Enough!

Some years ago I saw an episode of America's Most Wanted. A man arranged the murder of his elderly mother; the entire town knew about it, discussed it, and did nothing to prevent it. One striking reconstructed conversation took place in a hair salon, with a hairdresser saying something like, "Well, she's an old lady. She's had her time." I can not find a link to the story, but I remember it.

This outrageous behavior shocked me. How would that hairdresser, just as a for-instance, feel if people were discussing the prospect of her murder, saying, "Well, she's just a hairdresser, and not a very good one. She's had her chances." I don't imagine she would say, "That's fine, I understand." The least revenge her customers could expect would be savagely bad haircuts.

Everyone who knew about that old woman's prospective murder and did nothing about it belonged in jail. It is a great pity that prosecuting the entire town just wasn't practical.

Today, commuters in London, civilians, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters were attacked. Somehow, Tony Blair managed to say kind words:

<blockquote>Blair stressed that the bombers did not reflect the views of most Muslims.

"We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims here and abroad are decent, law abiding people who abhor the act of terrorism every bit as much as we do," he said.</blockquote>

Well, that's all very well. Except it's not good enough any more.

I'm sorry to say it, but I've had enough.

Muslims know who in their mosques encourage, support and take part in terror. It's past time for them to step up.

No more silence. It's not acceptable anymore.

From here on out, when we locate the mosque the terrorists attended, every single member of that mosque must explain himself or herself. Why didn't they report this person? If they will not step up, I'm sorry, but they can't stay.

We prosecute relatives of murderers who conceal their crime or location as accessories. The same standard needs to apply.

Posted by Squishy 07/07/05 at 5:46 p.m.