The world is on fire with Islamic jihad, and so Obama holds a summit on “Countering Violent Extremism” and once again refuses to name the enemy. Remember when he was first elected, and the mainstream media was filled with confident predictions that he would reach out in such warm friendship to the Islamic world that the global jihad would soon end? Now he offers us the usual denial, the usual half-truths, the usual distortions, the usual obfuscation, the usual moral equivalence. Much of this, in fact, Obama has said before. Responses interspersed below. “Remarks by the President in Closing of the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism,” White House.gov, February 18, 2015:
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Everybody, please have a seat.
Well, thank you, Lisa, for the introduction. Lisa is an example of the countless dedicated public servants across our government, a number of who are here today, who are working tirelessly every single day on behalf of the security and safety of the American people. So we very much appreciate her. And thanks to all of you for your attendance and participation in this important summit.
For more than 238 years, the United States of America has not just endured, but we have thrived and surmounted challenges that might have broken a lesser nation. After a terrible civil war, we repaired our union. We weathered a Great Depression, became the world’s most dynamic economy. We fought fascism, liberated Europe. We faced down communism — and won. American communities have been destroyed by earthquakes and tornadoes and fires and floods — and each time we rebuild.
The bombing that killed 168 people could not break Oklahoma City. On 9/11, terrorists tried to bring us to our knees; today a new tower soars above New York City, and America continues to lead throughout the world. After Americans were killed at Fort Hood and the Boston Marathon, it didn’t divide us; we came together as one American family.
In the face of horrific acts of violence — at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, or at a Jewish community center outside Kansas City — we reaffirmed our commitment to pluralism and to freedom, repulsed by the notion that anyone should ever be targeted because of who they are, or what they look like, or how they worship.
Obama pointedly mentions the violence at the Sikh temple and the Jewish community center because neither was committed by Muslims: they are central to his case that people of all religions commit acts of violence. Actually, a white supremacist hit the Sikh temple, and a neo-Nazi the Jewish community center. He doesn’t have what would really make his case: Christians committing acts of violence and quoting the Bible to justify them. He had to reach all the way back to the Crusades recently to try to establish that Christians are just as likely as Muslims to commit violence in the name of their religion.
Most recently, with the brutal murders in Chapel Hill of three young Muslim Americans, many Muslim Americans are worried and afraid. And I want to be as clear as I can be: As Americans, all faiths and backgrounds, we stand with you in your grief and we offer our love and we offer our support.
Obama has decided that the murder of three Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina Tuesday was a hate crime. What is the evidence that it was an anti-Muslim hate crime? Well, the victims were Muslims, and the murderer was non-Muslim. And the father of two of the victims says he expressed opinions that he never told to his wife or put on his Facebook page, and that his wife says he did not hold — but which Obama and the Islamic supremacist establishment would have us believe that he held so strongly that he ultimately killed for them. And his Facebook page does reflect that he was an atheist who hated all religions, especially Christianity. That’s it. That’s enough nowadays, plus the fact that Obama wants this to be considered a hate crime, so as to further his case that Muslims are being victimized, which preoccupies him far more than non-Muslims who are being victimized by Muslims. Notice that he says nothing about non-Muslims being worried and afraid over jihad terror attacks.
My point is this: As Americans, we are strong and we are resilient. And when tragedy strikes, when we take a hit, we pull together, and we draw on what’s best in our character — our optimism, our commitment to each other, our commitment to our values, our respect for one another. We stand up, and we rebuild, and we recover, and we emerge stronger than before. That’s who we are. (Applause.)
And I say all this because we face genuine challenges to our security today, just as we have throughout our history. Challenges to our security are not new. They didn’t happen yesterday or a week ago or a year ago. We’ve always faced challenges. One of those challenges is the terrorist threat from groups like al Qaeda and ISIL. But this isn’t our challenge alone. It’s a challenge for the world. ISIL is terrorizing the people of Syria and Iraq, beheads and burns human beings in unfathomable acts of cruelty. We’ve seen deadly attacks in Ottawa and Sydney and, Paris, and now Copenhagen.
So, in the face of this challenge, we have marshalled the full force of the United States government, and we’re working with allies and partners to dismantle terrorist organizations and protect the American people. Given the complexities of the challenge and the nature of the enemy — which is not a traditional army — this work takes time, and will require vigilance and resilience and perspective. But I’m confident that, just as we have for more than two centuries, we will ultimately prevail.
And part of what gives me that confidence is the overwhelming response of the world community to the savagery of these terrorists — not just revulsion, but a concrete commitment to work together to vanquish these organizations.
At the United Nations in September, I called on the international community to come together and eradicate this scourge of violent extremism. And I want to thank all of you — from across America and around the world — for answering this call. Tomorrow at the State Department, governments and civil society groups from more than 60 countries will focus on the steps that we can take as governments. And I’ll also speak about how our nations have to remain relentless in our fight — our counterterrorism efforts — against groups that are plotting against our counties.
But we are here today because of a very specific challenge — and that’s countering violent extremism, something that is not just a matter of military affairs. By “violent extremism,” we don’t just mean the terrorists who are killing innocent people. We also mean the ideologies, the infrastructure of extremists –the propagandists, the recruiters, the funders who radicalize and recruit or incite people to violence. We all know there is no one profile of a violent extremist or terrorist, so there’s no way to predict who will become radicalized. Around the world, and here in the United States, inexcusable acts of violence have been committed against people of different faiths, by people of different faiths — which is, of course, a betrayal of all our faiths. It’s not unique to one group, or to one geography, or one period of time.
By mentioning the killing of Muslims in Chapel Hill and the attack on the Sikh temple and the Jewish community center, and here referring to the “ideologies” rather than the “ideology” of “extremists,” Obama is signaling that he doesn’t mean his effort to counter “violent extremism” to refer to fighting only Islamic jihad terrorists, but also other “extremists” — probably also including those who speak honestly about the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat, since in his view (and that of the Islamic supremacist groups with which he is working and to whom he is pandering) the “Islamophobes” are creating a “climate of hate” that leads to incidents such as the Chapel Hill murders — never mind that the killer was a militant Leftist and follower of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Huffington Post.
But we are here at this summit because of the urgent threat from groups like al Qaeda and ISIL. And this week we are focused on prevention — preventing these groups from radicalizing, recruiting or inspiring others to violence in the first place. I’ve called upon governments to come to the United Nations this fall with concrete steps that we can take together. And today, what I want to do is suggest several areas where I believe we can concentrate our efforts.
First, we have to confront squarely and honestly the twisted ideologies that these terrorist groups use to incite people to violence. Leading up to this summit, there’s been a fair amount of debate in the press and among pundits about the words we use to describe and frame this challenge. So I want to be very clear about how I see it.
Confronting squarely and honestly the ideology of the Islamic State and al Qaeda is exactly what he is determined not to do.
Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders — holy warriors in defense of Islam. That’s why ISIL presumes to declare itself the “Islamic State.” And they propagate the notion that America — and the West, generally — is at war with Islam. That’s how they recruit. That’s how they try to radicalize young people. We must never accept the premise that they put forward, because it is a lie. Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek. They are not religious leaders — they’re terrorists. (Applause.) And we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam. (Applause.)
“Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy.” What Obama is saying here reflects the argument, that has been common and prevailing in Washington for years, that we must not call the Islamic jihadists “Islamic jihadists,” because that will give them the legitimacy they’re seeking among Muslims. The fallacy here is that Obama and others who hold to this view are assuming that Muslims care what non-Muslim leaders say about who is Islamic and who isn’t. But given the fact that the Qur’an calls believers “the best of people” (3:110) and the unbelievers “the most vile of created beings” (98:6), that is unlikely in the extreme. “Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek,” but in reality this legitimacy is not within the power of any non-Muslim to grant — or to withhold. The Muslims who join al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are not listening to Western non-Muslim leaders; they’re listening to their imams and reading the Qur’an. In all these years of non-Muslim leaders insisting that we must withhold “legitimacy” from these jihad groups, there has not been even one single report of a Muslim who was going to join a terror group until he heard Bush or Obama or David Cameron or Tony Blair say that those groups were not Islamic. And the insidious aspect of it is that this claim that calling the jihadists what they are gives them a spurious legitimacy is used to foreclose upon honest examination of their motives and goals.
And “we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.” This is stated as a dogma. It is not to be questioned, on pain of charges of “Islamophobia.” And in claiming it, Obama has surrounded himself with Muslims with questionable ties. This is a slow-motion train wreck. He is effectively saying, We are not going to confront the jihadis’ ideology. We are not going to examine the jihadis’ motives and goals, and we’re not going to call on Muslim communities to reject them. Instead, we’re going to partner with other Muslims who share those motives and goals but aren’t blowing anything up.
Now, just as those of us outside Muslim communities need to reject the terrorist narrative that the West and Islam are in conflict, or modern life and Islam are in conflict, I also believe that Muslim communities have a responsibility as well. Al Qaeda and ISIL do draw, selectively, from the Islamic texts. They do depend upon the misperception around the world that they speak in some fashion for people of the Muslim faith, that Islam is somehow inherently violent, that there is some sort of clash of civilizations.
Of course, the terrorists do not speak for over a billion Muslims who reject their hateful ideology. They no more represent Islam than any madman who kills innocents in the name of God represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism. No religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism. (Applause.)
Notice that Obama does not give the names of any “madman who kills innocents in the name of God” who are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or Hindu. With 25,000 jihad terror attacks committed in the name of Islam since 9/11, the naming of a single person or incident here or there would only point up the glaring disparity.
And to their credit, there are respected Muslim clerics and scholars not just here in the United States but around the world who push back on this twisted interpretation of their faith. They want to make very clear what Islam stands for. And we’re joined by some of these leaders today. These religious leaders and scholars preach that Islam calls for peace and for justice, and tolerance toward others; that terrorism is prohibited; that the Koran says whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind. Those are the voices that represent over a billion people around the world.
The attendees included Wajahat Ali, an Al Jazeera host with Muslim Brotherhood ties who was co-author of one of the “Islamophobia” smear pieces designed to discredit foes of jihad terror, and Nicole Mossalam, who “has been dishonest about her controversial mosque blocking congregants from giving police information during their investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing.” Obama claims that there are “Muslim clerics and scholars not just here in the United States but around the world who push back on this twisted interpretation of their faith,” yet there is not a single mosque or Islamic school anywhere in the United States or anywhere else that has a program to teach Muslims to reject the understanding of Islam presented by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
But if we are going to effectively isolate terrorists, if we’re going to address the challenge of their efforts to recruit our young people, if we’re going to lift up the voices of tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim community, then we’ve got to acknowledge that their job is made harder by a broader narrative that does exist in many Muslim communities around the world that suggests the West is at odds with Islam in some fashion.
Any resistance to jihad terror brings this charge. The only way Obama will be able to eradicate it will be to surrender completely.
The reality — which, again, many Muslim leaders have spoken to — is that there’s a strain of thought that doesn’t embrace ISIL’s tactics, doesn’t embrace violence, but does buy into the notion that the Muslim world has suffered historical grievances — sometimes that’s accurate — does buy into the belief that so many of the ills in the Middle East flow from a history of colonialism or conspiracy; does buy into the idea that Islam is incompatible with modernity or tolerance, or that it’s been polluted by Western values.
So he is saying that some Muslims have legitimate grievances against the West. This is a signal that more concessions, probably in the form of more taxpayer billions, will soon be in the offing. When jihad terror rages more virulently than ever after those billions have been squandered, Obama will think of another excuse.
So those beliefs exist. In some communities around the world they are widespread. And so it makes individuals — especially young people who already may be disaffected or alienated — more ripe for radicalization. And so we’ve got to be able to talk honestly about those issues. We’ve got to be much more clear about how we’re rejecting certain ideas.
So just as leaders like myself reject the notion that terrorists like ISIL genuinely represent Islam, Muslim leaders need to do more to discredit the notion that our nations are determined to suppress Islam, that there’s an inherent clash in civilizations. Everybody has to speak up very clearly that no matter what the grievance, violence against innocents doesn’t defend Islam or Muslims, it damages Islam and Muslims. (Applause.)
Islamic jihadists don’t generally consider non-Muslims capable of being “innocent” — they are guilty by virtue of having rejected Islam.
And when all of us, together, are doing our part to reject the narratives of violent extremists, when all of us are doing our part to be very clear about the fact that there are certain universal precepts and values that need to be respected in this interconnected world, that’s the beginnings of a partnership.
As we go forward, we need to find new ways to amplify the voices of peace and tolerance and inclusion — and we especially need to do it online. We also need to lift up the voices of those who know the hypocrisy of groups like ISIL firsthand, including former extremists. Their words speak to us today. And I know in some of the discussions these voices have been raised: “I witnessed horrible crimes committed by ISIS.” “It’s not a revolution or jihad…it’s a slaughter…I was shocked by what I did.” “This isn’t what we came for, to kill other Muslims.” “I’m 28 — is this the only future I’m able to imagine?” That’s the voice of so many who were temporarily radicalized and then saw the truth. And they’ve warned other young people not to make the same mistakes as they did. “Do not run after illusions.” “Do not be deceived.” “Do not give up your life for nothing.” We need to lift up those voices.
