Congresswoman Ilhan Omar Must Clearly State She Believes the 9/11 Attacks Were Acts of Radical Islamist Terrorism

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s recent description of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “some people did something” has sparked a new flurry of outrage against her which she and her radical House allies – Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib — have responded to by claiming Omar was quoted out of context, portraying her as a victim and attacking her critics.

What Rep. Omar has not done – and needs to do immediately — is clarify her comment by answering this question: “Do you believe the 9/11 attacks were acts of radical Islamist terrorism.”

There are two important reasons why Rep. Omar must answer this question.

First, her “some people did something” remark suggests she does not believe the 9/11 attacks were acts of terrorism. If this is the case, it means she lives in the 9/11 truther fever swamps where lunatics have put forward numerous ridiculous and offensive conspiracy theories for the 9/11 attacks, such as the U.S. government was involved or that it was some kind of inside job.

Rep. Omar needs to reassure the American public immediately that she is not a 9/11 truther by clearly stating she believes these attacks were acts of terrorism.

Second, Rep. Omar must clearly state that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were acts of radical Islamist terrorism.  Does she acknowledge that these were acts of unspeakable violence motivated by a radical ideology that is at war with modern society or does she subscribe to the reprehensible view by some radical Islamists and leftists that these terrorist attacks were a response to U.S. actions in the Middle East, such as the Gulf War and support of Israel?  While it is hard for me to believe that Rep. Omar holds such extreme views, she needs to explicitly repudiate them by stating that the 9/11 attacks were motivated by radical Islam.

I have previously called for Speaker Pelosi to remove Rep. Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee because I believe her anti-Semitic statements and hostility to Israel will interfere with this committee’s important work overseeing U.S. foreign policy.  But if it turns out that Rep. Omar believes the 9/11 attacks were not acts of terror and not motivated by radical Islam, much stronger action must be taken. On behalf of the 3,000 killed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, if Rep. Omar will not admit the true nature of these attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives should consider a formal reprimand and expelling her from that body. There should be no room in the U.S. Congress for a person who denies and minimizes the significance of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.