What is the Proper Response to Paris?

John Eberhard

As I’m sure you know by now, there were multiple coordinated terrorist attacks against the French people in Paris last week, leaving at least 140 dead and over 300 wounded. This included gunfire at a major concert venue.

The violence has been claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) as revenge for French military action in Syria and Iraq. There are reports that two of the terrorists were recent refugees from Syria.

The responses to the massacre were varied and somewhat predictable:

President Obama on Friday said how terrible it was, but declined to speculate who was responsible for the attacks. He earlier said that 99.9% of Muslims reject radical Islam. On just the morning of the attack he stated that ISIS was contained.
Donald Trump said that the attack in Paris would have been different if the French were allowed to carry guns (they’re not).
Marco Rubio stated “We are at war with radical Islam, with an interpretation of Islam by a significant number of people around the world, who they believe now justifies them in killing those who don’t agree with their ideology.” “The attacks on Paris are a wake up call. This is not a grievance-based conflict. This is a clash of civilizations. Either they win or we win.”
Jeb Bush said “We should declare war.”
Hillary Clinton refused to say the US is at war with radical Islam. She later said the US must lead the war against ISIS. She also said we should increase the number of Syrian refugees we take in, from 10,000 to 65,000, as long as we vet them.
Bernie Sanders said our biggest threat is climate change and that it causes terrorism.
Ben Carson, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz said “No refugees.”
Author and radio host Mark Levin said we should seal the borders, and thank God for the Second Amendment.
As of the writing of this article Governors of 26 states have said they will not take in Syrian refugees.
A large number of people on social media expressed condolence for the Parisians, saying they were praying for them, and many changing their Facebook profile picture to one featuring the French flag.
Some on social media claimed this was a false flag event, pointing to how convenient it was that a Syrian passport was found at the scene of one of the attacks and that similar things had happened at earlier terrorist attacks, identifying the attackers as from Muslim countries.

Let’s talk about President Obama first. By his actions, Obama is clearly either a Muslim himself or his sympathies lie first and foremost with Islam. He has bent over backwards to avoid stating that past attacks were caused by Muslims or by radical Islam. So it is predictable that he would say “Oh we don’t want to jump to conclusions here,” at least until ISIS claimed responsibility.

But what he is saying, essentially, when he says that 99.9% of Muslims do not support radical Islam, is that we should not take any action against radical Islam or its openly terrorist groups. That is the essence of what he is saying.

It’s fairly predictable that conservative politicians and candidates would push for more concrete action to address this problem, and that liberal politicians would say that we should do nothing and it’s not much of a threat.

But what is the real correct response to a terrible terrorist attack like this?

First, let’s look at some facts:

Facts About Islam

First let’s debunk the myth that Obama is pushing that only a tiny percentage of Muslims favor radical Islam.

The Polling Company CSP Poll (2015): 19% of Muslim-Americans say that violence is justified in order to make Sharia the law in the United States (66% disagree).
The Polling Company CSP Poll (2015): 25% of Muslim-Americans say that violence against Americans in the United States is justified as part of the "global Jihad (64% disagree).
Pew Research (2007): 26% of younger Muslims in America believe suicide bombings are justified.
35% of young Muslims in Britain believe suicide bombings are justified. (24% overall)
42% of young Muslims in France believe suicide bombings are justified. (35% overall)
22% of young Muslims in Germany believe suicide bombings are justified.(13% overall).
29% of young Muslims in Spain believe suicide bombings are justified.(25% overall).
ICM Poll: 25% of British Muslims disagree that a Muslim has an obligation to report terrorists to police.
Pew Research (2013): Only 57% of Muslims worldwide disapprove of al-Qaeda. Only 51% disapprove of the Taliban. 13% support both groups and 1 in 4 refuse to say.
BBC Radio (2015): 45% of British Muslims agree that clerics preaching violence against the West represent "mainstream Islam".

The percentages on these and other similar questions in primarily Muslim countries are off the charts.

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/opinion-polls.htm

A center for Security Policy poll of US Muslims shows:

There are approximately 3 million Muslims in the U.S.
A majority (51%) of American Muslims surveyed said they "should have the choice of being governed according to shariah."
Almost 30% of American Muslims believe it is legitimate to use violence "against those that insult the prophet Muhammad, the Qur’an, or Islamic faith."
25% of Muslims said that "violence against Americans here in the United States can be justified as part of the global jihad."
Nearly 20% of Muslims said that the use of violence in the United States is justified in order to make shariah the law of the land in this country.
When asked "if shariah conflicts with the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which law should be considered supreme?," 33% said sharia.
That’s 600,000 – 1,000,000 people who advocate the overthrow of the Constitution…

https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2015/06/23/nationwide-poll-of-us-muslims-shows-thousands-support-shariah-jihad/

Muslims are encouraged to use force to convert others to Islam.

According to www.thereligionofpeace.com: “Muslims are told to fight unbelievers until they are either dead, converted to Islam, or in a permanent state of subjugation under Muslim domination. Allowing people of other faiths to live and worship independently of Islamic rule is not an option.”
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/013-forced-conversion.htm

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/023-violence.htm

Islam permits lying to deceive unbelievers and bring about world domination.

http://muslimfact.com/bm/terror-in-the-name-of-islam/islam-permits-lying-to-deceive-unbelievers-and-bri.shtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgsrnmzxEUY

The Koran contains instruction that if there is any contradiction within it, that later passages take precedence over earlier passages. Earlier, more peaceful passages are thus subjugated in importance to later, more violent and less tolerant passages.

Sharia law commands that:

Drinkers and gamblers should be whipped
Husbands are permitted to beat their wives
Commands that a thief must have a hand cut off
Commands that homosexuals must be executed
Orders unmarried fornicators to be whipped, and adulterers to be stoned to death
Orders death for both Muslim and non-Muslim critics of Mohammed, the Koran and Sharia.
It is the duty of every Muslim to keep striving until every government is converted to Sharia law.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgsrnmzxEUY

The Proper Response

I believe our proper reaction to this is that radical Islam is completely out of step with the 21st century and is essentially a barbaric practice. Multiculturism be damned. All cultures and all belief systems are NOT the same.

And I think it is important to realize that Islam has not been hijacked by radicals. The so-called radicals are actually following the violent, intolerant passages in the later portions of the Koran, and trying to follow them exactly.

I believe the proper response is NOT:

Radical Islam is so small a group it’s not worth bothering about, which is what Obama is trying to push.
We can’t fight radical Islam because it’s not proper or politically correct.

Our proper response should be:

To recognize that there is a problem.
To put the safety of the American people as the highest priority. That means that the safety of the American people is a higher priority than worrying about offending Muslims or worrying about being politically correct, not profiling, or complaints from CAIR, etc.

The actions we should take are:

Stop the flow of Syrian refugees into the US.
Stop the flow of immigrants from primarily Muslim countries
Stop all illegal immigration, all of it
Don’t release any more terrorists from Guantanamo (Obama released four more the other day)
Demand and encourage Muslims who disagree with violent, radical Islam to speak up and denounce it
Fully investigate mosques and with any that are preaching violence, shut them down

As far as military action against ISIS, I am un-committed. Here is an excellent article outlining several strategies.

http://oliverdemille.com/2015/11/what-us-should-do/

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