By Bud Stevenson
I admit that when I first heard the horrific news from Paris, I couldn’t help but wonder how the Obama White House would react. Terror in France points to larger issue Daily Republic.
Would Josh Earnest, the talking head for the Oval Office, utter the so far forbidden phrase “Islamic (or Islamist) terrorism”? Well, he did use both words, but not together. I guess the notion that it would be politically incorrect to suggest that Islam itself was not a “religion of peace” dominates the president’s thinking.
Unfortunately, the French have let themselves be boxed into a terrorist corner when it comes to fighting Muslim crime.
How so? Well, for starters, the French have 6 million Muslims within their borders, the result of years of an “open border” policy. Paris has let itself become surrounded by Muslim communities.
You might think that should be no particular threat to French civilization, but that’s not the case. Here’s a commentary from The Washington Times: “A backdrop to the massacre in Paris on Wednesday by self-professed al-Qaida terrorists is that city officials have increasingly ceded control of heavily Muslim neighborhoods to Islamists, block by block . . .”
That control means that the Muslims govern by Shariah law, determine the type of education the young ones will receive, observe their own holidays and, what may be worst, allow the most vicious, inflammatory sermons to prevail in the mosques. That means that children learn hatred of the West, particularly Jews and the State of Israel, as an integral part of their education.
Of course, any intervention in their communities by the police, or perceived insults by the media, may well result in a death sentence against those responsible.
If you’re wondering what the French can do, I’m afraid the answer is not much. They did, however, stand up to Shariah law a year of two ago, when they refused to issue driver’s licenses to Muslim women who wanted to be photographed with an “eyes only” hijab.
That was one of the rare victories for Western civilization in Europe in the past few years. But standing up to the demands of Muslim “law” is not our strong suit, especially within our citadels of higher education. Remember the footbaths installed at the University of Michigan to accommodate Muslim students?
Can we say that Muslim terrorism “can’t happen here”? Can we look to our president for reassurance? How about John Kerry? Or likely presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who advised us we needed to show “respect and empathy” for our enemies?
I guess the response in Paris to the Charlie Hebdo murderers is to listen to what makes them angry.
Bud Stevenson, a retired stockbroker. Reach him at Bsteven254@aol.com.
fairlyhonestbob 