A coalition of American Muslim groups is demanding that US presidential candidate and current Senator John McCain stop using the adjective Islamic when describing terrorist and radical enemies of the United States. Muneer Fareed, the head of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), told the Washington Times that his group is commencing a campaign to ask Mr. McCain to rephrase his descriptions. “We’ve tried to contact his office, contact his spokesperson to have them rethink word usage that is more acceptable to the Muslim community […] If it’s not our intent to paint everyone with the same brush, then certainly we should think seriously about just characterizing them as criminals, because that is what they are” said Fareed. An aide to Mr. McCain said that the senator would not drop the word. McCain often uses the term “Islamic” to describe terrorist enemies; however, the two remaining Democratic hopefuls, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, generally avoid usage of the word.
