Obama's Dubious Dialogue

Amir Taheri, NY Post:

"The message I want to send is that we will be unyielding in stamping out the terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai," Obama told The Chicago Tribune last Tuesday.

Note that the American president-elect mentions Mumbai - and not the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington or scores of others carried out by Islamic terrorists against Western targets.

Note also that he talks of "terrorist extremism," not "Islamic" or even "Islamist" terrorism.

The reason, of course, is his desire not to ruffle Muslim feathers. And herein lies the fundamental weakness of his position.

If the terrorism we saw on 9/11 and many other occasions has nothing to do with Islam, then why bring up the issue with Muslim leaders rather than Buddhist monks? Alternately, if this type of terrorism does have Islamic roots, why not give it its proper designation?

In fact, Islamic feathers need to be ruffled if we are to defeat Islamic terrorism. Muslims should be told that they've been too complacent in recognizing the threat.

To be sure, not all Muslims are terrorists. But virtually all terrorists are Muslims. Nor do they live on another planet: They are recruited, trained and sheltered in Muslim countries.

As Taheri points out, the vast majority of victims of Islamic terrorism are Muslims.

And for women in many of these countries, abuse and murder is routine. Get real.

P.S. Citizen efforts to support civil rights in the Middle East.