To the Mayor of Manchester: The Suicide Bomber Was a Muslim

In the aftermath of the horrific suicide bombing, the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, wanted to make one thing perfectly clear. The man who blew himself was a terrorist, not a Muslim. To quote him directly, “The message that I would want to get over – and this is how the vast majority of people feel – this man was a terrorist, not a Muslim.”

Mr. Burnham, with all respect to the pain your community is experiencing, and with full recognition of your desire to unite your people, you are terribly wrong. Dead wrong. The suicide bomber was a terrorist because of his Muslim faith. Until you acknowledge that and until the people of your community acknowledge that, you will not be able to combat the terror.

I imagine that most of the Muslims in Manchester are aghast at this atrocity. And I imagine most of them look at this as a perversion of their faith.

But many others do not. For them, this is what Islam does. It fights the unbelievers wherever it finds them, especially at a worldly concert attended by young people. Infidels!

I understand, Mr. Burnham, that your point was that Salman Abedi was not a true Muslim, since true Muslims do not commit such acts.

In that case, neither Osama bin Laden nor any members of Al-Qaeda were (or are) true Muslims.

And neither Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, who holds a Ph.D. in Quranic Studies from Iraq's Saddam University for Islamic Studies, nor any members of ISIS are true Muslims.

And no member of the Taliban or Hamas (which stands for the “Islamic Resistance Movement”) or Hezbollah (“The Party of Allah”) or the Muslim Brotherhood are true Muslims.

And it’s just a coincidence that during the month of Ramadan, Islamic terrorist attacks increase dramatically around the world. (The bloodshed has already begun, with more than 25 Coptic Christians, including children, slaughtered on the first day of Ramadan.)

And it’s just a coincidence that Abedi allegedly memorized the Quran as a boy and would chant his Islamic prayers loudly in the street.

And it’s just a coincidence that numerous texts in the Quran are interpreted by millions of Muslims as justification for terrorist attacks.

And it’s just a coincidence that these same texts have been used by Muslims for centuries as a theological basis for acts of violence.

And it’s just a coincidence that suicide bombings between rival Muslim groups take place on a regular basis in mosques and in markets and at funerals.

And it’s just a coincidence that the terrorists responsible for 9-11 and Fort Hood and the Boston Marathon bombing and San Bernardino and Orlando and Nice, France and Brussels, Belgium, and London, England, and Madrid, Spain, and Beslan, Russia (the list is almost endless) were all Muslims.

Focusing on England, it’s just a coincidence that BBC reports that, “Approximately 850 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist organisations in Syria and Iraq, say the British authorities.” Need I say that all 850 were Muslims?

And Mr. Mayor, you must be aware that, “Manchester has long been a hotbed of Islamic extremism, with dozens or more Muslim-born radicals and converts known to have gone to fight for Islamic State and, security officials fear, in some cases secretly returned to continue their jihad in Britain.”

Is this just a coincidence?

Here in America, I guess it was just a coincidence that Nidal Malik Hasan, the 2009 Fort Hood shooter, calls himself a “Soldier of Allah” and was radicalized by the Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, (We killed al-Awlaki via drone attack in Yemen in 2011).

And it was just a coincidence that he shouted out “Allahu Akbar” as he wounded or killed more than 40 unarmed, American military personnel.

And it was just a coincidence that he previously turned a medical lecture into a radical Islamic screed, during which he allegedly justified suicide bombings, reportedly stating that if you didn’t believe in the Koran, “you are condemned to hell. Your head is cut off. You're set on fire. Burning oil is burned down your throat.”

Pitifully, our government classified this 2009 Islamic terrorist attack as “workplace violence.” And pitifully, many leaders in England want to disassociate the Manchester bombing from Islam.

This is willful ignorance of the highest order. And it is willful ignorance that is deadly.

