DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - FLORIDA: MOSLEMS SHOULD COMPLAIN ABOUT MOSLEM TERRORISM NOT TELEVISION SHOWS

Muslims should decry terrorism, not TV show

According to numerous news reports, many Muslims in the United States are upset that they are being profiled as radicals along with the ones causing horrible problems in numerous countries around the world.

With the TV show "24" beginning its sixth season, the viewer sees the hero going after Muslim terrorists in the United States who are bombing shopping malls, subways, etc., and finally detonating a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles.

This fictional TV show has caused considerable outrage within the U.S. Muslim community, with many "talking heads" on cable channels complaining that Fox Broadcasting and the show "24" are being unfair and denigrating toward Muslims.

Let's set the record straight. Who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993? Muslims. Who bombed two U.S. embassies in the mid-1990s? Muslims. Who bombed and killed 17 Navy servicemen on the USS Cole? Muslims. Who was caught, tried and convicted of attempting to set off a bomb in Seattle over the millennium weekend? A Muslim.

Who were the 19 men who, on Sept. 11, 2001, killed more than 3,000 people in the United States? Muslims. Who was caught with a bomb in his shoe in an airliner headed for New York? A Muslim. Who bombed the trains in Spain and the subways in the United Kingdom? Muslims. Who was caught attempting to place bombs on U.S. planes traveling to New York from the U.K.? Muslims.

Who are the men who kidnap, torture and decapitate innocent men and women shown on Arab TV? Muslims. Who send out suicide bombers (some of them children) to blow up innocent people in Israel? Muslims. Who assassinates heads of state, as in Lebanon? Muslims. Who, on so-called holy days, preach death to the infidels and nonbelievers in their own houses of worship? Muslims.

There always are two sides to every question. However, I am waiting to hear Muslims on the other side condemn and work with their own to end these horrible acts against mankind. But it's strangely quiet out there.

A.L. "Tot" Morton
Gainesville

Pertinent Links:

1) Muslims should decry terrorism, not TV show