Epigraph:
“Freedom is more powerful than fear.” Obama
The White House has tweeted his 13 minute speech:
Watch President Obama’s address to the nation on the threat of terrorism and keeping the American people safe. https://t.co/A16eYXCpOf
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 7, 2015
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To watch the video in Twitter, please click here
It is best to listen to the whole of 13 minute video rather than get an editorialized view by reading an account in a newspaper, which may have its on agenda.
In the last third of the account the president refutes the recent wave of Islamophobia created by right wing elements in the society.
The president, as he has several times in recent weeks, emphasized the need for the public to avoid creating the perception that the United States is at war with Islam, which Obama believes would help the Islamic State recruit foreign fighters and radicalize sympathizers in the United States and elsewhere.
“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want,” Obama said. “ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.”
Categories: America, Americas, Counter Terrorism, Islamophobia, Terrorism, The Muslim Times, USA
PEACEFUL MUSLIMS HAVE TO SPEAK UP LOUDLY TO REFORM THE ANCIENT ISLAMIC TEACHING AND INTERPRETATION OF AL QURAN.
I strongly disagree if Muslim Scholars say that Extremist Muslim like Isis, Al Qaida and Taliban are not Islam.
Actually they are devoting the ancient Islamic Shariah such as; the system of Caliphat QS 2;30, Non Islam have to pay Jizya QS 9:5, Slavery, women can be traded QS,23;4-6, Women have to cover whole her body with cloth. QS.33:59.,A wife do not have a right to reject if her husband want to have sex QS.4:34, be heading, be crucified, or their hands and legs be cut off from different sides,QS 5:33, who commits theft, cut off the hands of both QS 5;38,The fornicating woman and the fornicating man, flog each one of them with one hundred stripes.QS 24;2-3.
All execution have to be conducted at from of public.Nauzubillah.
Old interpretation of Al Quran encourage Muslim to commit violence. Muslim really need a reformation now.
The book of hadith encourage young Muslim to hate toward infidel, to kill apostate, blasphemy, gay and lesbian etc
Muslim really need a reformation, otherwise the world can not stop the act of terror. The root of violence come from the book of Hadith.
May Allah guide and give strength to all Muslim scholars around the world to reformed the book of Hadith as second resource of Islamic teaching. Amen
Wassalamu’alaikum wrwb
With my love
READ MORE;
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eWUfz-Hqg5w9qTuuz4e4a2uUQUutUKlkXi70ZnyFWX0/edit?usp=sharing
Transcript: President Obama’s address to the nation on the San Bernardino terror attack and the war on ISIS
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. On Wednesday, 14 Americans were killed as they came together to celebrate the holidays. They were taken from family and friends who loved them deeply. They were white and black; Latino and Asian; immigrants and American-born; moms and dads; daughters and sons. Each of them served their fellow citizens and all of them were part of our American family.
Tonight, I want to talk with you about this tragedy, the broader threat of terrorism, and how we can keep our country safe.
The FBI is still gathering the facts about what happened in San Bernardino, but here is what we know. The victims were brutally murdered and injured by one of their coworkers and his wife. So far, we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas, or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home. But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West. They had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition, and pipe bombs. So this was an act of terrorism, designed to kill innocent people.
Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. In the process, we’ve hardened our defenses — from airports to financial centers, to other critical infrastructure. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots here and overseas, and worked around the clock to keep us safe. Our military and counterterrorism professionals have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks overseas — disrupting safe havens in several different countries, killing Osama bin Laden, and decimating al Qaeda’s leadership.
Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we’ve become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society. It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009; in Chattanooga earlier this year; and now in San Bernardino. And as groups like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria, and as the Internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers.
For seven years, I’ve confronted this evolving threat each morning in my intelligence briefing. And since the day I took this office, I’ve authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad precisely because I know how real the danger is. As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.
Well, here’s what I want you to know: The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That’s what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power.
Here’s how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies — including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL.
Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we’re deploying Special Operations Forces who can accelerate that offensive. We’ve stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and we’ll continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground.
Third, we’re working with friends and allies to stop ISIL’s operations — to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting more fighters. Since the attacks in Paris, we’ve surged intelligence-sharing with our European allies. We’re working with Turkey to seal its border with Syria. And we are cooperating with Muslim-majority countries — and with our Muslim communities here at home — to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL promotes online.
Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process — and timeline — to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war. Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every country, including our allies, but also countries like Russia, to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL — a group that threatens us all.
This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by our military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition. And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done. That’s why I’ve ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa (waiver) program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that’s why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.
Now, here at home, we have to work together to address the challenge. There are several steps that Congress should take right away.
To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security.
We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies — no matter how effective they are — cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we can do — and must do — is make it harder for them to kill.
Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they’ve traveled to warzones. And we’re working with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that.
Finally, if Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL, it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists. For over a year, I have ordered our military to take thousands of airstrikes against ISIL targets. I think it’s time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people are united, and committed, to this fight.
My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can take together to defeat the terrorist threat. Let me now say a word about what we should not do.
We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like ISIL want. They know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq. But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops, draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits.
The strategy that we are using now — airstrikes, Special Forces, and working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their own country — that is how we’ll achieve a more sustainable victory. And it won’t require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil.
Here’s what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world — including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology. Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate.
