The Other Choice

With all the mania surrounding Donald Trump, it can be easy to forget that there are, in fact, other candidates in the US Presidential race, and that some of them have useful, rational things to say.

Today, Republican candidate Ben Carson pointed out that eradicating Islamic State will not stop jihad terrorism. “The Islamist threat is now like a hydra, and cutting off the head that is ISIL will not kill the beast,” he said. “The defeat of the Islamic State and elimination of its caliphate is necessary but insufficient to ending our broader conflict against radical Islam, A Carson administration will wage war against radical Islamic terrorism as a global movement, not just as discrete entities.”

Today it is very rare to hear anyone talk about this being a global jihadist movement driven by common motives and goals (which is what it is), so Carson's understanding is very welcome. He also added: “In short, our enemies are transnational jihadist organizations. Based on their understanding of the tenets of Islam, these enemies are intent on imposing a supremacist and totalitarian form of government on others."

Exactly right. Carson has already shown in previous comments that he has a deeper understanding of Islam than any of the other candidates. While Trump steamrolls everyone and everything in his path with fire and bluster, Carson seems to be the calmer, more rational option. I don't know too much about him or his views, if I'm honest, but I've seen enough of Trump (because how can anyone avoid him at the moment?) to know that while he is coming up on the right side of many issues that ordinary Americans feel strongly about, his overall comprehension of the world around him seems to be only held in place at the moment by his sheer charisma and fire-breathing self-confidence. Give him any real political power, and his lack of intelligence would show through all the more.

I'm not one of those folks who is going to sit here and demonise Donald Trump until you never want to hear his name ever again - I don't like him, but I don't think he's a Nazi either - and it seems inconceivable that he now won't win the Republican nomination for the presidency, but if you're a conservative American voter, and have deep concerns about the future of Islam in your country, there is no better alternative in the running than Ben Carson.