Obama's Paris, Colorado Comparisons Illogical

President Obama's comparison of the violence committed by ISIS in Paris and the attack by a deranged man against a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. brought gasps of surprise from some French journalists. "There is no comparison and it cheapens the loss of life here to try to make some dubious political point back home," I was told.

Beyond that, the feeling was that the president's comparison was illogical.

I spoke with French citizens and government authorities earlier today by Skype and on FaceTime.

Meanwhile, here are some of the points of comparison to consider:

• ISIS speaks for a wing of the Islamic faith that represents millions of followers. Even the most conservative polling data and research confirms this. According to one recent poll, as many as 7 percent of all Muslims, or roughly 80 million people worldwide believe that the Koran approves of the killing of "infidels" or persons who do not share the same Islamic faith. Meanwhile, the gunman in Colorado can name no group of people, no organization, no religious denomination, no rogue pastor, no NGO, that endorses the killing of persons in the name of "anti-abortion."

• ISIS is a full fledged — self declared — Caliphate with an estimated $3 million a day in income from oil and international banks who willingly do business with them. The deranged gunman in Colorado lives in a house trailer that by some accounts he doesn't even own.

• ISIS has an active online presence, with thousands of sites and postings, preaching terror and death to infidels and recruiting followers. There is no online anti-abortion presence advocating death to abortionists or recruiting volunteers to kill them.

• ISIS murders number into the tens of thousands. They have targeted Shiias, Yazidis, Kurds, and Christians. Entire ethnic or religious populations have been wiped out in some villages and cities in the Middle East. By comparison, since 1990 there have been a total of eight murders associated with anti abortion extremists. None of the eight were coordinated. To offer a point of reference, 136 persons have been murdered in the city of St. Louis so far this year.

• Ironically, Islamic laws about abortion are strikingly similar to the views of most Christians and stricter than many. For example, it prohibits all abortions after four months, even in the case of rape. It only makes exceptions in the case of the life of the mother.

Meanwhile, after their initial shock, most French journalists ignored the President's comments. There was no reference to them in the French media. Most French citizens I spoke with had no idea what the President had said.

"Yes, we see this as a war against extremism," said one French official. "But how this relates to abortion is beyond me. Donner sa langue au chat."

Meanwhile, a debate erupted over the American acceptance of 10,000 Syrian refugees. It will push the United States ahead of France in the number of such refugees accepted in 2015.

And this after a Syrian passport was found near one of the dead terrorists in Paris. This past summer a shocking poll revealed that that 51 percent of all American Muslims favored Shariah Law over the U.S. Constitution. And a surprising 25 percent were okay with violence against Americans.

Back at home, Republican presidential candidates wondered if the United States shouldn't hold off on the influx of Syrian refugees and accept some of the Christian refugees now being slaughtered by ISIS in countries across the Middle East, or even military translators and their families, who helped U.S. ground forces during the Iraq War.

At this Obama was outraged. "When I heard political leaders suggest that there would be a religious test for which a person who's fleeing a warn-torn country is admitted . . . that's shameful, that's not American. That's not who we are. We don't have religious tests to our compassion."

Which many Christians would contend is the whole point. There is indeed a test. Christians refugees are accepted last or not allowed.

For their part, the mainstream media continues to rigidly cater to the President's version of the world even when embarrassing events such as the tragedy in Paris interrupt.

A documentary on ABC television points out that Islam and Christianity share common verses in the Old Testament that speak of barbaric executions for crimes against religious laws.

CNN reports on a raid against a charity in Karachi in which Christian workers were separated from Muslims, the Christians murdered, the Muslims spared, while CNN intones that there appeared to be "no indication of a motive."


Now both Obama and Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, insist that we must take the 10,000 Syrian refugees or suffer the consequences. "I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL," says Obama.

Has it come to this? We must take them, feed them, educate them and trust they will assimilate or they will blow us up?

Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush, with whom he co-authored the book "Man of Integrity." Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.