Attorney General Loretta Lynch revealed Sunday that the FBI would not be releasing the full transcripts of the Orlando terrorist’s calls to 911. Sure enough, on Monday, the transcripts omitted references to Islam and the Islamic State (ISIS).
This is more than just the latest effort of the Obama administration to deny the reality of “radical Islamic terror.” It is a political tactic to make “Islamophobia” — i.e. prejudice against Muslims — the real question, in time for the 2016 elections.
Officials said Monday that they were not going to release the full transcripts because they did not want to “propagate violent rhetoric” that would “inflame people here that would be like-minded.” They were referring to potential terrorists. But they were also hinting at the possibility that the terrorists’ words would “inflame” public opinion against Muslims.
That is, after all, what President Barack Obama said last week: to identify “radical Islam” would be to invite discrimination against Muslims.
The idea that Muslims in America face a backlash has been around since September 11, 2001 — and it has never happened on a large scale. If anything, the opposite has happened, as Muslims have become more openly and visibly observant, and have reached the highest levels of government service.
Americans have a rational fear of Islamic terror, but “Islamophobia” is largely a myth, propagated by the left and by other supporters of radical Islamic causes as a way of shaming their critics.
The Orlando attack confirms Donald Trump’s analysis of the threat, and Democrats know it. And so, as they did in Benghazi, they are highlighting the supposed prejudices of fellow Americans (e.g. the YouTube video) rather than their own policy failures. They are linking Orlando to Democrats’ campaign to paint Trump as a bigot, rather than telling the truth.
It is an abuse of the impartiality of Lynch’s office, and an insult to Americans. And it leaves little hope for Hillary Clinton’s indictment.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, will be published by Regnery on July 25 and is available for pre-order through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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