Obama’s preoccupation with Muslims killing other Muslims as a talking point that he thinks discredits the Islamic State is once again based on his ignorance of Islam or refusal to speak honestly about it. The Qur’an (4:92) does prohibit Muslims from killing other Muslims, but Islamic law doesn’t consider this to include those considered apostates and heretics; both apostasy and heresy carry a death sentence. And it certainly doesn’t include non-Muslims, whom Muslims are commanded to kill in several Qur’anic verses (2:191; 4:89; 9:5; 9:29; 47:4). Several times over the years I’ve posted stories about Muslims being indignant about this or that group killing other Muslims when there is never the same indignation when they kill Muslims: the non-Muslim lives are cheap, and are indeed explicitly devalued in Islamic law. So when Obama talks about the Islamic State killing Muslims, he is feeding the Islamic supremacist notion that only Muslim lives matter.
And in all this work, the greatest resource are communities themselves, especially like those young people who are here today. We are joined by talented young men and women who are pioneering new innovations, and new social media tools, and new ways to reach young people. We’re joined by leaders from the private sector, including high-tech companies, who want to support your efforts. And I want to challenge all of us to build new partnerships that unleash the talents and creativity of young people — young Muslims — not just to expose the lies of extremists but to empower youth to service, and to lift up people’s lives here in America and around the world. And that can be a calling for your generation.
So that’s the first challenge — we’ve got to discredit these ideologies. We have to tackle them head on. And we can’t shy away from these discussions. And too often, folks are, understandably, sensitive about addressing some of these root issues, but we have to talk about them, honestly and clearly. (Applause.) And the reason I believe we have to do so is because I’m so confident that when the truth is out we’ll be successful. Now, a second challenge is we do have to address the grievances that terrorists exploit, including economic grievances. Poverty alone does not cause a person to become a terrorist, any more than poverty alone causes somebody to become a criminal. There are millions of people — billions of people — in the world who live in abject poverty and are focused on what they can do to build up their own lives, and never embrace violent ideologies.
Bitterly ironic: he is saying we have to “discredit these ideologies” and “tackle them head on,” but he himself refuses to do so. You never get a hint from this speech or any other that there are any Islamic doctrines that actually call for the behavior we see from jihadis. Obama’s refusal to acknowledge that makes this whole enterprise doomed to failure.
Conversely, there are terrorists who’ve come from extraordinarily wealthy backgrounds, like Osama bin Laden. What’s true, though, is that when millions of people — especially youth — are impoverished and have no hope for the future, when corruption inflicts daily humiliations on people, when there are no outlets by which people can express their concerns, resentments fester. The risk of instability and extremism grow. Where young people have no education, they are more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and radical ideas, because it’s not tested against anything else, they’ve got nothing to weigh. And we’ve seen this across the Middle East and North Africa.
CNS News noted in September 2013 that “according to a Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009, ‘Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.’ One of the authors of the RAND report, Darcy Noricks, also found that according to a number of academic studies, ‘Terrorists turn out to be more rather than less educated than the general population.’” But the dogma that poverty and lack of education causes terrorism persists. And so…grab your checkbook.
And terrorist groups are all too happy to step into a void. They offer salaries to their foot soldiers so they can support their families. Sometimes they offer social services — schools, health clinics — to do what local governments cannot or will not do. They try to justify their violence in the name of fighting the injustice of corruption that steals from the people — even while those terrorist groups end up committing even worse abuses, like kidnapping and human trafficking.
So if we’re going to prevent people from being susceptible to the false promises of extremism, then the international community has to offer something better. And the United States intends to do its part. We will keep promoting development and growth that is broadly shared, so more people can provide for their families. We’ll keep leading a global effort against corruption, because the culture of the bribe has to be replaced by good governance that doesn’t favor certain groups over others.
Countries have to truly invest in the education and skills and job training that our extraordinary young people need. And by the way, that’s boys and girls, and men and women, because countries will not be truly successful if half their populations — if their girls and their women are denied opportunity. (Applause.) And America will continue to forge new partnerships in entrepreneurship and innovation, and science and technology, so young people from Morocco to Malaysia can start new businesses and create more prosperity.
Is he going to call upon Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and other states that implement Sharia in whole or part to grant women equal rights?
Just as we address economic grievances, we need to face a third challenge — and that’s addressing the political grievances that are exploited by terrorists. When governments oppress their people, deny human rights, stifle dissent, or marginalize ethnic and religious groups, or favor certain religious groups over others, it sows the seeds of extremism and violence. It makes those communities more vulnerable to recruitment. Terrorist groups claim that change can only come through violence. And if peaceful change is impossible, that plays into extremist propaganda.
This will just lead to more Sharia, which is what the jihadists want anyway. He is saying, We have to give them peacefully what they want to take by force. His support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is the quintessential example of this. The unpleasant fact is that if there is a free election, many Muslim populations will vote for Sharia. Most Washington analysts would say, “Then let them have it.” Sure. But if you want to stop people who “deny human rights, stifle dissent, or marginalize ethnic and religious groups, or favor certain religious groups over others,” if you’re going to be honest about it you will have to move against Sharia states.
So the essential ingredient to real and lasting stability and progress is not less democracy; it’s more democracy. (Applause.) It’s institutions that uphold the rule of law and apply justice equally. It’s security forces and police that respect human rights and treat people with dignity. It’s free speech and strong civil societies where people can organize and assemble and advocate for peaceful change. It’s freedom of religion where all people can practice their faith without fear and intimidation. (Applause.) All of this is part of countering violent extremism.
Here again, Obama says he wants democracy. Very well. He got it in Egypt and it led to Sharia. That led to denial of free speech and the freedom of religion. Will he ever address this paradox? Unlikely.
Fourth, we have to recognize that our best partners in all these efforts, the best people to help protect individuals from falling victim to extremist ideologies are their own communities, their own family members. We have to be honest with ourselves. Terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIL deliberately target their propaganda in the hopes of reaching and brainwashing young Muslims, especially those who may be disillusioned or wrestling with their identity. That’s the truth. The high-quality videos, the online magazines, the use of social media, terrorist Twitter accounts — it’s all designed to target today’s young people online, in cyberspace.
How slick would a video or an online magazine have to be in order to move you to travel to Syria or Iraq and commit mass murder, rape, etc.?
And by the way, the older people here, as wise and respected as you may be, your stuff is often boring — (laughter) — compared to what they’re doing. (Applause.) You’re not connected. And as a consequence, you are not connecting.
So these terrorists are a threat, first and foremost, to the communities that they target, which means communities have to take the lead in protecting themselves. And that is true here in America, as it’s true anywhere else. When someone starts getting radicalized, family and friends are often the first to see that something has changed in their personality. Teachers may notice a student becoming withdrawn or struggling with his or her identity, and if they intervene at that moment and offer support, that may make a difference.
“So these terrorists are a threat, first and foremost, to the communities that they target, which means communities have to take the lead in protecting themselves.” What about when those communities decide to protect themselves from the FBI instead?
