Dissecting Obama’s Message to Iran

Tenn. bill criticized for targeting Muslims splits Tea Party – USATODAY.com. The Kingsport man is a conservative Christian who wants the government to keep its hands off his wallet and his personal life. And that’s why, he said, a bill in the Tennessee Legislature that originally targeted supporters of Islamic law is a bad idea for Tennessee. State officials could have used the bill to punish unpopular groups, he said.  Today, that’s Muslims, he said. Tomorrow, that could be the Tea Party. He pointed to a 2009 report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, funded in part by the Department…

STUDY:  TERRORISM BY MUSLIM-AMERICANS DOWN IN 2010. A new study released today by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security  shows that the number of Muslim-Americans who perpetrated or were arrested for terrorist acts declined sharply in 2010.  The study, “Muslim American Terrorism Since 9/11:  An Accounting,” reports that while 47 Muslim-Americans committed or were arrested for terrorist crimes in 2009, the number dropped to 20 this past year. h/t Faith in Public Life

The Myth of Modern Jihad – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com. Here is how Shahzad explained his role in the holy war: “It’s a war,” he said. “I am part of that. I am part of the answer of the U.S. terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people, and on behalf of that, I’m revenging the attacks.”  Now, for a Muslim holy warrior to see his attacks as revenge runs counter to Pipes’s longstanding claim that Islamic holy war is about attack, not counterattack. Roughly since 9/11, Pipes has been telling us that jihad is “unabashedly offensive in nature, with…