June 17, 2010

Senator Joe Lieberman

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) today sent a letter to Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) challenging the congressman's argument  in his Wall Street Journal op-ed "Who's the Enemy in the War on Terror?" that religious labels are a important component of identifying and defeating our enemies.

In his op-ed published this week, Senator Lieberman argues that the recent National Security Strategy put forth by the Obama administration  "refuses to identify our enemy in this war as what it is: violent Islamist extremism." He goes on to give a number of arguments for why it is important to identify the violent perpetrators as Muslims and Islamists.

In his letter to Sen. Lieberman, MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati underscores how dropping the religious labels and associations for Al-Qaeda and its affiliates is a crucial step in delegitimizing their self-proclaimed religious authority to Muslims worldwide. The letter, reads in part:

[Dropping religious labels] denies Al-Qaeda and its affiliates the religious legitimacy they severely lack and so desperately seek. For years, Muslim public opinion has decisively turned against Bin Ladin, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups because of the immoral, unethical and gruesome tactics they employ and because the vast majority of their victims have been other Muslims.
 
As you mention in your op-ed, one of our strategic goals should be to empower the authentic and mainstream Muslim voices that are working on a daily basis to counter the cult of death, which groups such as Al-Qaeda call to. By removing religious labels from describing the terrorists, we empower and embolden those mainstream voices and deny the terrorists from making a religious claim. This is precisely why in 2008 a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internal memo circulated amongst government agencies directed government officials and diplomatic staff to consider the implications of using "Islamic" language when discussing terrorism-related issues.

"It is important to note that both the Bush and Obama administrations have made similar recommendations when dealing with violent extremism," said MPAC's Director of the Washington DC office Haris Tarin. "Muslim communities worldwide understand the nature of this threat and do not need government agencies using terminology that will further alienate the voices of the mainstream."
 
The success of our nation and our community's effort to marginalize the voices of extremism will require allies within Muslim communities. Using religious labels will give more authenticity to the cult of death that groups like Al-Qaeda call to and will cast a shadow of doubt on entire community in our own backyard.