That's what leftoid propagandist Jim Lobe claims in the title of an article, "‘Anti-Islamist' Crusader Plants New Seeds," put out by the Rome-based Inter Press News Agency; yours truly is the crusader in question. This follows on a piece by Lobe, issued April 7, 2004, and titled "From Nation-Building to Religion-Building." In both, Lobe breathlessly informs his readership about grant proposals he purloined from the Middle East Forum. In the 2004 piece, he announces that the Forum seeks funds to build a new organization to represent moderate Muslims in the United States. The new article provides an update on this organization and also about the Forum's intent to institutionalize my effort to expose non-violent Islamists in the United States and other Western countries.
My commitment to both such projects should come as no surprise, for I have repeatedly argued that "radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution." For me to support moderate Muslims to self-organize would not seem to be big news; nor, given my years of "hand-to-hand combat" with Islamist groups, should it be a shock that I wish to turn this into an organized effort.
Lobe, however, presents my efforts as sinister, and that clearly appeals to his conspiracy-minded leftist and Islamist readership. His earlier article was reprinted on many of their websites, translated into foreign languages, and reported on with predictable indignation in Arab newspapers. No doubt, the new one will enjoy a similar succès de scandale. (February 24, 2005)
