Have Obama, the media, the leftoids, and Islamic supremacists blamed us greasy islamophobes for this yet?
As terrible as this threat is, are we busy with strategy in defeating the enemy? No, we are consumed by "language semantics."
Pentagon: Terrorist threats by al-Qaida sympathizers against U.S. troops are real Stars and Stripes (hat tip Kenneth)WASHINGTON – Terrorist attacks by al-Qaida sympathizers against troops living in the United States or their families remain a real and disconcerting threat, defense officials told Congress on Wednesday.
But lawmakers at that hearing criticized Pentagon officials for their continued refusal to identify “radical Islamist extremists” as the core threat to military personnel, saying their insistence on being politically correct might be jeopardizing America’s safety.
The language semantics have been an ongoing fight between defense officials and members of the congressional homeland security committees since the 2009 Fort Hood attacks, a shooting where 56 base personnel were killed and wounded by a Muslim Army psychiatrist.
Wednesday’s hearing was the fourth in a controversial series on the “homegrown terrorist threat” and Islamic extremism. In addition, the committees released a new report detailing 32 plots against military personnel and facilities in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks, including Fort Hood and the 2009 Arkansas shooting of two Army recruiters.
Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland security, said the incidents illustrate the efforts by terrorist groups to strike within America’s borders and the need for vigilance and increased security efforts to protect military families.
“The threat we are discussing is serious and enduring,” he said. “The Department of Defense has become their target of choice.”
Stockton deflected several requests to name Islamic extremists as the primary threat to U.S. military personnel worldwide, instead stating that America is at war with al-Qaida and its ideological adherents, not any individual religion.
Lawmakers bristled at that. Rep. Daniel Lungren, R-Calif., said unless Pentagon officials understand the difference between radical Islamist views and true representations of the religion, they can’t effectively battle the threat. Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn., accused the department of playing politics with the enemy.
The difference is the level of religiosity.