Faith leaders may notice that someone is beginning to espouse violent interpretations of religion, and that’s a moment for possible intervention that allows them to think about their actions and reflect on the meaning of their faith in a way that’s more consistent with peace and justice. Families and friends, coworkers, neighbors, faith leaders — they want to reach out; they want to help save their loved ones and friends, and prevent them from taking a wrong turn.
But communities don’t always know the signs to look for, or have the tools to intervene, or know what works best. And that’s where government can play a role — if government is serving as a trusted partner. And that’s where we also need to be honest. I know some Muslim Americans have concerns about working with government, particularly law enforcement. And their reluctance is rooted in the objection to certain practices where Muslim Americans feel they’ve been unfairly targeted.
So, in our work, we have to make sure that abuses stop, are not repeated, that we do not stigmatize entire communities. Nobody should be profiled or put under a cloud of suspicion simply because of their faith. (Applause.) Engagement with communities can’t be a cover for surveillance. We can’t “securitize” our relationship with Muslim Americans — (applause) — dealing with them solely through the prism of law enforcement. Because when we do, that only reinforces suspicions, makes it harder for us to build the trust that we need to work together.
Very well. So we’ll pretend as if Amish communities are just as likely to give rise to violent behavior as Muslim communities. Islamic supremacist leaders will be thrilled, but the misallocation of resources could be deadly.
As part of this summit, we’re announcing that we’re going to increase our outreach to communities, including Muslim Americans. We’re going to step up our efforts to engage with partners and raise awareness so more communities understand how to protect their loved ones from becoming radicalized. We’ve got to devote more resources to these efforts. (Applause.)
Nothing new. Remember: the only contact that the FBI had with the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) before the Boston Marathon jihad massacre was for “outreach.” There was never any investigation of why so many jihad terrorists were connected with the ISB.
And as government does more, communities are going to have to step up as well. We need to build on the pilot programs that have been discussed at this summit already — in Los Angeles, in Minneapolis, in Boston. These are partnerships that bring people together in a spirit of mutual respect and create more dialogue and more trust and more cooperation. If we’re going to solve these issues, then the people who are most targeted and potentially most affected — Muslim Americans — have to have a seat at the table where they can help shape and strengthen these partnerships so that we’re all working together to help communities stay safe and strong and resilient. (Applause.)
And finally, we need to do what extremists and terrorists hope we will not do, and that is stay true to the values that define us as free and diverse societies. If extremists are peddling the notion that Western countries are hostile to Muslims, then we need to show that we welcome people of all faiths.
Here in America, Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding. (Applause.) Generations of Muslim immigrants came here and went to work as farmers and merchants and factory workers, helped to lay railroads and build up America. The first Islamic center in New York City was founded in the 1890s. America’s first mosque — this was an interesting fact — was in North Dakota. (Laughter.)
Why is that funny? Anyway, Obama’s claim that “Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding” is simply fantasy. There were no Muslim Founding Fathers. There were no Muslim soldiers in the Revolution, or the War of 1812, or the Mexican War, or the Civil War, etc.
Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders, and protect our nation by serving in uniform, and in our intelligence communities, and in homeland security. And in cemeteries across our country, including at Arlington, Muslim American heroes rest in peace having given their lives in defense of all of us. (Applause.)
And of course that’s the story extremists and terrorists don’t want the world to know — Muslims succeeding and thriving in America. Because when that truth is known, it exposes their propaganda as the lie that it is. It’s also a story that every American must never forget, because it reminds us all that hatred and bigotry and prejudice have no place in our country. It’s not just counterproductive; it doesn’t just aid terrorists; it’s wrong. It’s contrary to who we are.
Indeed so — but in a climate in which every honest examination of how Islamic doctrine incites some Muslims to violence and terror is condemned as “bigotry” and “prejudice,” these are ominous words that probably herald new efforts to restrict the freedom of speech and impose Sharia blasphemy laws on the U.S.
I’m thinking of a little girl named Sabrina who last month sent me a Valentine’s Day card in the shape of a heart. It was the first Valentine I got. (Laughter.) I got it from Sabrina before Malia and Sasha and Michelle gave me one. (Laughter.) So she’s 11 years old. She’s in the 5th grade. She’s a young Muslim American. And she said in her Valentine, “I enjoy being an American.” And when she grows up, she wants to be an engineer — or a basketball player. (Laughter.) Which are good choices. (Laughter.) But she wrote, “I am worried about people hating Muslims…If some Muslims do bad things, that doesn’t mean all of them do.” And she asked, “Please tell everyone that we are good people and we’re just like everyone else.” (Applause.) Now, those are the words — and the wisdom — of a little girl growing up here in America, just like my daughters are growing up here in America. “We’re just like everybody else.” And everybody needs to remember that during the course of this debate.
“If some Muslims do bad things, that doesn’t mean all of them do.” This is a very familiar deception that we hear all the time from Islamic supremacist groups: that to examine how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism is to blame all Muslims for the actions of a few. This is hogwash. Of course Muslims are just like everybody else. The question is whether the texts and teachings of Islam incite them to commit acts of violence and think that they’re serving their god when they do. But that question is not allowed to be asked.
As we move forward with these challenges, we all have responsibilities, we all have hard work ahead of us on this issue. We can’t paper over problems, and we’re not going to solve this if we’re always just trying to be politically correct. But we do have to remember that 11-year-old girl. That’s our hope. That’s our future. That’s how we discredit violent ideologies, by making sure her voice is lifted up; making sure she’s nurtured; making sure that she’s supported — and then, recognizing there are little girls and boys like that all around the world, and us helping to address economic and political grievances that can be exploited by extremists, and empowering local communities, and us staying true to our values as a diverse and tolerant society even when we’re threatened — especially when we’re threatened.
There will be a military component to this. There are savage cruelties going on out there that have to be stopped. ISIL is killing Muslims at a rate that is many multiples the rate that they’re killing non-Muslims. Everybody has a stake in stopping them, and there will be an element of us just stopping them in their tracks with force. But to eliminate the soil out of which they grew, to make sure that we are giving a brighter future to everyone and a lasting sense of security, then we’re going to have to make it clear to all of our children — including that little girl in 5th grade — that you have a place. You have a place here in America. You have a place in those countries where you live. You have a future.
“ISIL is killing Muslims at a rate that is many multiples the rate that they’re killing non-Muslims” — he points this out to try to make his case that the Islamic State is not Islamic. And none of the Muslims at the summit took it upon themselves to point out to him that they killed them for being apostates and heretics, which is perfectly legitimate in Islamic law. Yet they must know.
Ultimately, those are the antidotes to violent extremism. And that’s work that we’re going to have to do together. It will take time. This is a generational challenge. But after 238 years, it should be obvious — America has overcome much bigger challenges, and we’ll overcome the ones that we face today. We will stay united and committed to the ideals that have shaped us for more than two centuries, including the opportunity and justice and dignity of every single human being.
Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)
What? No “God bless the United States of America”?
mariam rove says
I swear. He must be smoking some thing. Now there is no doubt in my mind. M
Champ says
http://newsbusters7.s3.amazonaws.com/images/2013/May/Obama%20Smoking%20Pot%20504.jpeg
😉
mariam rove says
Good one Champ! keep them coming! M
Angemon says
That settles it – the MB has friends in high places
😀
katnis says
Saw the controversy on Hillary Clinton accepting campaign donations from muslim countries like Saudia Arabia. Since Obama told the Egyptian Foreign Minister that he is a muslim, the son of a Muslim father, the step son of Muslim stepfather, that his half brothers in Kenya are Muslims, and that he has sympathy for the muslims, I wonder how much funding Obama received from muslim countries?
Babs says
I was thinking more of something mind-altering in the White House water. He’s not the only resident who has daft ideas about the “peacefulness” of Islam.
I don’t know which infuriates me more, that he has the nerve to burble in this vein or that he assumes we will believe him.
Spot On says
Here’s something to ponder. Maybe there is method to his madness. If he is not smoking something, then he is following the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, his close advisors. Moderate Islam which they now have in Egypt and Jordan is “perverted Islam”. ISIS is not perverted because they are following the Koran and Jihad to impose Sharia law. Under true Islam, Sharia law is the only way to bring social justice and we know how big Hussein O. and his pal Al Sharpton are on social justice.
All of Hussein O.’s words and action in the ME fit this pattern. Even Marie Barf’s “get them jobs” comment fits this pattern to fix social justice. (She couldn’t say get them Sharia.) ISIS is doing everything according to the Koran to bring Sharia. Could it be that Hussein O. is a Sunni Muslim and is squarely behind ISIS (along with his M. Brotherhood advisors).
ApolloSpeaks says
OBAMA HITS ROCK BOTTOM AT SUMMIT
Lost, confused, spiritless he continued to accuse atheist killer Craig Hicks of a hate crime against Islam.
Click http://www.apollospeaks.com to read my piece, Atheist Morality and the Cold Blooded Murder of the Chapel Hill Three.
jihad3tracker says
Hello Apollo —
I have actually already visited your superb blog, and recommend it to every visitor here. You cover a wide range of events, with lucid eloquent common sense — context and opinion.
Maybe you would consider giving these counter-jihad truth tellers some space on your homepage ( an apology if you already HAVE links up — I did not check before writing this comment ) :
http://www.citizenwarrior.com / http://www.inquiryintoislam.com / http://www.answeringmuslims.com / http://www.barenakedislam.com / http://www.thereligionofpeace.com.
And http://www.pamelageller.com, a ceaseless 24/7 courageous commitment to free speech & Israel’s survival.
There are other terrific ones, of course, and more appearing quickly as world events zoom into the Twilight Zone — ISIS in the pilot’s seat. Too bad it’s not possible to dig up Rod Serling, re-animate him, and ask for an episode based on current events.
I am not involved with any of the sites, but as our national security situation under BHO turns catastrophic at a speed even ancient Yours Truly cannot believe, we all must tell family and friends who are still clueless — about resources like those counter-jihad writers listed above.
ApolloSpeaks says
Thank you kindly my friend. I do give space on my site to Atlas Shrugs and Bare Naked Islam.The other four sites you mention are new to me and I will check them out.
Don McKellar says
What a bizarre world you live in, ApolloSpeaks. So just because somebody is too intelligent to believe in imaginary dieties, somehow that means that they feel free to murder innocent people and have no morality or ethics? Does it not occur to you that atheists have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and can fall in love? And because they have those things, does it not occur to you that they can appreciate and care about other human beings and what happens to them? And that they can be empathetic to other people? And therefore have very strong and good ethics and personal morality and understandings of justice and decency? Of course you haven’t thought any of this out at all, have you? No, because the atheist is the person who tells you there is no Santa Clause and no god and no heaven and that makes you scared. Really scared — because you can’t make any logical argument or prove them wrong in any way. So therefore, in your little mind, that person must be evil by nature. What a sad little world you live in.
ApolloSpeaks says
The only atheists I respect philosophically are those who logically, consistently and relentlessly apply the principle of moral relativism and believe that there are as many valid moralities and moral codes as there are individuals who invent them; and refuse to be judgmental of anyone’s morality, behavior or beliefs like theists are. In being judgmental the theist at least is logical as he consistently applies the principle of moral absolutism measuring everyone by a single standard of right and wrong. But for an atheist who denies the existence of a supreme being with an extramental absolute moral law to do this-not to respect the moral autonomy of others and sit in judgment over them as if his standards alone are valid and morally sound-completely contradicts the principle of moral relativism as he stupidly and unconsciously looks like a theist. In short, the atheist who says that I’m morally wrong is a fool.
ApolloSpeaks says
BTW, it’s not I who am afraid. It’s you who are afraid. Afraid to be a thorough going atheist taking the principle of moral relativism to its logical conclusion of radical individual moral autonomy or moral anarchy and chaos.
Angemon says
ApolloSpeaks posted:
“The only atheists I respect philosophically are those who logically, consistently and relentlessly apply the principle of moral relativism”
Moral relativism: the belief that there is no such thing as an absolute “good” and “evil” – it’s all relative. What, you consider rapists and serial-killers to be “evil”? Nonsense, they just have an alternate code of morality and what they say and do is just as moral and valid as anything you say and do while abiding by your own set of morals.
“and believe that there are as many valid moralities and moral codes as there are individuals who invent them; and refuse to be judgmental of anyone’s morality, behavior or beliefs like theists are.”
This should effectively disqualify Apollo from criticizing anything and anyone – assuming he’s an atheist who consistently and relentlessly applies the principle of moral relativism.
“In being judgmental the theist at least is logical as he consistently applies the principle of moral absolutism measuring everyone by a single standard of right and wrong. But for an atheist who denies the existence of a supreme being with an extramental absolute moral law to do this-not to respect the moral autonomy of others and sit in judgment over them as if his standards alone are valid and morally sound-completely contradicts the principle of moral relativism as he stupidly and unconsciously looks like a theist.”
It’s OK for a theist to, for example, teach his children they shouldn’t lie, but an atheist shouldn’t do that because he’d end looking like a theist. It’s best to let the children figure out their own set of morality by themselves and decide for themselves whether whether or not they should lie – as long as they don’t try to judge anyone else according to their self-created morals. Got it.
“In short, the atheist who says that I’m morally wrong is a fool.”
According to your set or morals. Then again, you shouldn’t be judging them – their set of moralities is just as valid and moral as yours.
ApolloSpeaks says
@Angemon
It’s the confused Mr. McKeller who’s both an atheist and inconsistent moral relativist torn between moral absolutism and relativism, and doesn’t know it. The purpose of my post was to enlighten him on what a true, coherent, consistent, thoroughgoing moral relativist is. Hopefully between my post and yours he’s learned something.
