Right on cue, the Council on American Islamic Relations pegs the Seethe-O-Meter over President Bush’s use of the words “Islamic fascism:” US Muslims bristle at Bush term ‘Islamic fascists’.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Muslim groups criticized President George W. Bush on Thursday for calling a foiled plot to blow up airplanes part of a “war with Islamic fascists,” saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions.

U.S. officials have said the plot, thwarted by Britain, to blow up several aircraft over the Atlantic bore many of the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

“We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counter-productive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism,” said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group.

“We ought to take advantage of these incidents to make sure that we do not start a religious war against Islam and Muslims,” he told a news conference in Washington.

“We urge him (Bush) and we urge other public officials to restrain themselves.”

UPDATE at 8/10/06 1:43:35 pm:

And here’s something else that will probably induce seething, as Robert Spencer appears on CNN Headline News tonight.

UPDATE at 8/10/06 1:55:17 pm:

Allahpundit has video of Bush’s speech on the British Islamic terror plot: Bush on America’s war with “Islamic fascism” (Update: CAIR shrieks).

The question now, of course, is: will Bush be politically compelled to issue a “clarification?”