Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has slammed President Barack Obama's "squishy" response to Muslim extremists after Obama equated Christians in the Crusades to the Islamic State (ISIS) at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.
Obama set off a firestorm of criticism with his remarks, stating about Islamic State atrocities: "Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.
"In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ," Obama said,
The New York Times reported.
"It was nice of the President to give us a history lesson at the Prayer Breakfast,"
Jindal told National Review.
"Today, however, the issue right in front of his nose, in the here and now, is the terrorism of radical Islam, the assassination of journalists, the beheading and burning alive of captives.
"We will be happy to keep an eye out for runaway Christians, but it would be nice if he would face the reality of the situation today. The medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the radical Islamic threat today."
While the Obama administration has avoided using the phrase "Islamic terrorists," Jindal insisted that politicians "pull no punches in responding to this violent foreign threat to freedom,"
The Washington Times reports.
"Eight years of President Obama’s squishy commitment to the advancement of freedom and his abandonment of our nation’s leadership role in an increasingly dangerous world will hand the next president a job with no margin for error," the Times said that Jindal, who has been mentioned as a potential 2016 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, wrote this week in a published op-ed.
"Hillary Clinton shares the blame for this predicament and would make it worse. She said we need to show respect for our enemies and 'empathize with their perspective and point of view,'" Jindal wrote.
Obama's statements brought swift condemnation from other conservatives, such as Virginia's former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore, who told the New York Times, "The president’s comments this morning at the prayer breakfast are the most offensive I’ve ever heard a president make in my lifetime. He has offended every believing Christian in the United States.
"Mr. Obama does not believe in America or the values we all share."
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, termed Obama's comments "insulting" and "pernicious" and told the Times that Obama was attempting to "deflect guilt from Muslim madmen."
Obama did refer to ISIS as "a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism" in his speech,
US News and World Report said.
However, Jindal said, "Our nation, and free people everywhere who believe in basic human rights have too much at stake to bite our lips. We must speak honestly and act bravely to reach the day when radical Islam no longer threatens our nation, our allies and our shared values," the Washington Times reported.
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