US Opinion and Commentary

“VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussion and opinion on these policies.” — VOA Charter

Showing Archived Posts

Counter Terror Smarter

Posted October 26th, 2016 at 1:58 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

We can’t keep responding to attacks the same way and expecting a different result. There is a better way to counter terrorism, and a more effective model that we can adopt, but first government officials must abandon failing strategies.

If Islam Is a Religion of Violence, So Is Christianity

Posted June 16th, 2016 at 2:53 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

I am tired of hearing…that Islam is inherently violent. I am even more tired of hearing that Christianity is inherently peaceful….inherently a religion of love. With all due respect to my many Christian friends, I seriously beg to differ.

Orlando: The Gun Debate

Posted June 16th, 2016 at 12:39 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

There is movement, a pulse, in Congress after all.
After the slaughter of 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub, there were the usual expressions of sorrow, moments of silence and verbal posturing. But instead of the usual inaction by Congress on gun laws, Senate Democrats took action by grinding the deliberative body to a noticeable stop.
The 15-hour filibuster by Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy forced Senate Republicans to agree to votes on Democratic-backed gun control measures: expanding background checks and preventing suspected terrorists from buying guns. It will put senators on the record about gun laws before the November election.
Democrats efforts got a boost from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Donald Trump tweeted he would meet with the politically powerful National Rifle Association about banning gun sales to those on the terrorist watch list or “no fly” list.
No matter which way the votes go, the debate over guns in America has both sides locked and loaded.

Omar Mateen, American Monster

Posted June 16th, 2016 at 9:25 am (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

The massacre in Orlando, where 49 people were gunned down at an L.G.B.T. nightclub and dozens of others were wounded, came at the hands of a coward and a monster, but make no mistake: This was our monster.

Orlando Shooting Reaction has the Feel of Eternal Recurrence

Posted June 15th, 2016 at 4:29 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

Whether the culprit is American imperialism, guns, Guantanamo Bay or, this week, homophobia, we instantly race to comfortable excuses and comfortable arguments. The true nature and scope of the challenge is too unpleasant to contemplate, and so we return to our scripts and read our lines until the next slaughter…

To Say or Not to Say: ‘Radical Islam’

Posted June 14th, 2016 at 5:34 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

What’s in a word, or two?
President Obama’s refusal to use the term “radical Islam” is back in the American political discussion, raised by Donald Trump in the aftermath of Saturday’s massacre in Orlando.
Trump demanded Obama’s resignation because he refuses to use the term “radical Islam” when referring to acts of terrorism.
Obama responded tersely Tuesday, saying “there’s no magic to the phrase radical Islam. It’s a political talking point; it’s not a strategy.”
It’s a debate that’s raged for years: “can you defeat an enemy if you don’t know what to call it?” versus “can we expect help from Muslims if we paint the entire religion with the same brush?”

Islam and the Radical West

Posted April 12th, 2016 at 4:57 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

If Islamism is their ideological drug of choice, the political orthodoxies of the modern left are their gateway to it. Take the most recent issue of Inspire. Mixed in with step-by-step photos on how to build a timed hand grenade…there’s an article on the oppression of blacks in America, starting with the killing of Ferguson’s Michael Brown.

Stop Asking “Why Do They Hate Us?”

Posted April 12th, 2016 at 4:04 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

Those who fail to understand the ideology of Islamism will remain confused by it, attributing the violence to hatred because they don’t understand the real motives. So like battered spouses, victims of Islamist violence continue trying to alter their behavior in futile attempts to make “them” love “us.”

Questions for Obama’s First U.S. Mosque Visit

Posted February 3rd, 2016 at 8:17 am (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

You’ll have to forgive our skepticism, but we cannot imagine that President Obama randomly selected the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB) mosque for the first such visit in his official capacity as head of state.

Terror on Twitter

Posted December 15th, 2015 at 3:25 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

There’s a growing consensus in Washington that technology firms, especially social media companies, need to do more when it comes to fighting terrorism. During his Oval Office address on terrorism, President Barack Obama told Silicon Valley to make it harder for terrorists to evade detection using technology. Congress also joined in: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) quickly reintroduced a bill that would require social media firms to report “any terrorist activity” — vaguely defined — to the authorities. That Twitter is a favorite tool of Islamic State recruiters is not news. But after the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, the call to fight ISIS on social media has become more urgent than ever.

Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States

Posted December 11th, 2015 at 8:26 am (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.

How Terrorists Convince Themselves to Kill

Posted December 10th, 2015 at 6:03 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

The less we empathize with someone, the easier it is to kill them. Jihadist culture is exceptionally good at decreasing empathy for outsiders, Muslim and non-Muslim alike…

Tackling the Threat of Islamic Extremism

Posted December 10th, 2015 at 3:08 pm (UTC-4)
Comments are closed

There has been a steady drip, drip, drip of criticism aimed at President Barack Obama’s strategy against terrorism, and the threat posed here in the United States. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump dominated the debate with his controversial call to bar Muslims from entering America in the wake of the deadly mass shooting by a Muslim couple in San Bernardino, California. Obama’s Oval Office address was examined and torn apart by his fiercest opponents for lacking anything new in the fight against the Islamic State, and for failing to comfort the nerves of ordinary Americans. From the president’s standpoint, those calling for a tougher response by pressing for a new military effort against jihadists are ignoring history – at America’s own peril.