It doesn’t take much courage for Donald Trump to cast a shadow of suspicion over all Muslims for the actions of a deadly few, or for Barack Obama to refuse to call Islamic terrorists “Islamic” terrorists.
They both should meet and take a lesson from a man of real courage on the issue — South Florida Muslim cleric Sheikh Shafayat Mohamed.
In a recent sermon at his mosque in Pembroke Pines, Fla, Mohamed said that “It's time for the Muslim world to wage jihad — a war — on ISIS.” Calling the terrorist group “evil” and “un-Islamic” for killing innocents in Syria, Iraq, the Middle East and the West, he said ISIS needs to be defeated “spiritually, intellectually and physically . . . until we denounce them we will be associated with them.”
Elaborating his views on Newsmax TV’s “The Hard Line,” he told host Ed Berliner that “most Muslims are afraid of a backlash from these terrorists . . . on one hand you have non-Muslims who don't understand Islam and the Koran and the true message who would want to attack all Muslims or would paint a brush over all Muslims for terrorism.”
Regarding the crisis concerning the Syrian refugees, he said that we can solve all the problems by “fighting against ISIS and getting back these refugees in their homes in Syria and in Iraq."
Knowing that he could face retribution from terrorists did not stop Mohamed from speaking out. That’s real courage!
That is a bit different than Trump and Obama. Neither has exhibited courage in these difficult and tense times and both could learn much from cleric Mohamed.
As to Trump, when tensions and fears are running high as is the case in the face of ISIS attacks in Paris and elsewhere, it doesn’t take much courage to exploit fears for political gain by advocating fearful measures:
- A deportation police force to round up illegal immigrants
- Closing mosques
- Registration and surveillance of Americans based on their religion (Muslims)
- Institution of a national data base for Syrian refugees and, repeating the unsubstantiated and debunked story that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey cheered the twin towers falling down on 9/11
As to Obama and his administration, there are many examples of less than courageous actions and positions resulting in lack of leadership at home and abroad:
- A “leading from behind” foreign policy resulting in chaos and loss of American leadership and respect in the Middle East and around the world
- Capitulation on the Iran nuclear agreement
- Refusal to use the term “Radical Islamic” when describing terrorists out of fear of offending Muslims
- Exhibiting more anger and emotion at Republicans for being “scared of Syrian refugee widows and 3-year-old orphans coming into the United States.” than he ever did to prevent their being gassed by President al-Assad
- From the very beginning, putting political correctness ahead of national security and the terrorism threat to the country such as labeling the 2009 Fort Hood massacre “workplace violence”
These leadership failings and contradictions were made even more clear this week. How ironic it was to see Obama standing side by side with French President Hollande and citing the close relationship between the two countries when, not quite a year ago, he failed to join other world leaders in a Paris unity rally after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.
So, when the same team that told us Benghazi was the result of a video; that ISIS was a JV team; that a red line in Syria is when we start seeing chemical weapons being utilized; and, that may have been dealing in distorted intelligence assessments about ISIS, now tells us that there is “no specific and credible intelligence” to suggest a terrorist threat over the holiday, we should keep its track record in mind.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as in the Reagan presidential campaigns and has appeared on many national and local media outlets. Read more reports from Clarence V. McKee — Click Here Now.
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