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America is not at war with Islam. Nor are we at war with all Muslims. However, we are in a war, the war on terror, and the vast majority, though not all, of our enemies in this war are Muslims. We have seen horrible events in this war, and, yes, we have done horrible things. We are frightened of our enemy, more frightened because he does not wear a uniform, because he seems to disguise himself to attack. We do not know who each enemy soldier is, but we believe we know what our enemy looks like when he is not disguised. We fear him.

Those people who show us pictures of Barrack Obama in Muslim dress are trying to take advantage of our feelings, of our unreasoning fear. They want us to see Barack Obama, in a symbolic way, as a member of an enemy army. This political trick is meant to fool us, and it may deceive some.

So showing the photo may hurt Obama's chances for the Democratic nomination a bit. That's why it's being circulated by groups of people who want a different candidate to win the Democratic nomination.

But Barack Obama is not a Muslim enemy. He's not even a Muslim. According to information at the Project VoteSmart website (whose board members have included the conservative Barry Goldwater, the liberal George McGovern, Democrat Michael Dukakis and Republican John McCain), Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, a Protestant denomination. There are questions now about the message preached by Barack Obama's pastor, but it is hard to doubt Obama's faith.

Raised essentially as an atheist, Barrack became a Christian in his 20's, a conversion he describes in detail in his memoir, Dreams From My Father. Since 1988 he has attended church faithfully, which is a matter of record.

Even if he were a Muslim, it shouldn't matter. Here is what President Bush said about members of that religion on September 20, 2001: "The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them."

It's a great speech. Later in it our president said: "This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight. This is civilization's fight. This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom."

So now we're choosing a leader to continue the war. Barack Obama, if I understand his position, says he will judiciously remove our troops from Iraq. This is what most Americans want. If elected, he will try to continue to keep America safe, though in a different way than the present administration.

This injudicious photo, taken on a visit to Kenya, now passed around with whispers, may hurt Barack Obama. It will not stop him. He is so popular that his opponents are driven to desperation. He will be the Democratic candidate, I think, and after that, we'll see. He may become our new leader in the American battle against global terror and the worldwide fight for pluralism, tolerance, and freedom.

http://digg.com/2008_u s_elections/Obama_in_Muslim _dress
http://obamawho.wordpres s.com/2008/02/25/picture-o f-obama-dressed-in-turban/
http ://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?c an_id=9490
http://bioguide.cong ress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl ?index=O000167
ISBN: 0739321005. Dreams from My Father
http://www.whitehouse.go v/news/releases/2001/09/20 010920-8.html

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