Unfortunately, the two scenes described below are all too familiar to us:
Scene 1: Angry man on suicide mission flies his plane into an IRS building in Texas, because he blames IRS for his personal problems.
Scene 2: Angry man shoots fellow soldiers in Fort Hood Massacre, because he feels it is his duty as a Muslim to fight against the aggressor.
What do these have in common? First off, they are both politically motivated acts against America. Under this broad definition, both can be labeled as acts of terrorism. Then, why is it then that CAIR (America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization) was quick to label the first a terrorist act but not the second?
CAIR blamed Americans for failing to call the first a terrorist attack because it was not carried out by a Muslim. But it is CAIR who refuses to label terrorist organizations or call terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims, acts of terrorism.
The definition of terrorism is one of the more difficult to find. Is it any politically motivated act that causes damage and injury? Is it a fear tactic used to intimidate?
This week CAIR found a definition stating that terrorism is any politically tinged act against America. They made it very clear in a press release that it does not only include incidents involving Muslims.
We can agree on this, but why is CAIR reluctant to label it terrorism if it is by the hands of a Muslim. In the case of Fort Hood, CAIR never came out and claimed that it was terrorism, although it did fall into their above-suggested definition.
CAIR may be correct in stating that Americans should label all of these acts, acts of terrorism whether or not they are carried out by Muslims. But shouldn't this statement hold true for CAIR the group that is pushing forward this definition?
CAIR comments when it is suitable for them. Was CAIR not calling the Fort Hood Massacre an act of terrorism a one-off? Absolutely not. They also didn't call the Flight 253 Christmas Day attack an act of terrorism. So it seems that CAIR is clear on a definition of terrorism. Basically they see it as a politically tinged act against America NOT involving a Muslim… Let us not forget that CAIR refuses to label Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
So here is a suggestion for CAIR: If you condemn all acts of terrorism that are actually acts of terrorism this quickly, you might have a chance at sounding more credible.
Share your thoughts with CAIR here - CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com


Comments
My name is Khadija Al-Idani and I am A Iraqi Muslim living in Michigan, In United States of America. And I am constantly speaking to people and teaching, explaining the mind set of the religion and the beliefs of terrorism, Also known to most Arab-Muslim as Jihad. Now Jihad is only seen as Terrorism when It is taken out-of-context to kill without having the right to kill. Am I saying 1-one ever has a Right To Kill With-Out It Being Called Terrorism?? YES!! When it is Defending your Country, Innocent People, Or Your Religion With-in the Boundaries. Now Lets Dig Deeper into this Before the the Writer of this Blog takes it out-of-context. First of all you-one must understand that NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE ARABS,...And that;: IT IS THE TRUE ARABS THAT ARE THE DECENDENTS OF ISLAM!! Why is this Important?? For many Reasons!! Mostly Because it is the Arab that is the Leader-Guider of Islam; All others (ie)-Converts Are Followers and Seen As Secondary Generation;, Not Quit As Equal as the True Arab Descendant. Now this may sound Raciest or even Derogatorily-Condescending, But it's NOT since even the Holy Quran was written in Arabic and later translated to other languages. And ALL Muslims know that one can't translate every word because translation changes the meaning, and doing so changes the beliefs into something else, NOT ISLAM. And this is why we as Arab Muslims say Non-Arabs Must Learn Arabic, to be able to Recite and Understand The Holy Quran Correctly Word For Word without having its meaning changed or altered. Now point #2 ISLAM DOES-NOT PERMIT OR ALLOW THE KILLING OF INNOCENTS,-WITHOUT ACTIVE WAR BEING IN PROGRESS, IMMMINATE AND PRESENT DANGER; OR ONE(A MUSLIM) ACTIVLY BEING DENIED THE RIGHT OR ABILITY TO PRACTICE HIS/HER RELIGIOIUS OBLIGATIONS AND DUTIES!!! And In the USA their are plenty of Mosque to worship/and or learn. And IT IS BECAUSE OF THIS MUSLIMS DO-NOT NEED TO FIGHT FOR THIS RIGHT, NOR DEFEND IT, AMERICA HAS BLESSED US WITH OUR FREEDOM OF THE RIGHT TO RELIGION AND FREE SPEECH!!!HOORAH USA- (Now back to my rant of the USA) AMERICA IS GREAT BUT LET'S GET REAL! YOU WANT TO TELL THE TRUTH IN YOUR BLOG, AMERICA HAS BEN A TERRORIST AND COMMITES PRESENT TERORISM and ACTED AS A TERRRORIST!!!! Terorism is blowing inocent people up and deliberatly trying with the intention to kill,hurt or destroy then the USA IS #1!!!!!! And sometimes ones actiomns comes back to bite you-one in the ass!!!! What goes around comes around!! And don't let this piece of garbage RadicalIslam.org anti muslim blogger to think for you or influence you, Use your brain and investagate before you speek!!Get on you computer and research Islam and it's teachings,You would be sapprised, Islam is love and Peace and Tollerance. And murder is actualy Haram-(against God) it is only permited for the same reasons as it's permited as in the Bible. And actualy LESS permited or tollereated than the US Goverment allows or has provisions for in the USA Constatution or Justice dept or the Secratary of Defense or Millitarry alows.SO KISS THIS RADICAL ISLAM.ORG and if youv got the balls come check me out at 1Seeking2FindQuran@posterous.com I will Begin A Posting Site There For People Who Can And are Willing To Listen to The Other Side. This Is A New Site So Please Give Me 2 Weeks To Get It Up And Running-Aproxamently March 6th 2010. SORRY IF I'v offended anyo0ne I could go into a debait and rant for hours if given the chance, so I'll STOP MYSELF. And ask for forgiveness if I'v offended anyone. please feel free to contact me at my personal email at 1SeekingQuran.Knowledge@gmail.com