In contrast, Egypt’s President el-Sisi, himself a devout Muslim, delivered a courageous speech at Cairo’s prestigious Al-Azhar University in 2015, stating, “We need to revolutionize our religion." He called for "religious discourse that is in keeping with its times," warning that "the Islamic nation is being torn apart and destroyed" by extremism.

In Poland, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo had some very strong words to say in response to the Manchester bombing. “Where are you headed Europe?” she asked. “Rise from your knees and from your lethargy or you will be crying over your children every day.”

She continued: “If you can’t see this – if you can’t see that terrorism currently has the potential to hurt every country in Europe, and you think that Poland should not defend itself, you are going hand in hand with those who point this weapon against Europe, against all of us.

Islam is a cult. Think of Scientology.

Many members who are just there and doing their thing. They are still members of their community and associate with their family.

Some members are radical and detached. They are the ones that are easy to identify.

Other members stay in touch with family/friends and their community but slowly start to change, becoming more detached over time. The cult is absorbing them.

The cult is self-sustaining. It draws members from all walks of life. But it constantly generates the most radical members.

As the cult gains wins, it draws in more of the “fair-weather” fans who were considered moderate previously. They want to be part of the action, help contribute to the success of the cult.

This is how people should view islam, including those who are moderates.

It’s time to come up with a new idea for dealing with the aftermath of terrorism. Candles and flowers are a sop to the weak-willed who are driven by emotion and nothing else. I prefer action instead of empty emotional theater. It’s long past time to round these people up and imprison or deport them. If that seems to drastic, remember that it’s not nearly as drastic as the shooting war that will come if we continue to do nothing except sing kumbaya.

According to: https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/ there have been almost 31,000 deadly terrorist attacks by Muslims since 9/11/2001.

To be fair, there are nearly a billion Muslims who did not engage in such attacks, and there are several dozen Muslims who disapprove of those attacks. Further, there were (probably) hundreds of deadly terrorist attacks from the non-Muslim 5/6 of the world’s population in the same time period.

To be fair, there are nearly a billion Muslims who did not engage in such attacks

They just don't have the resources or expertise, the koranimals are commanded to "kill thy neighbor as thyself".

...there are several dozen Muslims who disapprove of those attacks

Good, then they should be hired to identify and round up all the millions that do.

there were (probably) hundreds of deadly terrorist attacks from the non-Muslim 5/6 of the world’s population in the same time period.

No, there "probably" are not.

A "moderate" mozlum, is simply one that doesn't have any bullets.

non-Muslims are really in no position to say who is a Muslim and who is not.

That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard in my life...Of course we are.

If someone emulates the look or actions of the death-cultists, they should be considered "persons of interest" and watched like a hawk, regardless of skin color or national origin.

Let them prove otherwise.

Who cares if they are a "true moslem"?

It will stop when the Imams stop it and not until then.

It will stop when the WE stop it. There's no reason in a civilized world for this worthless "religion" to exist. We need to declare it a terrorist cult.

It does nothing to make people better, but encourages lying, cheating, violence, rape and murder. Sharia law (islam) is completely contrary to the rights, freedoms and liberty guaranteed by our Constitution.

It's a death-cult bent on world domination.

If the belief that all Muslims are terrorist prevails then the world body must prepare to wage war on 1.5 billion people because they are trying to kill us.

If the belief that all infidels are subhuman prevails then the Ummah must wage war on the rest of the world because they they are not human (muslim).

The 1.5 billion really would have no problem feeding
the rest of us to the ovens.

“As the cult gains wins, it draws in more of the “fair-weather” fans who were considered moderate previously. They want to be part of the action, help contribute to the success of the cult.”

Well said, this is the second generation phenomenon we see, where the second generation is more violent. The second generation grows up with the relative comfort of western welfare systems or the possibly the middle class. Exposed to western culture, music, the must have sneakers -typical teenager stuff. Not particularly devout. They’ve lived a pampered, possibly decadent, existence relative to the majority of Muslims around the world. All a source of guilt the can be used to recruit them into radicalism.

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