Obama won't acknowledge the problem

Once the faces of the murderers were revealed; once the FBI officially announced that the slaughter in California was a terrorist act linked to the Islamic State group; once America discovered that the worst terrorist attack on its soil since 9/11 was carried out by radical Muslims (oops, you can't say radical Muslims); and once they learned that the female attacker declared her allegiance to Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi online on the day of the attack, the Americans expected a fitting presidential response.

But when the response came, in the form of a recorded message, the American public was surprised: Instead of condemning terrorism, President Barack Obama declared war on the Second Amendment, which enshrines every American citizen's right to carry a gun, as if the incident in San Bernardino on Wednesday was identical to any of the other horrifying killing sprees the U.S. has experienced in recent years. If guns were the problem, the three serious terrorist attacks that have taken place in France since the start of the year would never have happened, because of France's strict policy on gun ownership, right? What is the president thinking? That terrorists abide by the law? That government policy will prevent them from getting their hands on guns-

The main issue is the president's refusal to recognize the real problem. The war against Islamic State is a big failure, and the 62-nation coalition is going up against an organization that attracts operatives from more countries than that. Particularly, as France learned last month, when you fail to defeat the Islamic State phenomenon, it penetrates you physically and spiritually. Physically, via immigrants, and spiritually -- because the spirit of the Islamic State group has infiltrated the West.

It's so hard for the American president to accept reality. It's so hard for him to understand that his refusal to acknowledge radical Islam actually hurts the Muslim population. It would be far more fair to Muslims to make the distinction between Islam and radical Islam because it would characterize jihad as a perversion. But in the age of political correctness, when feathers must not be ruffled at any cost, when the truth is sometimes the last option, it's a little hard to take care of the problem.

On Saturday, someone mentioned the killings at Fort Hood in November 2009, when U.S. army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan murdered 13 people at the army base. In his interrogation, he claimed that he had acted to protect a small, persecuted minority, and his internet search history revealed that he had grown interested in jihad. Then, too, people preferred to believe the shooting was merely the result of a workplace dispute.

Anyone who, like me, was in the U.S. on Saturday and saw the news broadcasts and the commentary on the incident would have discovered a great deal of criticism toward the president. America is much more afraid of Islamic State than of global warming, but it looks like the administration isn't managing to calm public opinion. Obama only has himself to blame.

The terrorist attack in San Bernardino should have woken America up. In a single month, over 400 people have been killed in Islamic State terrorist attacks worldwide: the Russian plane that was shot down in Sinai; the worst terrorist attack to hit Beirut in 25 years; the worst spate of terrorist attacks to ever hit France; and now the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

The Islamic State organization was quick to boast on Saturday that the San Bernardino attackers were supporters of the group. We need to understand that there are people in the world who are not horrified by the acts committed by this couple. To them, the attackers have achieved the American dream. We need to understand that there are people in the world who view any woman who leaves her baby with her grandmother and goes on a killing spree not as reprehensible but as a heroine.

We need to understand that the problem is not just the Islamic State's presence or the fact that it has established a kingdom; the problem lies with the alternative that it offers and the fact that there is clearly a market for the horror it sells and exports.

We need to understand that as long as the organization is not eradicated, or at least dealt a critical blow, its spirit will continue to live on in the West. Obama must understand that there is a new player in the West, and that player is the Islamic State.

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