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Islam A Religion Of War
A new audio recording of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released yesterday. It is the first time the world has heard from al-Baghdadi in six months. There has been much speculation in the media that he was killed or incapacitated. The recording is undoubtedly an attempt by ISIS to reassure jihadis that their leader is alive and well.
I hope our politically correct leaders are paying attention to what Mr. Baghdadi is saying. The ISIS leader is urging Muslims everywhere to wage jihad now. He says that Muslims have an obligation to "migrate to the Islamic State or fight in his land wherever that may be."
According the New York Times, "The Islamic State released the recording online on Thursday with translations in English, French, German, Russian and Turkish, an unusual move suggesting that the group was hoping for maximum exposure."
Al-Baghdadi also directly refutes the oft-repeated claims of Western leaders that Islam is a religion of peace. He says:
"O Muslims, Islam was never for a day the religion of peace. Islam is the religion of war. No one should believe that the war that we are waging is the war of the Islamic State. It is the war of all Muslims, but the Islamic State is spearheading it. It is the war of Muslims against infidels."
Barack Obama and our politically correct elites can argue with Mr. Baghdadi, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, etc., all they want. But I take him at his word.
To be clear, not every Muslim is a jihadist. Many Muslims fought with us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Muslims would like to live in peace and enjoy the prosperity that modern life offers.
That said, it is delusional to deny the obvious. Islam has a problem with violence, and there is tremendous sympathy within the Muslim world for jihadi tactics. We may not be at war with radical Islam, but radical Islam is clearly at war with us.
Remembering Churchill
Seventy-five years ago this week, Winston Churchill, one of my heroes, delivered his first speech to Parliament as prime minister of Great Britain. Here is a portion of that famous address:
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.
"You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
"You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Churchill was, of course, referring to the rise of Nazi Germany. But with the rise of ISIS and the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, it is not difficult to imagine a future British prime minister, Israeli prime minister or American president delivering such a speech rallying the free world to victory over radical Islam.
Clinton Cash & Media Bias
News broke yesterday that George Stephanopoulos, the chief anchor for ABC News and former Clinton White House communications director, donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. Not surprisingly, the media couldn't get the story straight.
Initially it was reported that Stephanopoulos gave $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation. But Stephanopoulos later confirmed that he gave three $25,000 donations in 2012, 2013 and 2014, for a total of $75,000.
Stephanopoulos never disclosed the donations to ABC News. Nor did he disclose them when he aggressively interviewed Peter Schweizer, author of Clinton Cash.
In a statement apologizing for the donations, Stephanopoulos said, "I thought that my contributions were a matter of public record." Really, George? A major reason why the Clinton Foundation is such a scandal is its glaring lack of transparency.
Stephanopoulos has agreed not to participate in a February 2016 primary debate. But beyond that, ABC News is refusing to discipline Stephanopoulos in any way.
Brian Williams was kicked off the air for making things up. Stephanopoulos should be kicked off for keeping things secret. He clearly is not an impartial journalist.
Stephanopoulos worked on Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. He worked for years in the Clinton White House. And let me remind you of his performance during the 2012 debates. It was George Stephanopoulos who, totally out of the blue, asked Mitt Romney if states could ban birth control. Nobody was talking about birth control.
But the question was a setup. Days later the Obama Administration made it an issue when it proposed regulations forcing religious organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for birth control.
Suddenly, everybody was talking about birth control. Not because conservatives were trying to ban it, but because the Obama White House was once again assaulting religious liberty by forcing nuns to pay for it. Even the left-wing Washington Post saw through Obama's charade.
It was George Stephanopoulos who fired one of the first shots in the so-called "war on women" that dominated the 2012 campaign.
Gotcha Questions
The 2016 presidential campaign season has begun in earnest, and so has the season of presidential gotcha journalism. Gotcha journalism is the attempt by journalists to ask questions that make interview subjects seem uncompassionate, incompetent or otherwise unqualified for office.
In the interests of fairness, here is a list of questions honest journalists (not George Stephanopoulos) should consider asking. Read more in my latest opinion piece at washingtontimes.com.