That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront, without excuse. Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al Qaeda promote; to speak out against not just acts of violence, but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity.
But just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans — of every faith — to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It’s our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes — and, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.
My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history. We were founded upon a belief in human dignity — that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law.
Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I and future Presidents must take to keep our country safe, let’s make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional. Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear; that we have always met challenges — whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks — by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail.
Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/06/politics/transcript-obama-san-bernardino-isis-address/index.html
The meaningless ranting of a petulant, according to The Washington Post. Obama offered nothing new on how terrorism is to be defeated. He continues to live in his lie that ISIS has been contained when, in fact, it is expanding.
As usual Obama did not get his facts right. He said that Tashfeen Malik came to the US on a visa waiver which “ALLOWS CTIZENS OF PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES TO TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT A VISA FOR STAYS OF 90 DAYS OR LESS”.
Pakistan is not one of those countries and Malik entered the US on a K1 ‘fiancé’ visa.
A question for Trump: Some white men are racist; should we treat every one of them as a suspect?
Were there to be a ban based on racism, the Arabs would be the worst for it. A Somali refugee living in Britain once narrated his harrowing experience with Saudi racism. Other people have done the same thing.
A Kuwaiti official said his country and the GCC countries will not take in the Syrian ‘refugees’ because they are different and are better suited for Lebanon and Turkey. Not only do those countries lack compassion, they are racist. Yet nobody has raised a brow.
Donald Trump is castigated for upholding the First Amendment which allows people to bare their minds.
CARRY ON MR. TRUMP. YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB.
“DONALD TRUMP IS A BIGOT. HE IS WRONG ABOUT THE PEACEFUL MUSLIMS WHO ARE INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES”. The shriekers shout.
CNN (not my favourite channel) says the intelligence agencies have intercepted messages indicating a plan to attack major American cities. That was what a terrorist organization promised to do after the Paris bombings.
There is heightened security alert in Geneva because a similar plan has been discovered.
Everywhere the cost of security has gone up. The Homeland Security Department was created in the aftermath of 9/11. Its present staff strength is said to be four times what it was at inception. The effect is that resources which would have been utilized on social and capital programmes are now being channelled into security. That cost is getting more enormous by the day.
All the insecurity comes from one direction and the best way to get rid of it is to implement what Mr Trump has suggested.
It does not have to please everybody. It did not please all when FDR broke America’s neutrality and allowed individuals who wanted, to go and fight Germany. As at that time only 5% of Americans saw reason in what he was doing. The rest castigated him just as it is with Trump at the moment.
FDR rightly felt that if Germany was allowed to overrun Europe, its next target would be America and with the rest of the world under the Nazi jackboot, America would face the onslaught alone. It was, therefore, better to defeat Nazism in Europe and keep America safe.
The same reasoning applies today. Keep the refugees where they belong but give aid to them. With every muslim having the potential to be a jihadist, thoroughly screen anyone allowed into the country, if that must happen. Islamism is a much more dangerous ideology than its bed partner communism. Calling anyone a moderate is an insult because islam, they say, is one.
The Japanese were ‘respectable and peaceful’ people until Pearl Harbour proved otherwise. Going through that experience is unnecessary and is not to be repeated because this time the effect will be all over instead of being restricted to Honolulu.
Namelee is a poster child for fear mongering and hate mongering.
More than a thousand African Americans are killed by police every year. Today a police officer was convicted in Oklahoma for raping 13 African American women.
A million people will commit suicide this year. Climate change may destroy the planet in a few decades.
We certainly have greater worries than hounding every peaceful Muslim.
Please stop stereotyping and learn a simple distinction between preemptive strike on innocents versus punishing the guilty. Individual responsibility punishment and not a tribal mentality is the essence of the Western civilization as well as Islam.
Nothing is worse than being a denier because you mislead people by doing so. On your own admission, there are 90 million Islamic terrorists(6% of 1.5 billion). Add Iran and 39 other countries supporting ISIS and that combination creates a disaster to humanity which is more than a thousand times what ‘climate change’ can do.
The Oklahoma rapist has been caught and punished but nowhere is rape more prevalent than among the refugee populations from the Islamic countries. Quite often the perpetrators go free as any prosecution will bring the scream of ‘hate’,’ islamophobia’, ‘racism’ and all other excuses to justify the crimes.
Do not try to rub my face with the cliche of African Americans being killed by the police as if all police officers are non blacks or they go out target practicing with Blacks. Charging the police with racism and crippling their efficiency is Obama’s specialty and in the end it is the same African American community that will pay dearly for it. How about the Black-lives-Matter movement calling police officers pigs and urging that they be killed? What do you think that does to the morale of the officers and their ability to fight crimes? In any case, there are more murders in the Black community by Blacks than all the killings by others combined.
Obama certainly has a political agenda. Accuse the police, demoralize them, crime soars and expand the public sector by employing more who will most likely vote Democrat.
Being a ‘peaceful muslim’ goes with being a moderate. But even those who, as you know, are regarded as ‘moderates’ say there is no such thing. Who then is a peaceful muslim?
Western civilization is exactly what islam wants to destroy as the two are not compatible. You only have to listen to Islamic leaders and scholars, both past and present, to hear how disgusted they are with the idea..