Frankly, I wasn't going to do a blog on this subject. I thought I had worn out the topic with previous blogs. It was tempting, with the most recent ISIS inspired massacre in Orlando taking place. But I held off. However, several things happened in the last two days that made me rethink my reluctance to talk about this subject again.
Yesterday, Senator John McCain got himself into a bit of a tight spot with the news media when he said that Obama was directly responsible for what took place in Orlando. Taking his remark from the perspective that the news media wanted the public to take, McCain's comment seemed over the top, a typical political bashing statement. But as usual, the news media wanted the public to hear only what it wanted to convey, i.e., that McCain was nuts, overly critical of Obama. But when you listen to McCain's explanation of what he meant, it makes perfect sense. What he said was that Obama was directly responsible because of how he pulled out of Iraq, causing Al Qaeda to spread, to move to Syria, where elements of Al Qaeda evolved into the new terror group that we now know as ISIS/ISIL. McCain had predicted as much when Obama ordered the pull-out from Iraq. He said that things would get much worse and that Al Qaeda (there was no ISIS at the time) would spread and bring terror attacks to our shores. He was absolutely right!
I well remember how both the news media and the liberal members of our government scoffed at McCain's prediction and even political cartoonists were having a time showing McCain as a warmonger, a hawk! What actually has happened since McCain's predictions are much worse! Yesterday, before a congressional hearing, the Director of CIA John Brennan stated that we are no longer able to successfully combat ISIS! ISIS is spreading, using a different approach to their form of jihad and operating in smaller cells and relying on sympathizers, "volunteers" to carry out terror acts. Make no mistake about it, the San Bernardino husband and wife team and the recent Orlando killer Omar Mateen are ISIS! They may not have joined ISIS formally, but they are ISIS, exactly the way ISIS wants to carry out attacks! The CIA Director warned that we are to expect more such attacks!
This morning, in a surprise announcement, the majority of State Department career employees (Foreign Service and domestic) who are involved in working on Middle Eastern Affairs, said that they opposed Obama's "policy" in Syria and felt that we should bomb Assad's government forces! For those who are unfamiliar, the vast majority of State Department employees tend to be politically liberal. I know, during my time in the Foreign Service, I took a lot of grief and ribbing from my colleagues for my conservative political views. In short, State Department, although a very conservative organization, tends to be made up of liberally minded individuals who are predominantly registered Democrats! So, for this body of individuals to openly oppose Obama's "policy" in Syria is truly a surprising turn.
It seems to me that Obama's government is more concerned about passing more gun control legislation than fighting Islamic Terrorism! All the rhetoric that one hears from Obama's camp is about enforcing stricter gun laws, nothing about doing something about the spreading of ISIS influence or stopping Islamic terrorists before they commit acts of terror! Remember the terrible tragedy in Paris? Twice as many people were murdered in Paris as in Orlando and those terrorists had no trouble sneaking-in their weaponry into a country that has gun laws that are much stricter than ours! Yesterday, in London, a nut case shot and stabbed a British politician to death. The killer used a knife and a pistol. Oh by the way, pistols are illegal in UK for private citizens. As the saying goes, "where there is a will, there is a way!" No amount of legislation is going to keep weapons out of the hands of determined individuals.
This blog is not about the gun control issue, it is rather about curbing terrorist activities. To do that, we must be more thorough, more vigilant, and yes, at times severe in our actions. Omar Mateen was "interviewed" twice by the FBI, he was on the FBI watch list. Yet, he carried out this horrid act. There are many unanswered questions. Why did the FBI not check to see if he had firearms? Why did the FBI not put him on the "no buy" list. In order to purchase a firearm, any kind of firearm, you must undergo an FBI check. If your name is on the list, you can't buy a gun! I know of cases where people were put on the list for drug possession and DUI! These people were never on the FBI watch list of terrorists, yet they were put on "no buy" list. Mateen was on the FBI watch list, hell, they interviewed him twice! Yet, he was never put on "no buy" or "no fly" list! Something is terribly wrong with our system!
You can rest assured that nothing will happen in terms of new policies or new plans for fighting ISIS. We have a totally dysfunctional government when it comes to carrying out a war against Islamic Terrorists. We have the best military in the world, the best trained and equipped military. Yet, we can't seem to defeat a bunch of Islamic fanatics dressed in baggy black PJs! It seems that we had that problem before, facing enemy dressed in black PJs! Remember the Viet Cong? We were able to defeat Viet Cong, however, we lost the war at home for political reasons! In case of the current black PJ clad enemy, we are just not fighting the way we are capable. We are fighting in bits and pieces, a very controlled (politically controlled) fighting. You can't win wars that way! That is how we lost Vietnam!
It seems that the State Department employees at least have a sense of history and remember what happened before. They know that we can't fight a "selective" war with "selective" battles. Right now we are fighting ISIS in Syria with not only one hand tied behind our back, but with one eye covered as well. ISIS is sticking close to Assad's forces because Assad is only interested in fighting rebels, those who oppose his government. Russia is helping Assad maintain his power and are just as interested in bombing rebels! What State Department employees are saying is that we should bomb Assad as well as ISIS, get rid of them both! I heartily agree! But it will never happened, not with this administration, not with Obama sitting in the oval office! Unfortunately, should Democrats win the election, the present policy will just continue. Remember, Hillary was Obama's Secretary of State when the Syrian mess began!
No comments:
Post a Comment