McCain backer riles Muslims with comment

Agence France-Presse
Saturday, July 19, 2008 9:56 AM (Washington)
A supporter of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said that Muslims wanted to kill Americans, provoking anger among Muslims and a hasty clarification from the campaign."The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us," former prisoner of Vietnam War, Bud Day, said on a conference call with reporters organised by the Floridan Republican party."I don't intend to kneel and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel," he said.Day was a prisoner of war at the same time as McCain, and was a member in 2004 of the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" group that sought to discredit then Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry's statements about his own service in the Vietnam War.McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb sought to clarify Day's remarks on Friday after the conference call saying, "The threat we face is from radical Islamic extremism."However, Day's words prompted a quick reply from US-based Muslim groups."Mr Day's distorted view dismisses the vast majority of Muslims who stand with our nation to fight extremists and anti-American forces," said Council on American-Islamic Relations legislative director Corey Saylor."Senator McCain needs to make it clear that he does not support such a divisive position and that his campaign respects all Americans," Saylor said.


Muslims say Islam is for peace. Yet Islam's model is Mohammad who started his career by destroying the idols of Mecca, unmindful it was worshipped by non-Muslims. Islam justifies it because Mecca mosque was built by Abraham who did not believe in idols. Sure, he in turn started off his religious life by destroying the idols his own father worshipped. Such is the lineage of Islam - another name for intolerance. So what peace is Islam talking about?