Why don’t leaders of Muslim countries condemn terror attacks?
Michael Chugani says we need to do whatever it takes to wipe the smile off Osama bin Laden’s face even if it affects our freedoms
Another day, another terror attack. You almost want to shrug and accept it as the new normal. Haven’t we already endured so many new normals since September 11, 2001? Osama bin Laden must be smiling in his watery grave.
After he sent hijacked planes crashing into US skyscrapers we said he would never win, that the civilised world would never cower to terrorism. We are now hearing the same defiant words that our democratic way of life will prevail in the aftermath of barbaric attacks in Britain. But even in death, bin Laden knows he has won in so many ways.
A US president wants to impose a Muslim ban. Burkinis are banned in some French beaches. Some European countries ban the burqa and niqab in public places. No carry-on liquids on planes. Soon no laptops too. Global cyberspying has long buried personal privacy.
The post-September 11 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq spawned new generations of jihadists. They evolved into the even more brutal Islamic State, whose fanatics see no need to fly planes into buildings. They just brainwash young Muslims to suicide-bomb rock concerts and drive trucks through crowds.
When will it no longer be politically incorrect to ask why there is almost always collective silence from leaders of Muslim countries who leave it to Western leaders to express outrage whenever there is a terror attack by Islamists? I do not know enough about the Muslim faith to talk knowledgeably about it, but I know it cannot possibly preach the savagery that fanatics commit in its name.
But surely the duty of making that clear lies with Muslim leaders, not Western leaders who always find themselves tasked with saying Islam is a peaceful religion. If we are to win the terror war, Muslim countries must lead the charge. Their leaders must forego regional rivalries to collectively and forcefully condemn every barbaric act to preserve the good name of their religion.
Bin Laden may be smiling, but his victories are only battles, not the war. I am all for personal freedoms. But if to win, we have to spy on citizens, ban burqas and carry-on laptops and single out brown-skinned people like me for extra airport security checks, just do it. I don’t mind. We need to do whatever it takes to wipe the smile off bin Laden’s face.
