C-Span Interview of Robert Spencer

On August 20, 2006, Brian Lamb conducted a lengthy interview of Robert Spencer. The emphasis of the interview is the documentary film Islam: What the West Needs to Know. My review of the movie is HERE. The C-Span broadcast contains clips from the film.

Click HERE to watch the interview with Robert Spencer.

A transcript of the interview is HERE.


[Hat-tip to Mike's America for letting me know about the C-Span interview]

Addendum: According to commenter EyesAllAround, CAIR is expressing disapproval to C-Span for airing the interview with Robert Spencer. You can express your support of C-Span's interviewing Robert Spencer by contacting C-Span at this email address: viewer@c-span.org

Islamic Terrorist Network

According to the map, both Hezbollah and Hamas are present in the D.C. Metro area. Al-Qaeda is present as well.

[Hat-tip to Eyes All Around]

Letter Which Appeared in the WaPo

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

The following letter appeared in the Friday, August 18, 2006 Washington Post:

"When he commented on the arrest of a handful of British Muslims accused of plotting to blow up U.S.-bound civilian aircraft ["Plot to Bomb U.S.-Bound Jets Is Foiled; Britain Arrests 24 Suspected Conspirators," front page, Aug. 11], President Bush said the case was "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists." The president's use of that term is misleading, unfortunate and unacceptable.

"We, as peaceful and justice-loving Muslims, deeply resent the implication that 'fascism' is an integral part of our faith tradition, or that it is condoned by those of us who practice the religion of Islam. In fact, there is absolutely no evidence that supports the legitimacy of any form of state-sponsored violence and injustice, either in our revealed text, the holy Koran, or in the traditions of Islam.

"Islam is constantly referred to by the news media as the theological basis for terrorism and, now, fascism.

"But the same media never associated the Catholic faith as a root cause of Italian fascism under Benito Mussolini in the 1930s, or the Jewish faith as a religious motivation for the violent, anti-Palestinian conduct of many Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. Islam, alone among the three major Abrahamic faiths, has been tarred with the brush of legitimized extremism and violence in the name of God. This is an association that has no basis in our faith, and it is an association that we vigorously reject.

ESAM OMEISH

President

Muslim American Society

Falls Church

The following should be taken into consideration:

"....Kill those who join other gods with Allah wherever you find them; besiege them, seize them, lay in wait for them with every kind of ambush...."(Sura 9:5).

"When you encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads, until ye have made a great slaughter among them...."(Sura 47:4).

"....Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in Allah, or in the Last Day, and who forbid not what Allah and His Apostle have forbidden....until they pay tribute..." (Sura 9:29).

"Say to the infidels: If they desist, what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return, they have already before them the doom of the ancients! Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it Allah's." (Sura 8:39).

"Proclaim a grievious penalty to those who reject faith." (Sura 9:3)."

The Sura, a chapter in the Koran, is supposed to be the last 'revelation' by Allah and, by Islamic definition, abrogates previous verses.

Don't Say "Islamic Fascists"

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

On August 11, 2006, I wrote about the use of the term "Islamic fascists" and about CAIR's objections to that term. Now, via Pedestrian Infidel, comes the following, to which Mark Alexander alerted me:

"STATE DEPARTMENT President Bush has avoided repetition of a term that angered Muslims....

"In a statement after its weekly meeting, the Saudi Cabinet 'warned against labeling Muslims with accusations of terrorism and fascism.'

"Bush didn't repeat the reference to 'Islamic fascists' at the State Department today, referring instead to 'individuals that would like to kill innocent Americans to achieve political objectives.'"

The Saudi Cabinet objects? President Bush didn't label all Muslims "Islamic fascists." Or did he, albeit unwittingly?

Amil Imani, an Iranian-born American who is an essayist, poet, and novelist, contends that terms used to differentiate between two types of Islam are actually dangerous euphemisms. According to his essay "Islam's Useful Idiots,"

"Terms such as 'Political Islam,' or 'Radical Islam,' for instance, are contributions of the Useful Idiot. These terms do not even exist in the native parlance of Islam, simply because they are redundant. Islam, by its very nature and according to its charter—the Quran—is a radical political movement. It is the Useful Idiot who sanitizes Islam and misguides the populace by saying that the 'real Islam' constitutes the main body of the religion; and, that this main body is non-political and moderate.

