The last week has been a traumatic period for the world. There have been at least 5 terror attacks and in one of the most reprehensible incidents an old 85-year-old French priest was killed with a knife by a Jihadist who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The French have declared an extension of the state of emergency but have not explicitly stated that the attack is motivated by Islamic fundamentalism. The same thing has happened in Germany. 4 attacks by extremist lone wolf Muslim migrants has led to revulsion and made the German people think. But Angela Merkel has not identified the source of these attacks as inspired by Muslim extremism. There is thus a marked reluctance to name Islam as a source of terror. The reasons for this are myriad, but lurking behind is the fear that any identification of Islam as a source of terror may create greater bloodshed.
Views of Tump
Donald Trump is the GOP nominee for the post of President. He is a different kettle of fish as can be made out by his statements. He differs from the Democratic party whose leader Obama and now Hillary hesitates to single out Islam as a motivating force for terror attacks. The approach of Obama can be seen from a small incident. When President Hollande visited the USA, he in a press conference used the word, Islamic terror. The White house in a press release omitted the word Islamic and only let the word Terror remain. Subsequently, after a hue and cry, the word Islamic was restored, but just about shows that the USA under Obama just failed to identify the source of terror.
The GOP nominee Donald Trump to the chagrin of many has clearly stated that Muslims are the source of terror, the world over. He has also praised Saddam Hussein in an address at Louisana, as a man who knew how to deal with Muslim extremists like Al Qaeda. Donald mentioned that Saddam did not read the rule book to the terrorists, but simply hanged them. He was an efficient killer of terrorists. Earlier Donald had said the world was a better place when Gaddafi and Saddam were around. I don't thnk he can be faulted for this as things in the Middle East were certainly better when the duo of Gadafi and Saddam were around.
Donald has also stated that he would take on Islamic fundamentalism head-on. He would debar Muslims from entering the USA till they proved their bonafide's. He would also take the battle to the sanctuaries of the extremists and destroy them. He would mete out the same treatment to the Muslim extremists or Jihadists as they meted out to their non-Muslim prisoners. These are strong statements and many in the USA are also against this rhetoric, but the common American seems to identify with Donald and that is the reason the man won primary after primary and the GOP nomination. The latest polls also show that he has taken a 5 point lead over his rival Hillary. Trump is a little brash, but being temperate is not his strength and the white voter see him as a man who will restore the pristine glory of the white race and ipso facto the USA.
The future
Nobody can forecast the future. Donald may maintain his lead and win or he may win the popular vote and still lose like Al Gore who won the popular vote but lost to Bush. This is because of the peculiar nature of the US election where the voting is by an electoral college where the states which a candidate wins gets the entire electoral votes of that state.
However Trump has raised cogent issues and like or dislike, what he has stated cannot be brushed under the carpet. Even if Hillary wins she will have to consider the effect of Trump's campaign. Many claim Trump is a man with little knowledge and some even have referred to him as a buffoon. This is a sad commentary on the American people and means that half the American people support a buffoon? Not likely and this propaganda must be shelved as unworthy of replying. But the fact that Trump is in the finals is itself a pointer and means he has a real chance of becoming president of the USA. All said and done, Donald is the first man in the west to identify the source of terror and that by itself is not a mean feat. I wonder if any in India , in particular, the Congress party can take a leaf out of this book.