Manchester

What kind of terrorism?

Following the terror attack at the concert in Manchester, England, British officials such as, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and British Prime Minister Theresa May have been careful not to admit that the attack was in fact Islamic terrorism and not just terrorism. May went out of her way to avoid talking about motivations. Khan released a statement saying, 

“London stands united with the great city of Manchester today after this barbaric and sickening attack. This was a cowardly act of terrorism that targeted a concert attended by thousands of children and young people.”

Khan's does address the barbarism of the bombing, but it still avoids stating the whole truth. Even "Her Majesty the Queen" (I read this title to myself in a cocky British accent) didn't address the matter of Islamic terrorism, or terrorism in general. You can her full statement here.

To illustrate how out of touch politicians are: Morrissey, the lead singer of The Smiths, a punk band, is really the only celebrity criticizing the Queen, May, Khan, and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. I mean a singer from a punk band can see the real problem, but the British officials can't, correction: won't, see the problem. American politicians have the same problem, so I'm not just criticizing Britain.

ISIS took credit for the bombing, you know: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. ISIS taking credit for the attack makes it Islamic terrorism. Now, am I saying all Muslims are terrorists? No. I'm saying that the terrorist that attacked the concert was Muslim. It's important to address the specific problem instead of worrying about what is politically correct.

ISIS has a new low

Many of the victims killed or injured in this bombing were kids. Many were my age, 22, or younger. Kids were targeted. Kids who haven't done anything to deserve this.There was even an eight year-old girl killed in the bombing, her name was Saffe Rose Roussos; remember her family and the families of all the victims in your prayers. This is a low, low act. I can't understand, nor do I want to, how killing kids accomplishes anything. It doesn't accomplish anything. 

From Fox News:

"Shortly after the attack ISIS supporters took to the internet to revel in the fact that innocent Western children were killed. On Tuesday an article was circulated on pro-ISIS channels, on the messaging app Telegram, under the hashtags #Manchester and #Britain, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. 

The author, calling herself Umm Omar Al-Iraqiyyah, wrote that the attack was a reprisal for the killing of innocent Muslims and that it was justified under the Quranic principle of reciprocity.

"If you kill our women and children – we will kill your women and children,” reads a line from Al-Iraqiyyah’s posting."" 

This type of rhetoric is what we're fighting, folks.

"We all just need to co-exist."

This quote comes from Katy Perry. I think she meant well, but we all can't just get along and co-exist. Islamic terrorists seek to destroy the West and kill westerners, us. Whether you condemn them or defend them you are still a target. 

I would love for America to be able to lay down our arms and bring every soldier home, but it doesn't work like that. Reality comes in and ends the ability to co-exist. You simply can't co-exist with people who want to destroy everything our country stands for. Freedom, liberty, justice: these are things hated by ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups. They hate the very principles that America was built on.

So, the take home message is this: politicians need to admit that Islamic terrorism exists, it's a threat to all people, and we can't co-exist.