Ignorant and Dangerous

As usual, the Islamic terror attack in Orlando has devolved into discussion of anything but Islamic terror. Working overtime to shape the narrative, Democrats and their trained hamsters in the media have refocused attention away from Islamic terror and toward gun control and "bigotry" against the LBGT community. They would prefer NOT to discuss who it was who used the weapons that they roundly condemn, NOT to delve into the Islamist ideology that precipitated the attack, and NOT to criticize a "religion" that advocates the murder of gay people. Nah ... that's uncomfortable and strays from the Democrat narrative, so as a nation, we absolutely, positively can't go there.

Democrats both inside and outside the Administration tell us the we have to better understand the "motivations" of Omar Mateen, as if his own words don't give us direct and irrefutable insight into why he perpetrated such horror. Democrats consistently refer to Mateen as a "lone wolf," or "lone actor," or "homegrown," or "self-radicalized" in an effort to deflect attention away from the problem we face. Paul Sperry reports on some of the early results of the FBI investigation:

Mateen likely absorbed more anti-gay and anti-US messaging at the small Fort Pierce, Fla., mosque his father helped run. Authorities say the radical Islamic center has been a “breeding ground” for terrorists, including the first American suicide bomber in Syria, alongside whom Omar Mateen prayed. Mateen worshipped there for more than a dozen years, praying up to four times a week. State incorporation records show the senior Mateen served as the mosque’s vice president and sat on its board for several years.

Seddique Mateen insists he did not know his son was radicalized and was angered by his actions. “If I did know, 1 percent, that he was committing such a crime myself, I would have arrested him myself,” he claimed. Also serving on the board of his pro-Taliban nonprofit, The Durand Jirga Inc., are two daughters and an Afghan-born son-in-law, who’s also active in politics in Afghanistan.

Just weeks before the attack, property records I’ve obtained show Omar Mateen transferred his interest in a Fort Pierce condo over to one of the sisters and and the Afghan brother-in-law, a possible indication the family could have had some knowledge of his martyrdom plans. Authorities say the fatally wounded Mateen clearly was prepared to die in a gun battle.

The mysterious brother-in-law — Mustafa Abasin, aka Mustafa Aurakzai, who shows an intense hatred for Donald Trump on social media — has been questioned by federal investigators, along with other family members. I’m also told FBI agents have expanded the investigation overseas to family connections in Afghanistan. On Friday, both Mateen’s widow and father were placed on the federal no-fly list.

Democrats seem unable or more likely unwilling to connect the dots, because connecting them leads to one irrefutable common thread—radical Islam and Islamist ideology, aided and abetted by at least a few members of the immediate, local Muslim community act as a springboard for each Islamic terror attack, including Orlando.

Today, we learn from Attorney General Loretta Lynch that the DoJ plan to release written transcripts of Omar Mateen's text and phone conversations during the attack, but the Obama administration plans to excise any words that proclaim his allegiance to ISIS. The stated reason—they don't want his ranting to become a catalyst for other young Muslims. Hmmm. Could it also be that they want to obfuscate the underlying "motivation" so they can keep the public focus elsewhere.

With regard to "violent extremism," the prevailing Democratic memes are these:

• Connecting the terror perpetrated by radical Muslims to Islam is an invitation to religious war.
• Suggesting that Islam has some culpability in any of this is an invitation to religious war. 
• Arguing that Islam has not done enough to stop Islamist ideology is an invitation to religious war. 

Let's unpack this.

Connecting the terror perpetrated by radical Muslims to Islam is an invitation to religious war. And here I thought that young members of the religion of peace were "peaceful and moderate." If that's true, then isn't it "racist" to believe that young Muslims are just not stable enough to differentiate between Islamists and the mainstream of Islam? When they they hear a pro-ISIS rant, will young Muslims strap on the hated AR-15 and shoot up a mall or ballpark or whatever? If the answer is yes, what does that tell us about Islam in general?

Suggesting that Islam has some culpability in any of this is an invitation to religious war. The simple reality is that Islamist groups quote directly from the Koran, using a literal interpretation of the holy books. If that interpretation is perverse, isn't it up to Islam's holy men (Imams) to rise up and reject it and to suggest reforms to the holy books and to the religion itself? After nearly two decades of violent Islamic terror, why have no reforms been recommended or adopted? I have yet to encounter a fatwa offered by a prominent Islamic cleric against say, the leader of ISIS or al Qaeda or al Nusra or Boko Haram. Why is that?

Arguing that Islam hasn't not done enough to stop Islamist ideology is an invitation to religious war. When the Catholic church was found to disregard warnings about pedophile priests among its clergy, progressives demanded action and demanded it immediately and without compromise. Why was it okay to make demands of the Catholic church, but it's not okay to make demands of Islam? And please, spare me the numbers game. There are 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, yet no one ever suggested that criticism of the religion would lead to a holy war. Why is that?

Democrats can't have it both ways. If they're wed to their memes, they damn well better have good answers the questions I've posed. They don't, and that makes the memes that they promote both ignorant and dangerous.