The Washington Post reports that a Washington D.C. talk show host, WMAL-AM's Michael Graham called Islam "a terrorist organization" that is "at war with America."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asked the radio station to reprimand Graham and urged American Muslims to "contact the station's advertisers to express their concerns about the host's Islamophobic views."
WMAL backed Graham, with Operations Director Randall Bloomquist, saying that Graham's comments were "amped up" but justified within the context of the program.
According to the Post, the kerfuffle started during a discussion of the Muslim community's response to recent acts of terrorism:
Graham suggested the fault lies with Muslims generally because religious leaders and followers haven't done enough to condemn and root out extreme elements. "The problem is not extremism," Graham said, according to both CAIR and the station. "The problem is Islam." He also said, "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam."
In his weekly column, Graham makes no apologies:
THE TRAGEDY OF ISLAM:
I take no pleasure in saying it. It pains me to think it. I could possibly lose my job in talk radio over admitting it. But it is the plain truth:
Islam is a terror organization.
For years, I’ve been trying to give the world’s Muslim community the benefit of the doubt, along with the benefit of my typical-American’s complete disinterest in their faith. Before 9/11, I knew nothing about Islam except the greeting “asalaam alaikum,” taught to me by a Pakistani friend in Chicago.
Immediately after 9/11, I nodded in ignorant agreement as President Bush assured me that “Islam is a religion of peace.”
But nearly four years later, nobody can defend that statement. And I mean “nobody.”
[. . .]
Another fact about the state of Islam is that a majority of Muslims in countries like Jordan continue to believe that suicide bombings are legitimate. Still another is the poll reported by a left-leaning British paper than only 73 percent of British Muslims would tell police if they knew about a planned terrorist attack.
I wouldn't call Islam a terrorist organization but I don't think Islam has done nearly enough to condemn terrorism. CAIR should follow the example of the Islamic Commission of Spain and issue a fatwa against the terrorists. Links to both the original Spanish version and an English translation of the Islamic Commission's fatwa are available here.
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