Proving that you can’t go far enough left to please everyone, top Muslim groups are taking issue with this week’s White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. The summit, which begins on Tuesday, is aimed at improving efforts to limit the radicalization and recruitment of would-be terrorists. While the summit is not geared solely towards Islamic extremism, you have to address the issues before you. And whether it’s here in the U.S. or in the Middle East, the most disturbing elements of violent extremism are found in the Islamic community. Ignoring that fact is a sure way to get nowhere.
But that’s not good enough for groups like Muslim Advocates. The group released a statement saying that they have “serious concerns about the government’s track record of treating extremist violence as though it were an exclusively Muslim problem.” Ah. Well maybe that’s because is very nearly is. The White House tends to make statements on such violence in the wake of an incident. It just so happens that every incident – be it last week’s shootings in Denmark, last months attacks in Paris, the ongoing scourge of ISIS, etc. – involves Islamic radicals.
What makes this even more ridiculous is that President Obama has gone out of his way to placate these Muslims. In many instances, he has done so to his own political detriment, leaving Americans to wonder where his loyalties lie. But while conservatives grow frustrated over Obama’s lack of focus, Muslims think he hasn’t done enough to separate the violence from the religion.
Griping about not being invited to the event, Corey Saylor of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said, “We recognize there are people of ill intent trying to recruit American Muslims into their cause. But I think the community needs to be the one that leads on that front.”
Nope. Sorry. You’ve had your chance to lead. It’s been 14 long years since 9/11, and the problem of Islamic terrorism has only grown worse. Bin Laden may be dead and Al Qaeda may not have the strength it once enjoyed, but the Islamic State is more than enough to make up the difference. The U.S. can’t even kill ISIS extremists fast enough to make up for the thousands of radicals swarming to join them in Iraq and Syria.
According to the criticisms, “the overwhelming majority of terrorist incidents in the United States” cannot be laid at the feet of Muslims. That is, of course, an absurd argument to make. It ignores the thousands of people being killed around the world each year by Islamic radicals, it ignores the specific efforts that have been made to stop Islamic terrorism in the U.S., and it is confoundingly ignorant of the state of the world.
If political correctness must be abided in our media, our offices, and our sporting events, that’s one thing. But it cannot be allowed to take over law enforcement and national security. Does it make American Muslims uncomfortable to be associated with violent extremism? Good. Maybe if they get uncomfortable enough, they’ll do something about the radicals in their midst.
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