Omar Mateen – Did someone need radicalize him or was he radical to begin with?

Almost two years ago, I wrote a column which dealt with the spurious notion that young Muslims in the West are not really responsible when they perpetrate terrorist atrocities. They are somehow the victims of unseen manipulators.

Tendentious opinion-molders and cynical agenda-pushers (like Barack Obama) maintain that these manipulators mustn’t be named. Others cautiously call them “radical Islamists.”

But both the Obama cheerleaders and the Obama detractors share the premise that young Muslims might be susceptible to radicalization – note the passive tone.

Something is done to these Muslim youths – they don’t freely choose their direction but are led down the dark garden path by nefarious others. The “devil” makes them do it… Continue reading →