A quick search of YouTube today for “Anwar al-Awlaki” finds hundreds of his videos, most of them scriptural commentary or clerical advice, but dozens that include calls for jihad or attacks on the United States.
The story of You Tube and Mr. Awlaki is a revealing case study in the complexity of limiting controversial speech in the age of do-it-yourself media, as the House prepares for hearings next week on the radicalization of American Muslims.
In eloquent American English or Arabic with English subtitles, Mr. Awlaki can be seen in videos decrying America’s “war on Islam”; warning Muslims why they should “never, ever trust a kuffar,” or non-Muslim; praising the attempt by his “student” to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner; and patiently explaining why American civilians are legitimate targets for killings. Such videos have been posted in multiple copies and viewed hundreds or thousands of times.
So are the Powers-that-Be trying to limit Awlaki’s controversial speech in order to reduce the chances that his rhetoric might radicalize some otherwise peace loving follower of Islam, or are they doing so to prevent the targets of radicalized Muslims from knowing the inconvenient truth about the dangers that surround them?
Keep in mind that this “radical” cleric is doing nothing more than urging all followers of Islam to do what the Qur’an commands them to do. For a devout follower of Islam, “peace” occurs only when the entire world has been converted to Islam and is governed by Sharia law.
For a quick summary of what Islam is all about, I recommend Patrick Sookhdeo’s [u] A Pocket Guide to Isalm [/u].