WORDS OF A DOCTOR: LET'S TARGET ALL MUSLIMS

Just in case you may have forgotten how far out there some of our fellow citizens are, I am posting this letter to the editor which appeared in today's Lakeland Ledger...and from a doctor in Winter Haven, no less:

In the wake of the London bombings, one fact should become apparent. The people who did this, who destroyed the Trade Towers, once successfully and once in vain, who blew up the trains in Spain and the destroyer U.S.S. Cole all have one thing in common: They were all Muslims, usually fundamentalist Wahabee Muslims.

Having reached that obvious conclusion, everyone worshipping in a mosque becomes a suspect or is linked to a suspect. If we are to reduce the likelihood of further attacks we should target all Muslims for continual surveillance.

Of course, this will arise howls of protest from the liberal civil-libertarian crowd. But as bank robber Willie Sutton said, he robbed banks because "that's where the money is." And you surveil mosques and Muslims because that's where the suicide bombers are. They are not down the street in your local church. That is just common sense police work and not the targeting of minorities.

So, if you know a Muslim or see someone in their garb, pay attention. If you see suspicious behavior, report it. The price of liberty and safety is eternal vigilance.

Someone needs to set this doctor down and give him a real dose of reality.

The vast majority of Muslims in the United States and elsewhere are peace loving people who want to make a better life for themselves and their families. Those who are advocating and practicing murder of innocents or seeking to use violence to establish their own bastardized version of Islam are criminals and should be sought out and punished. The Islam they are practicing is not what is practiced by the great majority of followers of the Prophet.

Those who sympathize with and are seeking to spread that violence here need to be found and dealt with harshly. And that means Muslims who know of such individuals should report their activities. But to just say "Let's target all Muslims for survelliance" is seriously out of line. That's the same type of stereotyping that held many African-Americans back for decades. We're supposed to be a better country than that.