Bombs are falling on Syria, as the great campaign to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State begins. Well, actually, it was mostly just a bit of light degradation for ISIS in the first couple of days, because we had to destroy an entirely different gang called the Khorasan Group. They were about to launch some kind of attack on the Western world, after working hard to develop some sort of new, almost undetectable bomb. There were only about 50 of them, and the Pentagon thinks they’re toast. Good riddance.
President Obama made a point of saluting his five key Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State: Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Getting moderate Muslims to help polish off the Islamic State is crucial, because President Obama said they’re not really Islamic. (Saudi Arabia … “Moderate?” You probably won’t hear that one again and Qatar helped finance ISIS, but just roll with it.)
“The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not America’s fight alone,” said the President on Tuesday morning. “Above all, the people and governments in the Middle East are rejecting ISIL and standing up for the peace and security that the people of the region and the world deserve.”
Mr. Obama is very excited about his coalition partners. But the truth is, the Arab allies are Islamic monarchies concerned that the leader of ISIS, 43-year-old Abu al-Baghdadi, has now declared himself the caliph (or khalifa), the successor to Muhammad. Those same rulers, the Kings, Sheikhs, Princes etc. have previously turned a blind eye to terror and have been funding and nut-jobs like this, now need our help in stopping him from succeeding in removing themfrom power. We will stop ISIS, and save the Kings of the Middle East, all at a great cost to you and I, while we continue to pump gas at around $3.84 a gallon.
We have helped our “allies” in the past and each time we do, our oil producing “friends” seem to forget all about the sacrifice of “Uncle Sammy” and the hardships their extravagantly priced oil causes our economy and many Americans on a daily basis. If Abu al-Baghdadi were to succeed, those rulers would not just be out of power, they would be dead!
Every Islamic leader wants to think of himself as the next Saladin, the great conquer of the Crusaders in 1187. Islamic leaders, for over one thousand years have dreamed of bringing the Muslim world together, under one caliphate (King) to rule over the Islam and eventually, the rest of the world. The problem for the elites of today’s Middle East is the leader of ISIS is making some progress in that direction.
By the way, there’s ANOTHER name for them floating around out there? Not ISIS or ISIL, but “Daesh.” The French are using that name now. I don’t know if that’s going to catch on. It sounds… edible.
Anyway, here’s President Obama a couple of weeks ago, explaining that the Islamic State is not Islamic, or a state: “Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not ’Islamic.’ No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”
With that in mind, let me ask a very important question of our moderate Muslim allies. We’re going to be taking prisoners from ISIL, or ISIS, or Daesh, or whatever you want to call them. There’s going to be ground combat. When those prisoners are taken - by American troops, Iraqi soldiers, Kurds, or whoever else - should they be given Korans, prayer rugs and other Islamic items?
They shouldn’t get those things if they’re not Islamic, right? In fact, it should be considered offensive for anyone who fights under the banner of this 100 percent non-Islamic enemy to handle a Koran. I have seen first hand elaborate sets of procedures for handling Korans at Guantanamo Bay. First, they have to find a Muslim - either someone from the chaplain’s staff, or one of the prisoners - to move Korans around, and carefully place them in what looks like surgical masks attached to the side of the cell. If that is impossible, the non-Muslim guards have to put on clean gloves and “use two hands … at all times when handling the Koran in a manner signaling respect and reverence,” according to the procedure. In every cell, common area and corridor used by detainees, an arrow is painted to show the direction of Mecca. (There’s more about those procedures here.)
So it should be completely inappropriate to let anyone from the non-Islamic State touch a Koran. That’s far worse than having a non-Muslim with basically good intentions handle one at a detention center. As Mr. Obama said, ISIS is an enemy of Islam. Every atrocity they commit — every beheading, genocide, mutilation and rape — is an insult, because they keep pretending to be Muslims. America and her allies should not help them pretend by treating them like good Muslims in prison.
Moderate Muslims am I right? Please join me in encouraging all Islamic-Americans, Moderate Muslims and the Muslim nations in our anti-ISIS alliance to make a formal statement, condemning ISIS as non-Islamic and thus affording them none of the comforts we have provided the Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay?
If not, then they must explain to Mr. Obama and to the American people that he’s wrong when he says the Islamic State isn’t Islamic? We all need to get on the same page here.
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