"Regrettably, a large segment of the population goes along with these nonsensical euphemisms depicting Islam because it prefers to believe them. It is less threatening to believe that only a hijacked small segment of Islam is radical or politically driven and that the main body of Islam is indeed moderate and non-political.

"But Islam is political to the core. In Islam the mosque and state are one and the same—the mosque is the state. This arrangement goes back to the days of Muhammad himself. Islam is also radical in the extreme. Even the 'moderate' Islam is radical in its beliefs as well as its deeds."

Amil Imani's final paragraph is scathing:

"...Beware of the Useful Idiots who live in liberal democracies. Knowingly or unknowingly, they serve as the greatest volunteer and effective soldiers of Islam. They pave the way for the advancement of Islam and they will assuredly be among the very first victims of Islam as soon as it assumes power."

CAIR Whines—Again

In reference to the term "Islamic fascists," the obligatory whine-o-gram has been issued from CAIR. Excerpt:

"U.S. MUSLIMS CONCERNED ABOUT BUSH'S USE OF 'ISLAMIC FASCISTS' - TOP CAIR: 'Today you equated the religion of peace with the ugliness of fascism'

"(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/10/06) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today expressed concern over President Bush's use of the term 'Islamic fascists' in a news conference about the arrest of 21 suspects in a plot to bomb airliners flying between Britain and the United States.

"In a letter to President Bush, Parvez Ahmed, board chairman of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) wrote in part:

"'American Muslims have consistently condemned all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by individuals, groups or states. We repudiate anyone who plans or carries out a terrorist act. The American Muslim community remains dedicated to the protection of our nation's security. . .'"

The above sounds good, primarily because the West wants to belive that all religions speak to the goodness in man. Nevertheless, the fact remains that CAIR refuses to condemn terrorists or terrorist organizations by specific name. According to this source,

"[A] previous fatwa backed by a large number of American Islamic organizations ambiguously declared; 'Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives'[;] this fatwa did not condemn any individuals by name, and did not define who is deemed to be innocent."

As yet, the above specific fatwa has not appeared, and the recent statement by CAIR is just as ambiguous.

Another sound-bite often heard from CAIR's spokesmen on the news states that Islam condemns terrorism. Oh, really? Consider the following, from this source:

Ishaq: 326 "If you come upon them, deal so forcibly as to terrify those who would follow, that they may be warned. Make a severe example of them by terrorizing Allah’s enemies."

Quran 8:12 "I shall terrorize the infidels. So wound their bodies and incapacitate them because they oppose Allah and His Apostle."

Bukhari: V4B52N220 "Allah’s Apostle said, I have been made victorious with terror."

And what about Sura 9, the most recent "revelation" of Allah—a "revelation" which, by Koranic definition, abrogates all previous passages? A few examples:

"....Kill those who join other gods with Allah wherever you find them; besiege them, seize them, lay in wait for them with every kind of ambush...."(Sura 9:5).

"When you encounter the unbelievers, strike off their heads, until ye have made a great slaughter among them...."(Sura 47:4).

"....Make war upon such of those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in Allah, or in the Last Day, and who forbid not what Allah and His Apostle have forbidden....until they pay tribute..." (Sura 9:29).

"Say to the infidels: If they desist, what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return, they have already before them the doom of the ancients! Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it Allah's." (Sura 8:39).

"Proclaim a grievious penalty to those who reject faith." (Sura 9:3)."

When will an interviewer hold CAIR responsible for such obvious taqiyya? How long will these interviewers be allowed to continue knuckling under and nodding their heads in dhimmitude?

[Hat-tip to George Mason(PBUH) of Sixth Column for the term "whine-o-gram"]

Symposium In Las Vegas

"Understanding the Threat of Radical Islam Terrorism"

November 10-11, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Among others, Laura Mansfield. Dr. Wafa Sultan, Robert Spencer, and Walid Shoebat will be speaking.

Details HERE.

Reservations can now be made.

After September 30, the price increases.