I keep waiting to hear it.

The chants of “USA, USA, USA!”

Those chants need not come from large crowds at football games, necessarily. Instead, I am waiting to hear those chants coming from American Muslims who are standing up for their country.

I get that Muslims are upset at mosques being defaced. I have great sympathy for those who feel the pain of discrimination because of their faith. I share their angst at calls to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. I also share their disgust with presidential candidates saying that Muslims shouldn’t run for — let alone serve as — president of the United States.

However, there’s an element missing from the outrage that Muslims have been expressing in regard to the violence that’s erupting all around the world — including here in the United States.

President Bush said we are not at war with Islam. President Obama has reiterated it. We’re at war with extremists who have perverted a great religion. The extremists are killing more Muslims than any other religious group in the world.

They also are attacking nations, including this one.

I want to hear American Muslims shouting out their love of country as loudly as they do for their faith.