Terror Rising, West Falling

The number of fatalities related to terrorism soared 60% last year according to a report by the nonprofit Institute for Economics and Peace. Most of these deaths occurred in the Middle East. Policies matter. (Thanks B.H.O., for getting us out and making us look weak and unexceptional-see my  “ISIL Leader Mocks Obama” post). Four groups including ISIL, Boko Haram, and the Taliban ‘took credit’ for two-thirds of worldwide deaths related to terrorism in 2013, the report said, describing radical variants of Islam as “the key commonality for all four groups.” Imagine that.

                However, the world’s industrialized nations, including the U.S., often targeted by groups such as these in the past, have suffered relatively few attacks on their soil since the Sept. 11, 2001 onslaught.

Thanks, George ‘W’. Or do you think Al Gore would’ve done as well?

Terror rises now… as the West falls.

                

ISIL Leader Mocks the West

             According to a report in the New York Times, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic  State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), issued a new call to arms Thursday, November 13 in a 17-minute speech urging disciples to “erupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere.”

During this audio recording Baghdadi, who appeared to dispel rumors of his serious injury or death in an airstrike last Saturday, belittled President Obama’s plan to send more soldiers to Iraq. He exhorted Muslims throughout the Middle East to rise up against “the agents of the  Jews and crusaders, their slaves, tails and dogs.”

            He declared, “We see America (and her allies) stumbling between fear, weakness, inability and failure.”

            How nice.

            How true.

            How unnecessary.

            And another report, this one from the Associated Press, states that ‘the leaders of ISIL and Al-Qaida have agreed on a plan to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents’, which would be the U.S., Israel and other Western and NATO nations.

These nations better wake up, sober up and start recognizing these developments  for the long-term existential threat that they are. We may not want to deal with this crisis, but, if we don’t, it will surely deal with us.

            As for the U.S., President Obama isn’t going to change his stripes. We can’t wait for another Ronald Reagan to come along. We better hope the Republicans who now control the House and Senate have more courage and fortitude than their predecessors. Only then will it be possible we elect a President who recognizes- and doesn’t curtsy to- evil.

               

     

9/11 Past, Present & Future

                The 13^th ‘Anniversary’ of 9/11. And what have we achieved? What have we ‘learned’? Where are we now?

                We had Iraq and Afghanistan roughly under control for awhile, but not now. Al Qaeda still exists. As do many, many other terror groups. ISIS/ISIL has sprung up into a self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ in the Middle East, ‘promising’ to hit the U.S. in a big way soon. Hamas and other terrorist entities continue to fire rockets into Israel on a random basis and then cry ‘foul’ if and when Israel responds. It isn’t enough for these ‘radical fundamentalist’ Islamic terrorists to blow up their own  via suitcase or car bombs (or bombs attached to the bodies of men, women or children), they also purposely make sure as many ‘non-combatants’ or ‘civilians’ as possible get killed in retaliatory strikes so they can use the media to paint their targets as brutal monsters. That is when they’re not beheading members of the media.

                Jihadists from this country are going over to help the ‘evil-doers’ at an increasing rate.

                This is a struggle that has been going on for a thousand years and longer. This is an existential battle between the principles of good and evil, life and death, freedom and slavery…literally. This, then- not the ‘fights’ against global warming and invasive species or for ‘marriage equality- ’is the defining issue for humanity in our time, too.

                Thirteen years ago today, terrorists knocked two gleaming, massive towers out of the clear blue sky, killing thousands and shocking us all. It is fitting that today we again remember those who perished and pray for their families.

                But let not solemnity lead to passivity or hopelessness. Or fatigue. The terrorists tore a hole in our skyline and in our hearts. It is not in their power to tear out our character or resolve.

                We haven’t won the war against cancer or many other diseases yet either, but no one suggests we give up the fight. This, too, is a battle that has to be fought.

                It is a battle we cannot lose.