Obama Desires To Remove Phrase “Islamic Radicalism” From Security Document

Words have meaning; words can inflame. And so, President Obama is working to remove the phrase “Islamic radicalism” from a document outlining national security strategy. The goal is to show that the United States does not automatically link terrorism to Muslim countries.

The change would be a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventive war. It currently states, “The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century.”

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That shift away from terrorism has been building for a year, since Obama went to Cairo and promised a “new beginning” in the relationship between the U.S. and the Muslim world. The White House believes the previous administration based that relationship entirely on fighting terrorism and winning the war of ideas.

“You take a country where the overwhelming majority are not going to become terrorists, and you go in and say, ‘We’re building you a hospital so you don’t become terrorists.’ That doesn’t make much sense,” National Security Council staffer Pradeep Ramamurthy said.

While conservatives are likely to bellow about this, the long-term goal is to do business with Muslim countries. How do you do business with countries you’re associating with terrorism? Change can begin with something as seemingly simple as vocabulary.

“Do you want to think about the U.S. as the nation that fights terrorism or the nation you want to do business with?” Ramamurthy said.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.