Bush Sacks Adviser Who Warns of Islamic Threat

"Islam is peace" President Bush said. It appears he is backing his rhetoric with action by dismissing military advisers who have a more alarmist view about the threats from the "religion of peace".

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Stephen Coughlin, the Pentagon specialist on Islamic law and Islamist extremism, has been fired from his position on the military's Joint Staff. The action followed a report in this space last week revealing opposition to his work for the military by pro-Muslim officials within the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England (rest here).

Coughlin's critics claimed that his Christian faith biased him against Islam. Coughlin has been warning the Pentagon that radical Islamic groups have been using front organizations to penetrate the United States. His view seems to have lost out to the "new tone" in which these front organizations get taxpayer assistance and favor from the Bush administration. This would be consistent with his administration's pressure on Israel to compromise with islamic terrorist organizations in the Palestinian territories.