How do we turn the corner?

Los Angeles Times, editorial: “The murder of at least 50 people in Orlando early Sunday was an act of terrorism, pure and simple. Exactly to what end remains to be uncovered but yes, once again, a gun designed for no other purpose than to kill a large number of people in a short amount of time was central to the crime. ... Even if the gunman had acted out of Islamic extremism, we shouldn’t let that distract us from the issue of all- too- ready access to guns. The killings were done with such disgusting efficiency because of access to a militarystyle firearm that has no business being in circulation in a civilized society.”

Haroon Moghul,

CNN: “Condemning terrorism is a woefully inadequate response to a persistent menace. ... It cedes terrorists the power to set the agenda. ... But then let’s ask ourselves what it would take to turn the corner. The hundreds of millions of Muslims who reject extremism must start building out real, institutional alternatives to extremism, with serious funding, talent and commitment behind them. We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars in the United States, for example, and on what? We have some nice mosques. Most of them are empty most of the week, except for a few hours every Friday afternoon. We built some Islamic schools. I guess that’s cool. But on the major metric, we’ve failed. It feels as if we are more unpopular than ever. Many Americans want us banned from the country. In the battle for hearts and minds, we’re losing. Badly. ... We need to fight back against extremism. We need to take ownership of the problems, because it’s the only way we’re going to take ownership of the solution. If you can’t criticize yourself, you can’t better yourself. If you can’t lay out a vision of the future, you’re going to live someone else’s future.”

David French,

National Review: “The jihadist impulse in Islam waxes and wanes. It never entirely disappears — which is exactly why a nation cannot ever relax its vigilance and give jihad room to grow. But that’s exactly what we did. And now jihad reaches further and inspires more people than it did even in the days leading up to 9/ 11. ... We need to crush the head of the snake. Only then will the long tail that stretches through the West finally wither and die.”