TEL AVIV – Monday’s release of the text of Orlando terrorist shooter Omar Mateen’s 9-1-1 call is not the first time the Obama administration purportedly scrubbed “Allah” from a transcript.
To this day, the official White House transcript of a Rose Garden ceremony with the father of released soldier Bowe Bergdahl transcribes every word besides Robert Bergdahl’s Arabic declaration of “Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim.” That means “In the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.”
The White House website provides a video of the ceremony, at which the controversial prisoner swap for Berghdahl in exchange for five Taliban members who were being held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay was announced.
In the video, Robert Bergdahl can clearly be heard making the declaration to Allah.
Yet, here is the relevant portion of the official transcript, as provided by the White House:
I’d like to say to Bowe right now, who is having trouble speaking English — (speaks in Pashto) — I’m your father, Bowe.
The “Pashto” is actually Arabic.
Watch the full video here. (Robert Bergdahl’s Allah remarks begin at 4:05)
Afterwards, the Daily Mail cited a report that the Taliban were “thrilled” at the declaration to Allah.
The newspaper reported:
The Arabic phrase bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim appears prominently in the Koran and means ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’.
Sara Carter, senior Washington correspondent for conservative news network TheBlaze, said her Taliban sources were ‘thrilled’ at the phrase being used.
At the time, former CIA officer Clare Lopez explained of the Arabic declaration, “These are the opening words of every chapter of the Qur’an except one (the chapter of the sword – the 9th).”
“By uttering these words on the grounds of the WH, Bergdahl (the father) sanctified the WH and claimed it for Islam,” Lopez charged.
Brigitte Gabriel of Act for America told Fox News that the expression declares the greatness of Allah, and she called it a “war cry of Allah.”
Zuhdi Jasser, an advocate for moderate Islam, told Fox News that he uses the phrase daily in his prayers and that the expression is not necessarily radical.
On Monday, the FBI finally released what it said was a full transcript of Mateen’s 50-second call with a 911 operator while he was perpetrating the deadly attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. After first releasing a redacted transcript that deleted references to the Islamic State, the FBI released the full transcript, which included an English translation changing the word “Allah” to “God.”
With research by Joshua Klein.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
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