Pamela Geller points out that last night in his State of the Union address, Barack Obama once again rejected any possibility that his administration would address the true nature and magnitude of the jihad threat:
Last night in his State of the Union address (full transcript here), Barack Obama said this:
As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world. It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims — the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace. That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.
By “offensive stereotypes of Muslims” he means “honest examination of the jihad doctrine and ideology.” He continues to tie the hands of intel and law enforcement agents, forbidding them to study and understand the motives and goals of the enemy. For this alone he should have been defeated for reelection in 2012 and earned the derision of every free American. And this is just one of many, many things he has done to make this country weaker and more vulnerable.
Exactly so. “Offensive stereotypes of Muslims,” however obnoxious they may be, don’t make us unsafe. What makes us unsafe is the general (and bipartisan) unwillingness to face the jihad threat realistically and honestly. And that is what Obama is likely referring to when he says that “we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims — the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace.” He is saying that examinations of how jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims will remain out of bounds. And so, as Pamela Geller notes, intelligence and law enforcement agents will continue to stumble around in the dark, oblivious about what the jihadis believe, what they want, and how they plan to go about getting it.