Whenever terrorism in context of Jihad is talked about one very important thing every one seems to be missing out. This is the most important thing. If you are willing to listen to the other side, then first of all you should see from where did Islam come. How did a tribal moon God i.e. Allah became the God of all Muslims. This truth you will never accept but blame it on the christian preachers for spoiling the name of Islam. But if you really have guts then look out in the history. Read "Who is this Allah" by J. Moshey and let me see if you can answer those questions. (I have much more than these). But let me come back to the basics. If you call America to be a terrorist like other muslims, don't you ever see the difference. Whatever these fanatics are doing, they are doing it in the name of Allah while American has never done anything in the name of Jesus or Christianity. Don't you see this difference? What does it tell you. It is very clear that something is wrong with this religion. The biggest terrorist the world has ever seen was the so called prophet Muhammed. Have you never read how many innocent women and children he had killed? Fact are facts but muslims like you will never accept facts, right? When a religion is brought up by the devil, there can never be peace. One last question, just for now. HAS IT EVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF ISLAM THAT A MUSLIM TERRORIST HAS LEFT TERRORISM TO BECOME A PEACEFUL MUSLIM TO PROPOGATE THAT ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE? NEVER, RIGHT? Then just think about it.
Terrorism like many other words in the English language has several meanings, and to different people with different back grounds have different meanings. Example, CAR four door Chevy or pickup or SUV. If someone breaks into your home and murders everyone in your family but you survive to wonder, if he may come back, and get you later, are you not terrified. Random acts of terror occur regularly around the world. To make the long of it short from 9/11 to present Terrorism takes on a new meaning. This is an origination or group that plans attacks against other originations, groups or countries to change or destroy there religious or political views. Did Hitler’s Nazi party, not practice terrorism, he forced his views on others by acts of war or violence. Sad to say it but acts of terrorism have been around from the beginning of time. How can we stop or change this, I wish I knew.
Do you mean to say "organization"?
I don't believe that fear (on the part of the victim) is enough to make an organization/body/group "terrorists". The Nazis were not terrorists. They were the standing army of an internationally recognized sovereign State. To suggest that they were terrorists based on the fact that they spread fear is, I think, very inaccurate.
So are you telling that the nation of Iran is not a terrorist even if it is a dangerous threat to everybody's existence on the pretext that they have a government which runs them. If a government spreads terror is it that it should not be labeled as terrorist in spite of the fact that 6 million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazi's, the world war was started by them? Think accurately.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law.[1] The official U.S. Treasury regulations provide (in part):
The Internal Revenue Service is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Commissioner has general superintendence of the assessment and collection of all taxes imposed by any law providing internal revenue. The Internal Revenue Service is the agency by which these functions are performed.
NOT SO! The IRS is NOT a governmental agency - it is an independent corporation that our Congress has contracted with. Audits by our own OMB have repeatedly shown malfeasance of funds and mismanagement by the IRS, which ACTS as if it were a governmental agency. The IRS has repeatedly overstepped its Congressional authority, ruining lives in the process.
By your stated logic (by extension) any attack on any institution, or individual for that matter, is an act of terrorism - or perhaps you are under the impression that the IRS IS government. -john s.
My mother retired from the IRS and was considered a civil servant of the Federal Government and receives Federal Retirement benefits to this day! The IRS is also housed in the Federal Building in our city! IDIOT!!!
I'm David C., John.
Contributing editor Gadi Adelman just did a story on this very subject on Monday:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.5568/pub_detail.asp