Our media has played a series of games.  The first game is that we are not fighting radical Islam.  The problem is blamed on generic "terrorism," guns in general, and, lately, "global warming."  The second game the media plays is to say that Muslims in America don't commit or sympathize with acts of terrorism.  In a clumsy effort to prove this point, the Times inadvertently showed that Muslims in America were 25 or even 50 times more likely to be terrorists than the general population.

And now, in reaction to the latest radical Muslim pair who committed mass murder in San Bernardino, Donald Trump (and Ted Cruz, to a lesser degree) has called for a halt to Muslims coming into America.

Why?  Only a small percentage of American Muslims commit acts of violence.  But we have no way of knowing who they are.  What is worse, other American Muslims are covering for them.  Syed Farook's father knew his son was radicalized but said nothing.

A former FBI counterterrorism official said that American Muslims have provided practically zero support in hunting down radicals in their communities.

... former FBI Counterterrorism Agent John Guandolo said... that since 9/11, “we collectively have received nearly zero help from the Muslim Community.”

Guandolo, who pointed out on Friday’s Breitbart News Daily that a “vast majority” of U.S. mosques and Islamic centers are a part of a much larger “jihadi network,” told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that though Muslim community leaders “certainly give the air as if they are helping,” if one looks at the “major Islamic organizations, the major Islamic centers in the United States,” they have “condemned all of the counter-terrorism policies and they’ve gotten the government to kowtow to them, to turn only to them for advice.”

Guandolo, who pointed out on Friday’s Breitbart News Daily that a “vast majority” of U.S. mosques and Islamic centers are a part of a much larger “jihadi network,” told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that though Muslim community leaders “certainly give the air as if they are helping,” if one looks at the “major Islamic organizations, the major Islamic centers in the United States,” they have “condemned all of the counter-terrorism policies and they’ve gotten the government to kowtow to them, to turn only to them for advice.”

Trump justified his proposal by citing a poll stating that 25% of American Muslims sympathize with violence against Americans, and 51% of American Muslims want sharia law in America.

Can these numbers really be true?  Ask yourself why Muslims were dancing on rooftops in Jersey City when 9/11 happened.  Ask yourself why no Muslims have turned in other Muslims who have become radicalized.  Ask yourself why so-called Muslim organizations like CAIR never condemn radical Islam.  I don't know if the poll numbers are true, but it is clear that a substantial number  of the American Muslim population, especially the most religious part of the American Muslim population, sympathize with radical Islam.

Meanwhile, all the Republicans condemned this proposal...except Ted Cruz, who simply noted that he had a different policy, one of restricting immigration in countries where ISIS has a presence.  While not quite as complete as Trump's total ban, such a ban from countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan would go a long way in protecting us.  The other candidates have shown us from their attacks on Trump's proposal that they are more concerned about political correctness than protecting the country.

What needs to change?  Number one: a recognition that there is a civil war in the Muslim community, and we can't import any more Muslims because we do not know what side anyone is on.  Number two: we need to put pressure on the Muslim community. Instead of telling them they are victims and inviting them to lecture the FBI, we should tell them there is a war going on, and they have to decide whose side they are on, ours or theirs.  We should tell them that the government is reallocating resources from watching hundreds of millions of Americans and is narrowly focusing on mosques and "cultural centers," so we will quickly know who is on whose side, and we will react accordingly.

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.