First off my personal regards to you as well 😄
I will explain why your position, and that of POTUS, is not only wrong but dangerously so. To keep this all straight, I’ll number my points since my response will be comprehensive, but also lengthy.
1. To argue ISIS has nothing to do with Islam is like saying Nazis had nothing to do with nationalism or socialism. One truly has to stand on their head to assert either point.
2. ISIS is practicing Islam in its purest and most original form--think of it as “Islam Ver 1.0” as created by Muhammad in the 6th century. Muhammad had epilepsy (ie source of his “visions”) and was a psychopathic killer who used blood, sword and treasure to spread his “religion” at an amazing rate. He also employed mass rape and other depredations. An analogy would be Charles Manson but with an army. Muhammad was brilliant in concocting an imperial religion which sets up a worldwide “us vs them” dynamic where war continues, and thus peace is not attained until all submit to Islam. He was even more brilliant in finding a way to motivate illiterate young men to die in vast numbers for his cause. The formula is foolproof and still works today … offer young men the wet dream of potentially unlimited sex (ie 72 virgins), a chance for bloody fighting and violence but rationalized as ‘holy’, and a way for the smarter ones to become rich by looting and appropriating the property of the vanquished (especially the Jews).
3. Islam, after its rapid spread, matured and morphed into the great civilization of the Middle Ages where science and learning flourished and the moral teachings of Muhammad overrode the pure mayhem and more warlike aspects—ie a good thing to be sure. Basically, Muslims got tired of all the bloodshed and fighting, and just wanted to enjoy life. For example, Islam proved to be the caretaker of ancient (Greek/roman) knowledge which proved crucial for the European Renaissance. Islam was steadily eclipsed by a technologically superior Europe starting around 1600 and any threat receded further. But, even today, many Islamic countries with non-radical or secular leadership are still not a threat to the West. (i.e. Jordan, Indonesia, Egypt etc.). Of the 1.5 billion Muslims, I’d guesstimate 80-90% are genuinely peaceful.
4. However, 10-20% are “Radical” and pose over time an existential threat to the West. That’s what, maybe up to 100 million Muslim radicals worldwide? 50 million? Whatever the number, it’s a LOT no matter how you slice it. This is important because Radical Islam ultimately wishes to defeat and destroy the West by forcing it, either internally or externally, to submit to Islam in accordance with Muhammad’s original demented vision. You may think / hope (pray?) it’s not “religious” but guess what … for the bad guys it definitely is.
5. People have said we just need to wait for Islam to have its “Reformation.” I think the Islamic Reformation is already underway but, unfortunately, it’s not what we were hoping for ie moderation. It’s going the other direction, and that’s what we saw with Bin Laden and now al Baghdadi and ISIS. If you recall, in Christian history, the Reformation scholars went BACK to the original documents … Bible etc). Al Baghdadi’s, the head of ISIS, is an Islamic scholar (Ph.D.) and knows his stuff and doing the same thing … going BACK to the “original” Koran which, in modern day times, would be described as Muhammad’s blog, at least in part, of rationalizations for his psychopathic behavior. Baghdadi is thus preaching pure, unadulterated Islam Ver 1.0 and adding to the terror factor …photos of beheadings, people being. burned alive, etc. Again, you and Obama may not think it’s a religious war, but the reality is … ISIS DOES, and is operating on that basis.
6. So here’s the reality we all face—we are in a high stakes and long term religious war with Radical Islam make no mistake, and whether we like it or not. We can choose to ignore it, as Obama is currently doing, but guess what … they will not ignore us. You either fight and destroy it, or in your case, think about getting fitted for a burka at some point, assuming you still have a head to put it on.
7. There would not be an ISIS today had George Bush not gone into Iraq. But, we were there and had a hard won victory which Barack Obama literally threw away in 2011 when he pulled our troops out prematurely, and primarily for his political gain. That vacuum led directly to the formation of ISIS. His strategic bungling since then has only made it worse. Today, ISIS controls a territory in size roughly equivalent to the United Kingdom. Should ISIS continue to expand and ultimately prevail in the Middle East, Africa and Southern Europe, history will view Obama as the Chamberlain of the early 21st Century. This is literally bonafide grounds for impeachment … not that it will ever happen.
8. Finally, read the article by Grame Wood in The Atlantic. He makes points similar to what I’ve discussed above.
What ISIS Really Wants - The Atlantic Here are two excerpts from his artricle: “The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse …” and also “In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” … statement(s) that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.”