Well it finally happened. And I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. At long last, the Obama administration has come out and admitted in so many words that we are not really at war with radical Islam. This is no surprise to anyone who watched Obama’s magical, mystery, apology tour last year, in which he went out of his way to criticize America in front of a Muslim audience in Egypt. And just a couple of weeks ago, Eric Holder was not able to bring himself to admit that the attempted car bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was a Muslim extremist even though his ties with Al Queda had already been proven. And who could forget when the Muslim motivations of Fort Hood murderer, Nidal Malik Hasan were virtually ignored even though the man shouted “Allah Akbar” while shooting 13 people?

And so, it took no genius to suspect what John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter terrorism, finally came out and admitted.  Let’s give him a point or two for at least being honest. But oh, the chill which comes with this honesty:

“…The president’s strategy is absolutely clear about the threat we face. Our enemy is not terrorism because terrorism is but a tactic. Our enemy is not terror because terror is a state of mind and, as Americans; we refuse to live in fear. Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists because jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself or [sic] one’s community.

And there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children. Indeed, characterizing our adversaries this way would actually be counterproductive. It would play into the false perception that they are religious leaders defending a holy cause when in fact, they are nothing more than murderers, including the murder of thousands upon thousands of Muslims.”

One would think that such ludicrous comments speak for themselves but I meet far too many people who accept this drivel, and so, at the risk of making the understatement of the 21^st century,  I will address Brennan’s brilliant speech one point at a time:

“Our enemy is not terrorism because terrorism is but a tactic.”

Yeah, well up until now it’s been a successful tactic. And open displays of weakness only breed more terrorism. Our enemies describe themselves as terrorists. They also describe themselves as Muslim terrorists. Finally, they seem to be aware of something foreign to Mr. Bennan: Believe it or not, terrorists have been known to actually use terror. And generally speaking, while a person is getting his head cut off, or a stewardess has a knife on her throat, or a family watches their loved ones disintegrate inside the World Trade Center,  people have been known to feel a bit terrified. I guess it just kind of happens.

“Our enemy is not terror because terror is a state of mind and, as Americans, we refuse to live in fear.”

Was 9/ll a state of mind Mr. Counter terrorism expert?  I do agree that we should not live in fear but frankly, there would be nothing to fear if we traded your gutless, thoughtless administration for an administration that can correctly identify an enemy instead of worrying about what Harvard Professors, New York Times commentators, and human rights champions like Hugo Chavez are going to say about America.

“Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists because jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself or [sic] one’s community.”

Brennan, you never actually read the Koran, did you?  I say this to give you the benefit of the doubt because if you have read the Koran, you are lying through your teeth. But if you haven’t read these “sacred scriptures” (which is what I suspect) might I suggest that you crack the book open before cracking your mouth open?  You simply do not know what you are talking about.  The Koran literally commands its followers to spread Islam by force and to kill all infidels. An infidel is defined in the Koran as one who does not recognize Mohammad to be a true prophet of Allah. I do realize that religious teachings can be taken out of context, but here’s the bottom line. Mohammad not only commanded those things, he did those things! How do you think the guy came into power?  By spreading epistles like the Apostle Paul? What the Koran meant to its original audience is what the Koran means, period. What the author of the Koran intended to say is the one valid interpretation. We have only to look at Mohammad’s deeds to settle this question. Yes, of course, Jihad also refers to purification, but killing the infidel is part of the purification. Catching on, Brennan?

Mr. Brennan, if our enemies are not Muslim terrorists, if indeed our enemies are not terrorists at all, then exactly who are our enemies? A group of Middle Eastern musicians playing annoying music?

Had Brennan been in charge of our security during World War Two, one wonders what kind of speech we might have been privileged to experience:

“Our war is not with Germans because most Germans are peace loving people. Only a few nut cases hijacked the country. And our war is not with Nazi’s because being a Nazi is only a state of mind, and Nazi practices such as concentration camps and world conquest are only tactics, mind you, mere tactics. Besides, if we were to do some soul searching and realize how harsh we were with Germany after World War One, we might understand the need for Germans to try to express themselves a little more aggressively.”

Bob Siegel is a weekend radio talk show host on KCBQ and columnist. Details of his show can be found at www.bobsiegel.net. Comments to posts are discussed by Bob over the air where anyone is free to call in and respond/debate. Call in toll free number: 1-888-344-1170