Putting the blame on the wrong villain?

Charles Krauthammer analyzes reaction to three Muslims in North Carolina being murdered

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," February 16, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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O'REILLY: "Impact Segment" tonight: putting the blame on the wrong villain.

46-year-old Craig Hicks has been indicted for three counts of first degree murder, allegedly shooting to death three Muslim Arab-American students in North Carolina. Three people totally innocent lost their lives in a vicious way. The FBI now investigating to see if there is a hate crime.

Reacting to the horror, the sister of one of the victims said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAKAT: it's currently an open season, a time where it's an open season against Islam -- Muslims in Washington, Muslims in general media, dehumanizing Muslims in movies like "American Sniper".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Once again, joining us from Washington is Charles Krauthammer. I see no evidence of any anti-Muslim feeling across the country in any level, you know. And they hate crimes, the FBI reports of below double digits for Muslims. Now this woman comes out, you know we know she is upset but blames the movie and what do you think?

KRAUTHAMMER: I think it's ridiculous. I can understand her grief and I can understand how she would speak so illogically and irrationally. But that doesn't make what she says true. In fact, I looked up the FBI statistics for violent crime having to do with hate groups, and 60 percent of those were against Jews, 13.7 percent against Muslims. So, unless you think this country is seething with anti-Semitism, you would have to say that it certainly isn't seething with anti-Muslim feeling.

If anything, given the injuries that United States and the West have suffered at the hands of Islamic radicals and terrorists starting with 9/11, I think it's been quite remarkable how much outreach, how much sympathy.

You remember the first week after 9/11, George Bush, the President, spoke out about tolerance for Muslims. This is not the kind of anti-Muslim sentiment that is being spoken about.

O'REILLY: No.

KRAUTHAMMER: If anything, I think there has been quite remarkable outreach in humanity on this -- on this issue.

O'REILLY: 1.4 million Muslims in the U.S.A. -- not a lot, obviously, in a country of 320 million.

Now one of the guys who have become the spokesman of the "Don't Say the Word Islam" in connection with terrorism is basketball superstar Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He's out again this weekend with the big NBA all-star game saying, look, comparing ISIS or al Qaeda to Islam is like comparing the Ku Klux Klan to Christianity.

And you say?

KRAUTHAMMER: Well, he had a great jump hook. But I'm not sure that he has a great analysis of what's going on in the world. Look, I mean how much evidence does one need? The Islamic state calls itself Islamic. The Islamic state affiliate in Libya, as you said, beheads 21 Christians announcing that they are doing it because they are Christians.

Speaking about and then issuing the video. The video was issued to the nations of the cross. It speaks about capturing Rome. It's entirely about its interpretation of Islam.

I mean, is it really so difficult for Kareem to say or for the President to say we don't see this as a war against Islam? We don't believe in a war against Islam. But, it's an unfortunate fact that one strain of Islam expressing itself all over the world from Nigeria to Copenhagen to Libya to everywhere in the world, happens to believe that they are at war with other religions -- Yazidis, Christians, Jews and even Muslims with whom they do not agree and who they consider apostates to the point where they're willing to slaughter them in a genocidal way. Is that so hard to say?

O'REILLY: It apparently is a slur against Islam and I have tried to reason with Mr. Jabbar. I have tried to tell him that, look, it's not you and the majority of the peace-loving Muslims, but it is a situation where the peace-loving Muslims have got to start to get a-hold of the non-peace loving Muslims. That's my take on it. If all the Muslim nations would crack down on these people, then the problem would be on its way to being solved.

Last word.

KRAUTHAMMER: The last word is that this president seems incapable of saying the obvious. The fact as you pointed out, that they would issue a statement today identifying the victims as Egyptian citizens.

O'REILLY: Egyptian citizens.

KRAUTHAMMER: That would be as if you were describing a lynching of a black man in the south 100 years ago and saying there was a lynching last week of a citizen of Georgia or Alabama or whatever without speaking about the racial content of that.

O'REILLY: That's right.

KRAUTHAMMER: And that's to me -- that's a willful ignorance.

O'REILLY: And the motive for the crime was stated. They are Christians. We want to kill them because they are Christians. Not because they are Egyptians. So, it's even worse.

KRAUTHAMMER: The beginning of understanding any enemy is to understanding exactly what he is about. Otherwise, you are utterly disarmed in dealing with him.

O'REILLY: Right. All right, Charles. Thanks as always.

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