The Libyan, er, ‘Rebels’: ‘Now, the Time of Jihad Has Arrived!’

Why do intervention proponents insist on calling them rebels when they call themselves mujahideen — Muslim warriors fighting a jihad?

At Pajamas, John Rosenthal has details of a report by French jounralist Marc de Chalvron, who was embedded with the Libyan “rebels” before they were turned back by Qaddafi’s forces. They refer to their battle as “the jihad” — Islamic holy war. (At least that’s what they interpret jihad to mean. They apparently haven’t gotten the memo from Georgetown that jihad is really a peaceful internal struggle for personal betterment, a solemn commitment to brush after every meal, or whatever ISNA is calling jihad this week).

The French report shows the “rebels” proclaiming that “Now, the time of jihad has arrived!” and, of course, screaming, “Allahu Akbar!” as they fire their guns into the air.

But, as Speaker Boehner says, “the United States has a moral obligation to stand with those who seek freedom and self-government for their people.” Sure it may be the Islamic notion of freedom (i.e., perfect submission to Allah) and the sharia form of self-government, but hey, details, details. By all means, let’s put these guys in charge, the sooner the better.

The full article is available here.