Enabling Murder

Damn these jihadist murderers of children. And damn the politicians who have, in many cases, helped make these murders possible but who are quick, this time and every time, to serve up empty declarations of "solidarity"even as the bodies of innocents are still being counted.

London mayor Sadiq Khan (who recently dismissed terrorist attacks as "part and parcel of living in a big city"): "London stands with Manchester." Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer (who, in the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre, proclaimed a CAIR-backed "Muslim Women's Day"-you know, the kind of event that proclaims hijabs "empowering"): Orlando "stands in solidarity with the people of the UK." L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti (who went berserk when Trump tried to impose that temporary travel ban from a half-dozen Muslim countries): "Los Angeles stands with the people of Manchester."

Meaningless words, all of them. But Angela Merkel takes the cake: "People in the UK can rest assured that Germany stands shoulder to shoulder with them." Well, isn't that . . . reassuring. In what way do such words help anybody to "rest assured" of anything?

In any case, how dare she? This, after all, is the woman who opened the floodgates-the woman who, out of some twisted sense of German historical guilt, put European children in danger by inviting into the continent masses of unvetted people from the very part of the world where this monstrous evil has its roots.

Then there was this from European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker: "Once again, terrorism has sought to instill fear where there should be joy, to sow division where young people and families should be coming together in celebration." Beneath the innocuous-seeming surface of this statement is a slick rhetorical ruse: Juncker to the contrary, these savages aren't out to "sow division"-they're out to kill infidels.

By introducing the concept of "division," Juncker, like so many others, is implying that the important message here is: Hey, whatever you do, don't let this little episode put any bad thoughts about Islam into your head!

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese also spoke of "fear" and "division": "Manchester is a proud, strong city and we will not allow terrorists who seek to sow fear and division to achieve their aims." Guess what, pal? They did achieve their aims: they killed 22 people, including children, and injured several dozen. Dead infidels: that's their objective, period. (Or, as you would say, full stop.)

Naturally, Manchester's mayor, Andy Burnham, put out a statement. Burnham, as it happens, is a radical socialist who has wrung his hands for years about Islamophobia and has fought tooth and nail against a nationwide "anti-extremism" program called Prevent on the grounds that it "singles out one community for different treatment." After yesterday's atrocity, Burnham said: "We are grieving today, but we are strong."

Strong? No, Mr. Burnham, you are anything but strong. You are cowards, all of you. You are more scared of being called bigots than of the prospect of children under your official protection being slaughtered by jihadists.

Three-quarters of a century ago, Britain stood shoulder to shoulder in true solidarity while under violent assault by the diabolical ideology of Nazism. Today, its leaders speak of the same kind of solidarity-but it's nothing but talk

. In Rotherham, gangs of Muslim men sexually abused 1,400 girls-and police and other officials who knew about it did nothing for years lest they be accused of racism or Islamophobia.

Almost certainly, similar mass-scale rapes are still occurring right now in other British cities, with similar silence and inaction on the part of pusillanimous authorities.

Today, British leaders refuse to deport imams who preach murder but ban from their shores respected writers and knowledgeable critics of Islam who dare to take on those imams and their theology.

Strength? Don't you dare speak of strength. You have the blood of innocent children on your hands.

Bruce Bawer is the author of The Victims' Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind. He wrote this for City Journal.