Walter Sieruk says
On the subject of the jihadist threat the scholar Thomas Sowell did have a good point in a newspaper article today. For in it Mr Sowell explained “We will be lucky to get through the remainder of Obama’s term without a major catastrophe from which we might never recover.”
bewick says
Sad that you have to endure this man for almost another 2 years. At least in the UK we have an election in May. That though won’t change the mantra that “islam is a religion of peace” because all of our party leaders seem to take their lead from Obama.
jihad3tracker says
Even the major newscast anchors at MSM are getting pissed off at the absurdity of Obama’s bullshit . . .
Evidence : after a correspondent last night ( Tuesday ) gave a summary of the “reach out to Muslim clergymen for help” Pelley looked at the screen which had that correspondent on it, and said ” SO HOW MANY MORE BEHEADINGS WILL IT TAKE BEFORE THE IMAMS SPEAK UP ??? ”
I kid you not . . .
jihad3tracker says
——- SCOTT PELLEY AT CBS ——–
mortimer says
Where is the ‘GOOD’ Islam?
Which country contains this mysterious ‘GOOD’ version of Islam?
Is there a UNICORN?
silvergreycat says
*Where is the ‘GOOD’ Islam?* Dr. Bill Warner may have the answer you seek… http://www.newenglishreview.org/Bill_Warner/Duality_and_Political_Islam/
*Which country contains this mysterious ‘GOOD’ version of Islam?* Depends on the country’s ruler.
*Is there a UNICORN?* Only on this flag… http://www.jihadwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/saudi-flag2.gif
gerard says
I wish this fool would just shut up!
Scot Fourowls says
Excerpted in part and edited from my comment a post over about the CVE conference, with additional remarks, this fits even better here. The POTUS puts the American homeland and non-Muslim American citizens under existential threat by the WH [including Pres., VP, State Dept., AG, etc.]:
(a) scrubbing all public speaking references to Muslims and Islam in connection to 21st century murderous terrorism, which matches the WH having already scrubbed references to Muslims and Islam in FBI and similar anti-terrorism training materials;
(b) spinning counterfactual propaganda about Christian responses to Islamic conquest (centuries-past Crusades, etc., omitting the crucial facts that even Kony in Uganda rose up with his Lord’s Resistance Army — which is no longer an army after boots on the ground defeated his terrorism several years ago — in response to a Ugandan Nationalist/Islamist coalition); and
(c) privileging CVE conference adherents including the U.S. Muslim congressman from MN apparently pitching (which the WH appears poised to implement) that CVE in the U.S. be separated and walled off from all law enforcement and intelligence-gathering efforts about the existential threat to American citizens of Islamic extremism’s violent jihadists and U.S. sleeper cells in the Muslim community behind the walls of their mosques and community organizations.
We saw the Israeli news coverage last year, if were paying attention, of the deadly rockets that had been stored in mosques and then launched by terrorist Muslims of Hamas against Israel’s nearby non-Muslim citizens. We in the U.S. won’t have the Iron Dome to protect us.
The wolf in sheep’s clothing is entirely in the hen house through the pro-Muslim sympathies of what amounts to pro-terrorism in the WH, because (1) the substantial majority of murderous terrorism in the 21st century has in fact been committed by Muslims and (2) the POTUS is in full flight from reality when he fails to admit what all Americans not in denial know very well.
It is predictable from 1400 years of Islamic history that we in the U.S. will continue to suffer harm from Muslims and that we need law enforcement and intelligence about the mosques and Muslim organizations in our midst. It puts us, based on recent and ancient history of Islam, at existential threat in the U.S. if law enforcement and intelligence is constrained to a “hands off” zone while (1) the imams or their proxies in the U.S. teach violent conquest behind the mosque walls and (2) the Muslim Brotherhood (labeled a terrorist organization in the Middle East) and similar Islamic stealth jihadists operate inside our borders with a taqiyya agenda to defeat us through terror and violence only when their time is ripe.
Excuse the mixed metaphor, but Muslim taqiyya (religiously mandated deception of non-Muslims) suggests that the U.S. is being lulled into a false sense of security by the moderate Muslim “community” protestations of harmlessness, and our country readied for the day the Islamic Trojan Horse is fully prepped with better networked destructive power to take us down inside the gate of the U.S.
So we don’t forget the talking points in our sound bite world —
The imams and ayatollahs inspiring violent jihad have typically been wealthy, as have many violent jihadists. (Islamic terrorism and warmongering is not about jobs or poverty but about religious ideology and the blood lust sanctioned by Islam as a religion for achieving global supremacy through deception and violent conquest.)
The existential threat of violent Islamic jihad is not about jobs and poverty but instead a well-funded Islamic ideology of global conquest requiring Koran-specified violence against non-Muslims — as well as intra-Islamic violence as various Muslim sects and coalitions jockey for primacy against one another in their shared goal of forced Islamic global supremacy under “Allah” and “Shari’a law.” The U.S. Constitution this isn’t and can never be.
Can’t we tell the truth that the 2009 Fort Hood mass massacre and maiming was the result of Islamic jihad, not mere workplace violence, committed by a devout Muslim and uniformed U.S. Army Major (born in America of Palestinian parents) screaming “Allah Ackbar” when he fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others?
Will we refuse to name Mrs. Colleen Hufford, martyred and beheaded Islamic-style by a Muslim convert in 2014 Oklahoma?
Dare we omit to mention Benghazi, the rest of Libya, Yemen, the former Syria and Iraq, and IS aka ISIS and ISIL (the “Islamic State” by its own admission) which today controls the majority of the land mass of former Syria and Iraq and whose financially robust army continues to grow?
Can we ignore the “death to America” jihadist Middle Eastern hotspots where in recent history Muslims have murdered non-Muslim Americans and for which some Muslim Americans have left this country to join and be militarily trained (by Islamist terrorists including IS and others) for the jihadist crusade against Jews, Christians and the secular West?
Long comments instead of sound bites and twitter are the nuanced way to state clearly the existential threat to Americans of Islamic jihad. Muslims started this global war based on their religion 1400 years ago whether we like it or not.
Peter says
And, what if Islam is at war with us and the rest of non-Muslim humanity?
jay says
I can’t even read that because my ulcer will finally burn a hole clear through my gut. But just the headline. Basically those that “pervert Islam” are those that oppose it and those that are challenging his buddies’ rule/power. Please Lord bless Obama with a stroke.
Emmanuel O says
What has happened to ‘impeachment’?
I learnt Obama has no authentic birth cert plus graduation papers, and that he is no true US citizen but an impostor…. Are these not reason enough to sack him? Does leadership makes men noble that Obama is respected even though a perverse? No. But nobility makes men leaders, thus Obama can’t be tolerated.
