Let’s lay this out as quickly as possible. Glenn says this on the radio:
BECK: What is the number of Islamic terrorists? One percent? I think it’s closer to 10 percent, but the rest of the PC world will tell you ‘oh no, it’s minuscule.’ Okay, well, let’s take you at your one percent. Look at the havoc of one percent of Muslims causing on the rest of the world!
The typical idiotic left wing blogs go nuts. Then some not-so-typically-idiotic sources go nuts too. Eventually they figure out that this isn’t even the first time Glenn has said this!!!PANIC!!
To show how ridiculously pathetic the hype on this manufactured nonsense is—let’s start with definitions. What is a terrorist? From dictionary.com, definition number one:
a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
Okay, now what is terrorism? Would you say that “attacks on civilians in the US” is an acceptable definition? Seems reasonable in this context, doesn’t it?
Okey dokey—here are the facts. All of this is according to ascientific poll of people in Muslim nations done by the respected group World Public Opinion.
The lowest amount of support in the polled nations is in Azerbaijan where ONLY 4% of people approve of violence against civilians on our territory, with another 10% having “mixed feelings” about it. That number rises to 9% approval in Pakistan, with another 15% having “mixed feelings”. Do you want me to mention the Palestinian territories? Do you? 24% approval, 15% mixed feelings.
To put it another way—someone in the Palestinian territories who is open to violence on civilians in the United States is about as easy to find as an American citizen who approves of the job performance of President Obama.
But these numbers, ranging from 10% to 39%, are just the beginning.
- Specific support for Al Qaeda’s attacks on civilians range from “only” 9% in Morocco to 21% in Egypt.
- Support for attacking civilians who just happen to work in Islamic countries range from 6%-30%.
- Specific support for Osama Bin Laden? That ranges from 4% in Azerbaijan to 56% in the Palestinian territories.Include those who have mixed feelings towards the largest terrorist in American history—and you get a range of 10%-78%.
- Let’s remove the Al Qaeda brand name, and look for support for groups in general that attack Americans. Support ranges from 25%-30%.
- If you think killing troops that just happened to be stationed in the Gulf is terrorism—then it gets much, much worse. Support for violence ranges from 13% in Azerbaijan to a ridiculous 78% in Egypt and 87% in the Palestinian territories. That doesn’t include those who have mixed feelings about killing troops.
Alright, now that we have the facts…let me articulate the lefts last ditch argument:
“But those are only people who advocate terrorism!Not people who are terrorists!!”
First, allow me to point out that your argument has now boiled down to:
“Glenn Beck lied! He said that 10% of Muslims want to kill innocent civilians when the truth is that 10% of Muslims SUPPORT killing innocent civilians!”
Secondly, even that point is wrong. Read the definition of terrorist again:
a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
“But, that’s not what Glenn meant! You’re only saying that to cover after the fact!”
Am I? Here is the 10% statistic as laid out in 2003, in Glenn’s first New York Times bestselling book “The Real America.” (Emphasis mine.)
–Ninety percent of Islam is peaceful.–Ten percent of Islam wants us dead.
–That ten percent of the faith is composed of extreme radicals who have taken Islam through a time tunnel and twisted it into something that is ugly and barbaric.
What is truly amazing is how completely shocking this is to most of the media. This is very basic information about the war on terror. Anyone who has ever covered a terrorism story should be intimately acquainted with these polls. To be shocked by a statement like Glenn’s, shows either a willful disregard for the information*, or a complete lack of perspective about what we’re fighting. I’m actually stunned. (*The usual suspects like the Center for American Progress are very familiar with this information and are willfully ignoring it. They act as if they’re horrified, even while using this organization and it’s polling as a source dozens of times.)
The sad truth is that there are a lot of Muslims around the world who really don’t like us. That’s not a right wing tactic to get people riled up, it’s the truth. It’s a small percentage of a large group. Thankfully, the numbers are much, much better among American Muslims. That’s encouraging. And eventually, I believe the truth will win out among Muslims worldwide, and they will realize that we have absolutely no interest in destroying their religion.
But, beyond all of that—say this with me. Glenn was right.You were wrong. Now, go to Twitter and apologize.