Obama On Brussels Attack: Warns Not To ‘Stigmatize’ Muslims As They Make ‘Enormous’ Contributions To Society
President Barack Obama addressed the Brussels terror attack in his weekly White House address. In the speech, Obama warned Americans not to “stigmatize” Muslims in the wake of the attack as Muslim-Americans make “enormous” contributions to American society, calling them our “most important partners” in defeating ISIL. Meanwhile, GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has called for increased police presence in areas with higher than average Muslim populations, while GOP frontrunner Donald Trump has asked that we no longer allow Muslims to enter the country until we have a better hold of the situation.
CBS News reports that President Barack Obama is calling for Americans to refrain from stigmatizing Muslims in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks carried out by the Islamic State. In the address, Obama outlines some of the measures that the U.S. government has taken to ensure the safety of the public. Obama reveals that we have been fighting the Islamic State via successful airstrikes that have taken out key ISIL leadership.
“We’ve been taking out ISIL leadership. A relentless air campaign — and support for forces in Iraq and Syria who are fighting ISIL on the ground — has allowed us to take approximately 40 percent of the populated territory that ISIL once held in Iraq.”
Obama noted that ISIL is a significant threat to the entire civilized world, and says that the United States is leading a “truly global coalition.”
“ISIL poses a threat to the entire civilized world. That’s why we’ve been leading a truly global coalition that will be vital to our success.”
However, Obama notes that our most powerful weapon against the Islamic State is not airstrikes or our military, but rather our example.
“As we move forward in this fight, we have to wield another weapon alongside our airstrikes, our military, our counterterrorism work and our diplomacy. That’s the power of our example.”
While Obama is calling for more unity with the American-Muslim population following the Brussels terror attack, GOP candidate Ted Cruz is calling for an increase in police presence in areas with high Muslim populations across America.
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.”
However, Cruz quickly received backlash for his statement but hasn’t backed down. Instead, Cruz has doubled-down on his proposal pointing to a program in New York that he felt was necessary for public safety that Mayor de Blasio disbanded due to “political correctness.”
“New York City, under Mayor Bloomberg, had a program that focused on, worked proactively with Muslim communities to stop radicalization to prevent attacks from radical Islamic terrorism before they occur. Now what happened? Mayor de Blasio came in and decided political correctness mattered more than keeping people safe. He disbanded the program.”
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Though Obama did not mention Cruz directly, his statement regarding “stigmatizing Muslims” seems to be directed at the candidate. In fact, Obama says alienating American-Muslims would be out of character for the United States and an unwelcome change. He notes that we are a nation built around the idea of religious freedom.
“Such attempts are contrary to our character, to our values and to our history as a nation built around the idea of religious freedom.”
.@POTUS @BarackObama urged Americans not to stigmatize Muslims following this week’s deadly attacks in #Brussels. https://t.co/3cLCejqNSv
— GMA News (@gmanews) March 26, 2016
What do you think of President Barack Obama’s weekly address on the Brussels terror attack and the response from the United States? Do you agree that our biggest weapon against the Islamic State is to lead by example by allowing Syrian refugees into the country who are seeking safe haven? What do you think about Ted Cruz’s proposal to increase police presence in areas with high Muslim populations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo]
