The killer explicitly ascribed his killing to Islam. The proper response here would not be to blame or target Muslims who had nothing to do with this attack, but to have an honest public discussion of the elements of Islam that jihadists use to justify violence and supremacism, and what can be done about them. The problem is that such a discussion is always forestalled by people who claim that to have it would be to target or threaten innocent Muslims. There is no reason why this must be so. In fact, Muslims who sincerely reject the violent and supremacist aspects of Islam should welcome such a discussion, if their rejection is sincere. “Boris Johnson: Neither Islam nor UK foreign policy to blame for Woolwich attack,” from Metro, May 23 (thanks to Pamela Geller):
Boris Johnson has said the blame for the brutal murder of a soldier in Woolwich lies with the “˜warped mind-set” of his killers.
The London mayor, arriving for a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee chaired by prime minister David Cameron, said it was wrong to blame either Muslims or the presence of UK troops in Afghanistan for the attack.
One of the two suspects in yesterday”s killing made a series of political statements in the wake of the attack, while counterterrorism officers are waiting to question both men in hospital after they were shot by armed police.
“˜One obvious point, it is completely wrong to blame this killing on Islam but also wrong to draw a link between this murder and British foreign policy,” Mr Johnson said on Thursday morning.
“˜The fault lies with the warped mind-set of those who did it and for the sake of the victim and his family the killers need to be brought to justice.”…