AFRAID OF OFFENDING A MUSLIM, GET OVER IT OR TERRORISM WINS - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY

We have just commemorated the ninth anniversary of September 11. The day when men claiming to service to Allah used commercial jet liners as weapons to kill thousands of innocent people, bring down the symbol of American capitalism, damage the symbol of the American military might and reek terror throughout our land. And yes these men who perpetrated the most horrific terrorist attack in history were Muslim.

In all of the commemoration, the documentaries and remembrances of 9/11 the fact that those who killed and destroyed on that horrific day nine years ago were Muslim and killed in the name of Islam is all but forgotten and intentionally left out of the remembrance of 9/11. Yet the fact that the killers were Muslim and killed in the name of Islam is not only at the center of why we were attacked but is the ONLY explanation for the reason we were attacked.

Now more than nine years after the most tragic day in American history the fear of offending anyone Muslim and the fear of displaying fanatical Islam's murderous agenda has become so rampant their is more concern over the reaction of Muslims to anything America does than in protecting America and Americans from a repeat of 9/11 or any other attack that these murderous thugs are planning. And yes they are still planning attacks against our country.

It has become so ingrained in the American psyche that to mention anything bad or true about those who use the Muslim faith as a weapon against so called infidels the fear of offending Muslims in itself has become a terrorism tool which in actuality stems back to 9/11 and gives the terrorists who killed so many on that day a victory over our people and our country.

This fear was once again brought to light in the controversies surrounding the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero and the proposed burning of the Koran on 9/11 at the church in Florida. Both have fallen to the fear of offending Muslims and the concern over their rights with total neglect for the rights of other Americans and especially those who still live in the sadness of 9/11 without the loved ones who were killed by Muslim fanatics nine years ago.

I am not nor will I ever condone the burning of the Koran and the argument that it is a Constitutional right is ridiculous. Nor will I defend the Constitutional right of the Mosque at Ground Zero. Both are equally wrong and the argument over Constitutional rights is an insult to our Constitution and the Founders who wrote it. Our Founders never intended for the Constitution to be used as a weapon of the politically correct.

The rights we are guaranteed in the Constitution are there for the protection of the individual from the oppressive power of the state. But those rights were never intended to be used as a weapon to condone wrong even if that wrong is within our rights as American. Our Founders understood this and also understood that the exercise of our rights were to be weighed by our conscience and our ability to discern the difference between right and wrong, So the Constitutional argument for the Mosque and the Koran burning is nothing more than PC run amok and should have no bearing on the issue. Wrong is wrong no matter how it is argued.

But the underlying problem over the Mosque and the burning of the Koran goes much deeper that so called Constitutional rights but rather a fear. A fear in offending Muslims which has in some respects almost crippled our country and as a result has given terrorism a victory over us and our Nation.

We are so concerned about offending Muslims that we will not call the Islamic fanatics who killed on 9/11 Muslims. We will not call those who still kill in the name of Allah Muslim of even make an association with Islam. Every Muslim who has either attacked our Nation since 9/11 or even attempted to do so is apologized for and every excuse is made for them except that they did it in the name of Allah in accordance to their Islamic faith and they were Muslim.

Look for instance at the defense of of Nidal Hasan who murdered at Fort Hood or the, "underwear," bomber who tried to take down a passenger jet. Even the Muslim who attempted to blow up Times Square was portrayed as a victim of hard financial times in America and NOT the Muslim fanatic that he is. As we have moved further from 9/11 those Muslims who flew the planes are treated in some circles as victims rather than murderous thugs who killed in the name of Islam.

The fear of offending Muslims has played in the decisions which have caused delay after delay in the rebuilding on the site of The World Trade Center and now nine years later we still have a pit with little construction rather than a landmark to an America that has overcome the tragedy and while memorializing our loss standing strong in the face of our attackers by rebuilding and stating you cannot terrorize or defeat us.

Even as we justifiably defended our country in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and as events today take place surround anything involving Muslims the argument prevails that if we do ANYTHING which might anger or ,"offend," a Muslim it will cause the, "radicals," to increase recruitment and strengthen their fight against us. We heard that argument when we went to Afghanistan and Iraq and now we hear it in conjunction with the Ground Zero Mosque. We either bend over and allow Muslims to do whatever they want neither defending our Nation against the radicals or standing for what is right or the radicals will increase recruitment and attack again. Always forgetting that Isalmic radicals recruited long before 9/11 and their recruitment made 9/11 possible and our actions had nothing to do with that but today in the PC world of terrorims it does. Tell me that makes ANY sense.

This is terrorism just as dangerous and damaging as flying planes into buildings. Though it does not kill as the planes did it is used as a weapon in the same way and as a means of intimidating in order to bring about the same result, FEAR. Fear that if we do not allow Islam to do as it pleases whether right or wrong we will be attacked and Americans will be killed. Fear that if we do not appease, America will be attacked and Americans killed.

Fear and intimidation is the tool of terrorism and whether it is done with planes, guns or words it has the same affect, forcing those who bow to that fear into submission and allowing the perpetrators of terror to have their way no matter what the consequences. The fear of offending Muslims in our country has almost had that intimidating affect on every aspect of our dealing with Islam and those who follow that faith. Yes, most Muslims do not follow the mindset of the radicals. And yes, those who call themselves moderates condemn the actions of the radicals as we do but they still use the fear of the radicals to force their agenda down our throats as has been the case with the Ground Zero Mosque and the arguments against the burning of the Koran.

Americans know the difference between the radicals and the moderates. We know the difference between those who follow Islam as a religion and those who use it as a weapon to kill. We do not need be reminded on a daily basis on how to be tolerant of everything Muslim and that Muslims who live in this country as good citizens do no follow the ideas of the radicals. We as a nation do not need to bend over and ,"tolerate," Muslims to the point that we are afraid of even mentioning the name Muslim or the religion of Islam without fear of offending someone.

There is nothing wrong in remembering the killers of 9/11 were Muslim and followed radical Islam. There is nothing wrong with opposing the Mosque at Ground Zero because it is offensive to the memories of those killed and insensitive to those who survived and lost loved ones when the buildings collapsed or the planes crashed into the Towers. We are told even by the President that we need to be sensitive to the feelings of Muslim. WHAT ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE FAMILIES AND AMERICANS WHO STILL REMEMBER 9/11?

Terrorism cannot be allowed to stand whether it is in the form of murderous thugs who kill in the name of Allah or politically correct Imams who use the fear of offending and/or recruitment as a tool to force an agenda or a Mosque. We as a Nation have grown since 9/11 and though we still sorrow over the thousands who were killed we remember the fallen and continue on as Americans. We owe it to them and to future generations of Americans to not allow fear of offending nor being politically correct to jeopardize our resolve in destroying the very terrorism that killed so many on 9/11. We saw the enemy and we must not fail to defeat him or let fear of offending allow wrong to prevail and right to fall victim to terror.

Ken Taylor