Leaving a corrupt leader on seat is the last thing I expected from the US, I’m Nigerian, US is losing its credibilty and respect as world power by such act as Obama’s perverse leadership. Who will be loyal, believe or follow them (US) with this? US, now ruled by an imam not a president.
PRCS says
“We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”
He is wrong, twice.
1. Of course WE are not at war with Islam. As a nation, we cannot be at war with an ideology. That we were at war with the German government, not Nazism, during WWII should make that clear to even the most idiotic among us.
1. Muslims attempting to follow Qur’an as closely to the letter as possible does not constitute ‘perverting’ Islam.
Rabbi Hier actually asserted–on a Fox program yesterday–that Muslim fundamentalists are perverting Islam. What makes people think and say things like that.
One of the most disgusting aspects of the President’s lecture (IMO) was all of the Muslims clapping at the lies he was telling. Do any of them not know that the ‘to kill one human being’ line is a plagiarism of the Jewish tale of Cain and Able and was directed at ‘the children of Israel’?
The real reason Muslims in America don’t mount a campaign to renounce and denounce those Qur’an passages which drive its overt misogyny and this 1400 year old violent jihad against ‘filthy unbelievers’ is because their own copies of that fairly tale read the same as every other Muslim’s copy-amputations and all-and they know that challenging Allah’s ‘revealed’ word is a punishable blasphemy.
ML/NJ says
How about if we just don’t take a chance for now?.
Wellington says
“We are not at war with Islam.” Well, Islam is at war with us. {Sura 8:39—fight the unbeliever until all religion is with Allah}
“We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.” Islam itself is a perversion, starting with the fact that it has no true Golden Rule for all. In Islamic law, and I don’t believe to the present day a single school of Islamic theology, Sunni or Shiite, has repudiated this Islamic doctrine, non-believers are the equivalent of human waste. Can’t get much more perverted than that.
PRCS says
I was happy to see General Jack Keene tell Gretchen Carlson this morning that ‘they’ (violent jihadists) believe in a literal reading/interpretation of Qur’an, which permits the rightful killing of infidels–or words to that effect.
Most authoritative and straight forward description of the problem I’ve seen on national television to date.
And then, he continued to refer to ‘radical Islam’ and ‘extremism’.
Why, why, why.
Wellington says
Yes, PRCS, the General got it half right, which is more than I can say for the current Commander-in-Chief——or even the previous one (though Obama is far more wretched than Bush many times over and on so many matters).
Of course, as I know you know, as long as the term “radical Islam” is paid any respect, given any legitimacy, then to the extent it is “the problem” still remains. After all, getting the enemy only half right is not enough. Have to “get” an enemy of freedom completely. Doing so will mean a US President, the Joint Chiefs of Stafff, politicians aplenty, the media in general, and even that laggard of laggards, the academic community, finally realizing that Islam, all of it, is the only major faith which is pure spiritual fascism. Not there yet. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll be there for a while yet. Meanwhile, a monumental fool, the current POTUS, still has sway.
Stupid world to be sure. Damn.
vlparker says
If we are at war with the people who perverted islam then we are at war with Mohammed because he is the one and only person who perverted islam.
Nicu says
The superior Muslim speaks ….
Champ says
We are in a HOLY WAR, obama …c’mon say it! Hey if o’reilly can say it, so can you …
Champ says
“9 questions about the “Holy War” that Bill O’Reilly just declared”
http://www.vox.com/2015/2/18/8063931/bill-oreilly-holy-war
Boston Tea Party says
After years on this site and reading up on this subject, I still think there’s one sentence that best summarizes the conflict between Islam and the West:
“A conflict of values is NOT a misunderstanding.”
Most of the left simply can’t grasp that.
duh_swami says
Frankly I don’t need this Rasool guy telling me what’s up with what.
.He should be relieved of duty, but no one seems interested in doing that..So we are going to have to wait him out and hope he doesn’t do much more damage…or we could get lucky and Allah will take him first.
markjuliansmith says
Franklin D. Roosevelt says US ‘at war with those perverting Nazism’
If it talks like a fascist, behaves like a fascist, and terrorizes like a fascist, then it is connected to a fascist cultural construct of Other to which the so called liberal-moderate end of the cultures behavioral variance are integrally connected. Why?
It is because the radical-extremist end of such a culture are made up of the individual adherent ‘few’ derived from this exact same liberal-moderate moderate end of the cultural behavioral variance. The radical-extremist end cannot therefore exist without the so called liberal-moderate end of the Islamic/Muslim cultural behavioral variance.
There is not such thing as the ‘true’ culture there is only ‘the’ culture.
Jay Boo says
Obama is absolutely correct in his statement “We are not at War with Islam” assuming that his statement is read literally.
However, not being at war with Islam is the precisely the problem because Islam is certainly at war with us and has been ever since Muhammad conjured up his self-serving ideology. But of course Obama is trying to suggest that Islam is not our enemy at the root of problem which is completely false.
duh_swami says
They perverted Islam? How did they do that? What is the difference between perverted Islam and not perverted Islam?
More Ham Ed says
Another incredible display of detail from Robert. No-one can match Robert’s level of detail when explaining all this.
Quote “we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam. (muslimApplause.)”
I wonder how many people are “perverting” “islam” – some say 1.6 billion. I know that going according to even secular measurements it’s probably more than 500 million:
Penalty for Converting to Another Faith – The percentage that believe this is 67.60% based on ten Muslim majority countries in the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa. Based on the Muslim population of those countries, that results in 353 million people (at a minimum) who currently, and firmly believe in the death penalty for leaving Islam.
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-beliefs-about-sharia/
Myxlplik says
“Islamic jihadists don’t generally consider non-Muslims capable of being “innocent” — they are guilty by virtue of having rejected Islam.”
Disbelief, or not conforming to Islamic Law is considered as “Mischief in the land, thusly you lose innocence”
Nice rebuttal…, I’m listening to CNN now, these people don’t understand the “perverting” of Islam goes all the way back to Mohammed.
Sabin says
Spoken like a true muslim!
Gotta love this president and all the idiots who voted for him.
Sheri says
“Those who profess Islam do not understand their own religion or pervert it for their own political ends.” – Mohammad Reza Pahlav The Ex- Shah of Iran
William says
At least he didn’t say that we are at war with people who criticize Islam. Or maybe he hasn’t gotten to that yet.
katherine says
President Hussein,s recent moves now reflect a certain urgency in his motives. What safety mechanisms are there in the US administrative system to prevent an actual seizure of the US by force, since he is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces with his minions already in place among the military and intelligence units ?
Paul says
No, perverts are at war with us who have not perverted Islam.
Paul says
Or, perverts who have not perverted Islam are at war with us.
– Just to be clear!
