CPAC Day 2 – Jihad: The Political Third Rail

by Mark J. Koenig

(All photos provided courtesy of Pamela Geller – see her coverage of this event here)

While the agenda for day 2 of the CPAC conference featured a long list of additional conservative speakers and panel discussions, I will be focusing here on what I believe to be the single most important event of this three-day conference. Jihad: The Political Third Rail, was a panel discussion presented by Freedom Defense Initiative, a new activist organization started by Pamela Geller of atlasshrugs.com, and the Freedom Center’s own Robert Spencer, who runs jihadwatch.org.

This panel featured several American and international resistance fighters working to stop the spread of Islamic supremacism and most importantly, America’s infiltration by Muslim sympathizers.  The central focus of the event was the Islamic jihad against the West and how Islamic organizations are working to silence free speech both in Europe and America.   Security was very tight for this event, and it drew a standing-room only crowd, as you can see in the photo below.

Pamela Geller started the discussion while video was shown of Muslim radicals rioting in multiple cities across Europe and North America over the past couple of years.  She pointed out that this is not being reported in the major media, and that fully TWO THIRDS of the jihad attacks since 9-11 happened in 2009.  As Pamela stated, there is a cover-up in progress and  ”Truth has become the new hate speech.”

First to speak was Wafa Sultan, author of A God Who Hates, and one of three witnesses approved to testify for Geert Wilders in his hate speech trial.  Ms. Sultan is a former Muslim and outspoken critic of Islam.  She stated that she has had countless fatwas issued against her.  After listing several recent jihadist attacks, including the Fort Hood massacre and the media’s unwillingness to connect the dots, she asked:  ”Jihad – is this a word we dare not speak?”  Sultan pointed out that Islam is not merely a religion – it is a dangerous totalitarian political ideology.

After pointing out that President Obama has appointed a special envoy to the OIC, Sultan explained that this envoy is closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.  She asked: “Is this man’s loyalty to Islam or to the U.S.?”  She explained as well that this envoy has been working for some time now to stifle speech critical of Islam.

Body scanners were her next topic.  Sultan stated that she believes this machine could be employed against Muslim radicals as a powerful psychological weapon because of its potential for humiliation.  It should be noted that Sultan is trained as a psychiatrist.  Unfortunately, she stated, after a fatwa was issued claiming these scanners violate Muslim teachings regarding modesty, our TSA agreed to capitulate and substitute pat-downs by members of the same sex for Muslims.

Finally, Sultan explained that Saudi Arabia is a mastermind of Islamic terror, and that Saudi King Abdullah has the power to enforce changes in Muslim behavior if he is brought under enough pressure from the U.S. government.  ”September 11th was tragic, but infiltration of Islam is a subject of equal concern” she said.  ”We must fight it.”

Robert Spencer introduced the next speaker –  Stephen Coughlin – a former Pentagon Islamic law specialist who was fired from his job for his analysis of Islamic infiltration.  Coughlin provided a clear and cogent analysis of the Islamic threat.  He explained that the question of whether or not these terrorists are following ‘true’ Islam is irrelevant from a fact-driven perspective.  They have repeatedly told us these are the reasons they fight jihad.

A vital part of Coughlin’s discussion dealt with the doctrine of abrogation within Islam.  This doctrine states that Mohammed was given progressive revelation of Allah’s will, and that the later Koranic verses supersede and nullify earlier contradictory more peaceful verses.  This is something that is recognized by all schools of Islamic jurisprudence.  Coughlin also demonstrated that since the 9-11 commission report, political correctness has expunged words such as Muslim, enemy, Al-Qaeda and Islam from official government documents including the Ft. Hood massacre report.  Coughlin: “The 9-11 commission has been completely undermined.  You cannot defeat an enemy you are not allowed to define.  By definition, this administration has no strategy to defeat this enemy since they refuse to define it.”

Other featured speakers included Elisabeth Wolff, who is facing hate speech charges in Austria for speaking the truth about Islam, Anders Gravers, Danish leader and founder of SIOE (Stop the Islamisation Of Europe), Simon Deng – former slave in Sudan and human rights activist against jihad, and Lt. Colonel Allen West, veteran, war hero, and candidate for Florida’s 22nd congressional district.

Colonel West’s remarks were particularly forceful, yet optimistic.  A key conservative principle he said, “Is that our leaders MUST be held accountable for national security.  War on Terror?  NO.  A nation does not go to war against a tactic.  A nation goes to war against an ideology.  Islam is a totalitarian, theocratic political ideology that seeks to control the globe and which must be stopped.”  West continued: “We must regain the initiative against this enemy.  Current rules of engagement are crippling and killing our soldiers.  We are paralyzing ourselves with political correctness.  Identifying the enemy is NOT profiling, it is trend analysis and common sense.  When tolerance becomes a one-way street it leads to cultural suicide.  As Ronald Reagan once responded when asked to define victory, ‘WE WIN – THEY LOSE.’