Terror in the Bike Lane

Another Islamic terrorist attack has occurred in New York City. As usual, we're told by the elites that "the terrorists will not defeat us." We're told to "stay strong." We're told this is a "lone wolf" and there is no broader threat. We're told to use euphemisms and not to be "Islamophobic." We're told that banning guns will do the trick—oops, in this case maybe it's banning rental trucks and paint guns. We're told that any attempt to control the types of people who immigrate to our shores is "against our values." We're told that Islam is "the religion of peace." Yada, yada, yada.

But at the same time, we're told that "extreme vetting," or more intrusive surveillance, or more assertive policies in places like Afghanistan are important if we are to "win this war." I understand the need to do all of those things, but they will NOT win this war. What I don't understand is why the West has decided that it must take the lead in fighting a war against a malignant strain of Islam. At least, not yet.

The war must be fought and won by Islam itself—if it is the peaceful and benign religion that simply wants to co-exist with the rest of us. Islam must rid itself of Islamists, must condemn them unequivocally, must rid its mosques of those who preach violence and hatred, must scan its communities in the West and identify those who are radicalized, turning them over to authorities, must issue fatwas against Islamists, calling them the apostates that they are, it must embrace those true moderate Muslims who have had the courage to criticize radical Islam, it must initiate a complete reformation so that the horror of groups like ISIS or al Qaeda or al Nusra or dozens of others will be eradicated.

And we in the West must demand that Islam does exactly those things. Right now! Islam must take the lead in fighting the war against its malignant strain..

Roger Simon comments on all of this:

What most of us know -- those who are even faintly honest anyway -- is that Islam has a gigantic problem, the basis of which is that the so-called "radical" Islamists are actually practicing the fundamental version of their religion. What they do is approved, even required, by their holy texts. Many of our liberals and progressives don't know this -- or don't want to -- but it's the reality. It is also the reason Muslim protest is so tepid and often focused on non-existent Islamophobia.

And it is finally those beliefs that explain why people like ex-Uber driver Saipov can, as was reported, seem so friendly and pleasant, and then turn around and mow down as many people as he can in a jihadist orgy. He may be psychologically disturbed in our terms, but in his own, he's a believer. And his belief system can ultimately be a more powerful and enduring adversary than communism or Nazism, because it promises eternal life. (This is why I have always thought calling jihadists "cowards," as so many of our politicians do, silly. They are more than willing to die. Indeed, they crave it.)

Egypt's president al-Sisi has admitted and confronted this ghastly problem, calling for reform of Islam, but our own politicians -- either ignorant or pathetically politically correct -- dare not say a word. We would, they say, be interfering with Muslim nations.

That is, until Trump. The president was far more bold than his predecessors when he spoke to the leaders of Islamic nations in Saudi Arabia. But for the most part he spoke of working together to counter violence. The violence, however, will never be squelched until the ideology is defeated and reformed. We must focus on that now like the proverbial laser. So should he.

Rather than using Twitter to score political points against sanctimoneous hypocrites like Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump might emphasize each of the points I noted earlier in this post. For example,

Tweet—The war against terror must be fought and won by Islam itself—if it is a peaceful and benign religion that simply want to co-exist with the rest of us.
Tweet—Islam must rid itself of Islamists, must condemn them unequivocally, must rid its mosques of those who preach violence and hatred.
Tweet—Islam must scan its communities in the West and identify those who are radicalized, turning them over to authorities, must issue fatwas against Islamists, calling them the apostates that they are.
Tweet—Islam must embrace those true moderate Muslims who have had the courage to criticize Islam.
Tweet—Islam must initiate a complete reformation so that the horror of groups like ISIS or al Qaeda or al Nusra or dozens of others will be stamped out.

No doubt, those tweets would cause progressive heads to explode, but at the same time, they just might start a "conversation" that should have been initiated on the day after September 11, 2001.

Simon has it exactly correct when he writes:

We must all now be obnoxious, politically incorrect busybodies and get in Islam's face, demanding reform in every way possible, economically, socially, theologically and, yes, militarily. If we don't, our children and their children and grandchildren will be dealing with the exact same madness and violence in the years to come.

If obnoxious, politically incorrect behavior is required, Donald Trump is the guy to do it. I hope he does. I hope he does it now.