If President Obama believes that terrorists who identify as Islamic aren’t true Muslims, why does he treat them as if they are?

Media are fixated on the Obama administration’s latest ridiculous refusal to admit any link between Islam and terrorism, despite video of the Paris mass murderers shouting, “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad!”  

The point here is not about Islam per se. It’s about the irreconcilability of Obama’s words with his actions.

In his 2009 speech in Cairo, Egypt, Obama claimed to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” while at the same time divorcing al Qaeda from Islam:

“Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam.”

 Unsurprisingly, Obama didn’t mention Islam on May 2, 2011, when he announced

“an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”

If Obama didn’t consider Osama a faithful Muslim, why did he order the U.S. Navy to bury him at sea within 24 hours, according to Islamic law?

Why didn’t Obama order the Navy to unceremoniously slip bin Laden’s body into the water from the ship’s deck as some sort of generic extremist? 

The administration actually hyped its considerable efforts to make sure that bin Laden’s burial complied with Islamic law. Obama’s White House counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, claimed that bin Laden's remains were buried "in strict conformance with Islamic precepts and practices.” Brennan said the administration consulted "appropriate specialists and experts" before making the decision," according to the Washington Post.

Then White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed bin Laden’s Islamic burial during a press briefing on May 4, 2011:

“The efforts that were made to give Osama bin Laden an appropriate burial, following Islamic precepts and traditions, were considerable.”

Instead of being outraged that Obama treated bin Laden like a faithful Muslim, Obama got flak from Muslim leaders for not observing Islamic law sufficiently:

“With some Muslims decrying the manner in which Osama bin Laden was put to rest, the White House insisted Monday that the al-Qaeda leader's burial by sea was in accordance with Islamic law under the circumstances of his death.”

Next question: Why hasn’t Obama ordered the Marine commandant at Guantanamo Bay to stop providing an Islamic diet, prayer beads, prayer rugs, and Korans to prisoners affiliated with al Qaeda, ISIL and other terrorist groups if they’re not Islamic? This includes Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who admittedly decapitated American journalist Daniel Pearl and masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the United States. 

The New York Post on June 30, 2013, published photos of the many choices of Halal foods offered to Gitmo inmates and quoted an unidentified official at Gitmo:

The official called Gitmo detainees ‘some of the most pampered prisoners on the planet.’ He said they get as many as four choices of halal meals and have access to a new $750,000 soccer field. Islamic prayer beads and rugs are now “standard issue.” They get their choice of more than 10,000 Islamic books and videos stocked by a Muslim librarian, who also records soccer and Arabic TV for them. They even have their own clerics to preach to them in Arabic.

Everyone gets a Koran, paperback or hardback, along with little hammocks to keep their holy book from touching the ground when not in use. Guards are prohibited from handling the books. The Muslim librarian is ‘the only one that’s allowed to touch the Korans anymore, per detainee request,’ the official said. ‘If I went into the Koran room and started rifling through a Koran, I could be fired.’ But no one gets a Bible, because the Bible could ‘incite’ the terrorists.

USA Today published a similar article, “Muslim Holy Period to Be Celebrated at Guantanamo,” on Aug. 7, 2013:

The military planned to serve lamb, bread, dates and honey as the last daylight fasting period of Ramadan ends, followed by three traditional holiday dinners on Thursday, said a spokesman for the prison, Navy Capt. Robert Durand. There will also be a special hour-long prayer for the holiday known as Eid al-Fitr in addition to the five daily prayers.

Why are American taxpayers forced to fund Obama’s Islamization of terrorists that he insists are not followers of Islam?

And why is Obama sending supposedly non-Muslim Gitmo prisoners to Muslim countries? Obama’s mission to close Gitmo has become a terrorist recycling program. Fox News reported on Oct. 31:

“Of the 620 detainees released from Guantanamo Bay, 180 have returned or are suspected to have returned to the battlefield. Of those 180, sources say 20 to 30 have either joined ISIS or other militants groups in Syria, or are participating with these groups from outside countries. Officials say most of those 20 to 30 are operating inside Syria.” 

Obama has also isolated ISIL terrorists from Islam, referring to them as “formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq” in his statement posted on the White House website on Sept. 10:

“Now let’s make two things clear:  ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’  No religion condones the killing of innocents.”

Maybe Obama’s motive for annihilating terrorists with drones, such as the Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, who continues to inspire terrorists, and closing Gitmo is to avoid awkward questions.

Two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack, Obama went to the United Nations to declare, among other things, that, “the future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam.”

Has it occurred to President Obama that he “slander[s] the Prophet of Islam” by wrapping his mantle around those who are “not Islamic”?

Jan LaRue is senior legal analyst with the American Civil Rights Union.