Tag Archive for: ISIS

“Progress, but No Time for Celebration”

‘Perhaps it is the end of the beginning’ were the words that Winston Churchill used to describe a very different conflict to the one we are currently in. When Churchill described the end of the preliminary battles of the Second World War he was speaking from a continent whose young men and women were signed up in their entirety, with whole economies and populations enrolled in the fight against Nazi fascism.

Today we are of course in a very different war. And not only because so few young men and women are in uniform (and ever fewer these days in the United Kingdom). This war is different for a whole range of reasons. Today’s enemies rarely congregate in vast stadia to remind us of their size and power. They control vast territories but few countries. Rarely if ever do they wear a uniform. And hardest of all to comprehend is the fact that this time very many of our enemies are inside our own societies – with a larger group still whose sympathies they believe themselves able to call upon.

The nature of this conflict is still misunderstood now as it has been from day one: we are in a worldwide, multidimensional war against radical Islam. That so many people do not want to admit that is perhaps the greatest demonstration of our potential eventual failure. But there are signs that the battle is clearing.

Just this week the US has been leading an international coalition which is finally striking at the heart of Islamic State (IS) forces. At home in the UK one of our most notorious preachers of hate – Anjem Choudary – has been arrested along with almost a dozen of his followers. This is a moment when many people would hang up their boots and look forward to early retirement. Many of the dangers we have warned of – from Iraq to home and back again – have come disturbingly true. What some people claimed to be scare-mongering is now everyone’s daily news diet. Beheadings in London. Beheadings in Iraq. Crucifixions in Syria. Attempted beheadings in Australia. All these things, and more, have come to pass.

But here at HJS we know that this is not time for celebration or for back-patting. To think things are over now would not just be wrong – it would betray an atrocious error of timing. It is true that ISIS is now on the back-foot. But ISIS is only one group. A year ago nobody had heard of them. A year from now there will be another such group of which we have not yet heard. Domestically we have had a track record of allowing hate preachers to roam free for years before locking them up or otherwise getting rid of them. Omar Bakri, Abu Hamza. There will be others next year. And we actually do know some of their names.

But the point is that while celebrating the incremental steps that our societies are making to understanding the conflict we are in, we do not believe that this is anywhere near an end. It may well be that politicians and publics are catching up with us. But such an event would only herald, at best, the end of the beginning. Ahead of us all are severe and dangerous paths. The Mullahs are still in power in Iran. Hamas are still in power in Gaza. Across the world extremist groups are feeding on the virtues of our societies as well as our flaws. They will be doing so for years to come. So yes, a time for some recognition and some correction, but also a time to realise that we are not yet out of the first act. We do not know how many acts there will be. But people should be under no illusion, and take refuge in no false comforts. This one, to put it in theatre vernacular, looks set to run and run.

Islamic State — Do We Believe Obama or Mohammed?

Obama and the media tell us that Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL, has nothing to do with Islam. Well, Mohammed says that Islamic State is pure Islam.

We’re at the time in history when ISIS, also called Islamic State or ISIL, has cut off the head of someone in the media. And it was so atrocious that many chose to speak out against it and one of them was Obama.

Here’s what Obama says about Islamic State, “They’ve rampaged across cities and villages killing innocents. They abduct women and children, subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They’ve murdered Moslems, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them because they practice a different religion. ISIL speaks for no religion.”

Well, really what Obama’s saying here is Islamic State is not Islamic. That’s really what he’s saying briefly. But, you know it’s not up to Obama to tell us what Islam is. Islam is defined by Mohammed and Allah.

Now, let’s see what happened in the Sira, the life of Mohammed, his official biography, about all these points and let’s start with of all things, rape. On the occasion of Khaybar, once the Jews had been crushed, Mohammed put forth new orders as to how sex would be had with captured women. They were not to be had sex with when they’re having their period, nor if they’re pregnant. So here we have Mohammed giving orders on how to have sex with captives. This is called rape. It is pure Mohammed.

Now, what about the issue of torture. Well, on the same event, once he crushed the Jews at Khaybar, he knew they had buried treasure and so he questioned the chieftain. “Where’s the money? Where’s the gold? Where’s the silver?” And he wouldn’t tell him. So, Mohammed ordered the chieftain staked out on the ground and a small fire built on his chest. Still he would not speak. And so they unstaked him and took him to a man who had lost a brother in the fight against the Jews at Khaybar and he beheaded the Jewish chieftain.

So, here in one event we have torture, we have Jew hatred and we have beheading. All of these are pure Islam.

