranic use of woman as slaves.  ?There is no doubt that enslaving women of infidel warriors? is permitted under Koranic law said al-Binali, excusing mass murder and exploiting women as slaves.

             White House officials have gone mad with political correctness when it comes to identifying today?s terrorism as ?violent extremism.?  Just as Obama often refers to ISIL when it?s commonly know as ISIS, the White House should stop the euphemism and accept the common vernacular used by U.S. allies.  There?s enough confusion when it comes to terrorism to obfuscate basic facts known about Islamic extremists.  ISIS consults its Islamic advisor to justify its mass murder and enslavement of women, not some secular authority.  Whether conventional Islamic authorities condemn ISIS, al-Binali still has his following of young radicals seeking the Islamic structure needed to justify mass murder and enslavement of women.  White House officials must admit openly the nature of Islamic terror groups and recognize there is no reason to pussyfoot around calling them anything but ?Islamic extremism.?

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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