Kasey says
On the basis of Obama’s recent comments on the “so-called” perverters of Islam,… by default it means that Muhammed himself was its first perverter as today’s jihadists are actually imitating all the types of violent and lethal atrocities he was guilty of and which they admire. As a preverter’s ideology, it is ultimately doomed in the long term but it will take many from both sides with it on its way to oblivion over a very long term.
mortimer says
Yes, but if ISIS is ‘perverting’ Islam, who has the ‘unperverted’, ‘GOOD’ Islam?
Where is this unicorn, because Saudi Arabia created the Salafist theology of ISIS?
M S case says
SEEMS LIKE MOHAM (MAD) STARTED OUT IN MECCA KINDA SOFT THEN HE GOT CONVERTED TO PERVERTEDISM ORSOMETHING LIKE THAT
M S case says
MAYPE THE PRESIDENCY HAS BEEN PERVERTED……. DON’T QUOTE ME THOUGH.I DON’T KNOW THAT FOR SURE..
Legion says
“… we are not at war with Islam.”
That’s tantamount to FDR saying America was not at war with Germany.
Jay Boo says
Technically, Obama is absolutely correct in his statement,
“We are not at War with Islam”.
We are not but we should in fact be at war with (Islam) — because Islam is at war with us.
Unfortunately, of course Obama means that ‘Islam’ is not the enemy.
mortimer says
Legion said: “That’s tantamount to FDR saying America was not at war with Germany.”
No, it’s like saying America was not fighting NAZISM.
Political Islam is Islamo-fascism.
Legion says
It’s actually not like saying either of your responses.
To answer Jay Boo first, my point is similar to yours — though not identical — in that even if America was not at war with Germany from Sep ’39 through Dec ’41 you can be sure Germany was at war with America. The difference being that America at that time — led by FDR — was under no delusions about that fact.
Now mortimer:
No it’s actually the exact opposite of what you just said.
Obama is making a distinction — which does not exist — between Islam and ISIS.
What I said was that that would be the same as FDR making an equally non-existent — during the early 1940s — distinction between Germany and the NSDAP.
That’s why Obama’s statement is patently ridiculous.
It is no less ridiculous than suggesting America was not at war with Russia during the entire Cold War, as though one could make a distinction between Russia and International Communism during those decades.
Bezelel says
I watched the windbag n chief give his speech/ promotion of muslims. He just keeps spewing sugar coated crap all about islam and muslims. Sickening excuses for mass murderers.
mortimer says
HUFF PO IS RESPONSIBLE! EXTREMIST LEFTISM!
“the killer was a militant Leftist and follower of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Huffington Post”
CogitoErgoSum says
“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Quran 9:29)
President Obama, since you know the difference between “true” Islam and “perverted” Islam, please explain to the American people the meaning of the passage from the Quran quoted above. To make things perfectly clear also include in your response, the definition of “fight,” “religion of Truth, “”People of the Book,” “Jizya,” and explain what is meant by “willing submission” and “feel themselves subdued.” Compare and contrast your “true” interpretation with the “perverted” interpretation and actions of the Islamic State.
Will some news reporter out there please ask this of the President?
PRCS says
A lot of reporters and television pundits preach their self assured ‘radical Islam’ nonsense, but no one is countering them yet.
I imagine that has to occur before BHO will ever be asked.
I sometimes wonder what those like clueless Hannity will say when it becomes completely obvious there’s no such thing and they’ve been WRONG all this time.
Demsci says
The president is confused. He knows there are bitter enemies of America and Democracy, but he can’t describe. He wants to protect Islam and Muslims too much.
He says that “we” are at war with “perverted Islam”. But he ascribes this perversion of Islam to malicious intent of ISIS (and Iran), to their desperate need of “legitimacy” but it get’s ever clearer that he won’t ever be able to point out any “doctrinal faults” proclaimed by the Jihadists and Theocrats of ISIS and Iran.
The “Perversion” is a very valid interpretation of Quran-Sunna. Due to faulty Quran-Sunnah. A better understanding president could have pointed out that the most binding texts in democracy are very clear and well explained, and it is possible to update and upgrade them. So a better understanding might have said that it is “wrong” if Muslims have as their most binding texts, those that are so immutable, yet so ambiguous, vague, incomplete, obsolete. People considering such texts as trumping all others, including sensible democratic clear complete texts, should ultimately be held accountable for clinging to these FAULTY texts. Especially when living in Democracies.
But because the very Ambiguity and Incompleteness also makes another interpretation possible, perhaps the President, like our mayor Aboutaleb, could propose to the Muslims to construct an interpretation that is compatible with our sensible constitution and laws.
Or if they still hold Quran-Sunnah as more binding than our constitution and laws, even when their interpretation of the former contradicts the latter, to give up their passports and leave the democratic countries.
Champ says
Obama: “We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The president has perverted islam into a “religion of peace” …whereas ISIS is practicing *true* islam.
Johnd says
But Islam is perverted by its very nature, as its prophet was a proven pervert by the accepted defn of the word. The Western idea of Islam is but the ghost of a mirage floating on desert sands, amid mountains of skeletons and gore left in the wake of its history.
Dr John says
“We are not at war with Islam” OH YES WE ARE!!!
NO SURRENDER, NO INFIDELIPHOBIA, NO ISLAM
Hoekom Jy My Haat says
While we may maintain that we are not at war with Islam, it is apparent by its continued acts of violence and terror, that Islam considers itself at war with us.
If you wind up in a gutter fight, you will not win by limiting yourself to the Marquis of Queensbury rules of Gentlemanly Boxing. No, if attacked and they bite, you bite. If they eye gouge, you gouge. The only way to win a fight is to get as down and dirty as the guy who attacked you.
Know Islam, No Peace.
No Islam, Know Peace.
Jeffrey Hardin says
Then they need to eradicate the Qur’an…Its their Quranic teachings and practices that pervert them.
Champ says
I think obama is fighting a clandestine war with the American people, and his primary weapon is his deceitful tongue …
Your thoughts?
Michael Johnson says
if we are not at war with islam who are we at war with then because the only people I see killing beheading bombing and destroying civilizations are muslims not Christians hindus pagans or Buddhist its all muslims muslims who don’t believe like isis are not true muslims just as a Christian who does live according to jesus teachings are not true Christians they are pretenders or wannabes so they need to stop saying islam is peaceful when they know its not their prophet said to kill the enemies where you find them that would be those that don’t believe that allah is god or Muhammad is a prophet so what about kill you does the west not get or understand the west needs to wake up out of sleep and crush these monsters that are trying to destroy Christianity and western civilization i am a democrat but if Obama was running again i would not vote for him im ashamed to call him my president and a fellow illinoisian he presents weakness i hope the next democrat shows strenghth im for helping the little man boosting the economy but i also want a president who is strong enough to fight Islamic terrorist not be soft on them