Now, let’s deal with sex slaves. From the lot of the women, Mohammed had chosen three to give as gifts of pleasure to his chief lieutenants. He gave one to Umar, gave one to Ali and one to Uthman. Oddly enough, Umar passed his sex slave on to his son. So, sex slavery is pure Mohammed.

Now, what about slavery? I’m going to read you a list of things that Mohammed was involved in with slavery. All of these come from the Sira. And by the way, all of these references can be found on politicalislam.com. He was involved in every aspect of slavery. He had Kafir men killed so their women could be made slaves. He gave away slaves for gifts. He owned many slaves, many of them black. He stood by while others beat slaves. He shared the pleasure of forced sex with women conquests. He captured slaves and wholesaled them and retailed them for the profit of jihad. His favorite sexual partner was a sex slave, a Christian woman, who bore him a son. He got slaves as gifts. His pulpit was made by a slave. He ate meals prepared by slaves. His robes were repaired by slaves. And he approved of having sex with your slaves. And if a slave didn’t obey his master he would not go to paradise. Well, that’s pretty clear about the slavery, an issue in Islam.

Now, let’s deal with the last thing, killing Christians. Mohammed had two records in dealing with Christians in Arabia. One was he was kind to them and listened to them. But, once he had crushed the pagans and once he had crushed the Jews, he then turned his attention to the Christians. He sent Khalid, also known as The Sword of Allah, to the fort of a Christian ruler and when the ruler and his brother rode out they killed one and captured the other and subjugated the Christian tribe, made them obey the Sharia and pay the jizyah.

Let me be very clear, Mohammed was a pagan killer, a Jew killer and a Christian killer. Now, let’s go back to what started this off. Who is to determine what Islam is, Obama? No. Mohammed tells us what Islam is and we need to listen to Mohammed and we can ignore Mr. Obama.

Sorry, America Cannot Defeat Islamic Terror Groups

Americans have big hearts and for well over 200 years Americans have been patriotic and would stand up for their country whenever and wherever the threats against us exists.  Times have changed.  We now have millions of people in America who have no allegiance to our country.  We have millions of American citizens who will support Hamas and ISIS before they would even think of supporting their own country.

When I write articles such as this and make strong statements like, ‘We Can’t Defeat Islamic Terrorists”, it is based on my experience in analyzing threats against our country for over 3 decades. This is what the American government paid me to do.  When we wrote our intelligence reports we did it in a bullet statement style.  There was no room for beating around the bush.  We provided our analysis based on the facts we had.

I have not changed the way I analyze Islamic terrorist intelligence I have obtained.  We have media actors and actresses who can and will entertain the public for hours on end.  They get paid, I do not.  I belong to no organization, corporation, and I am no longer under the rules of the U.S. government.  This is why I call it like it is and often have been criticized from the left and front simultaneously.

For many years I have been stating the only way we can win a war on Islamic terrorism, is to target the Islamic ideology instead of putting our resources into fighting dozens of Islamic named terror groups around the world.  We need to begin stating Islam was founded by a child rapist (Mohammed). Islam is violence, hatred, and intolerance and nothing has changed in Islam for over 1400 years.  What we see done daily by the Islamic State (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Boco Haram and others is the practice of pure Islam as Mohammed desired.

We can kill every Islamic terrorist and almost immediately millions more will fill their places.  There must come a time when innocent people around the world will cringe when anything Islamic is mentioned.  The Islamic ideology must be considered no better than Hitler’s ideology.  If this ever becomes a reality we then have a chance of saving America Islamic.

I am sure most readers are confused as to why Saudi Arabia and four other Sunni dominated countries are attacking their own (ISIS).  First they are doing so for Islam and not America. The answer is within the thousands of Islamic books produced each year by the Saudi government.  Essentially these countries fully understand the ISIS Muslims can never be defeated by simply killing individuals.  To them the ISIS terrorists who die in Syria and Iraq by their hands are doing so for the betterment of the Islamic ideology.  Saudis and the others know Islam will survive for thousands of more years as long as Islamic terrorist groups are the targets of the infidels, and not  the ideology itself.

Think about this.  Would any of the Sunni countries attack their brothers in Syria and Iraq if the U.S.told them the true enemy of America and Israel is the Islamic ideology and killing ISIS members is only the beginning.  The destruction of Islam itself is the final goal of America.  These Sunni countries would have never agreed to stand by with the U.S.  The Saudi’s know the ISIS members are simply collateral for the overall survival of Islam.

Islamic-state-flames-of-war-full-film-IP

A screen shot from ‘Flames of War.’ The American narrator of the film is on the far left.

Please keep in mind the very basics of Islam being carried out by groups such as ISIS are also the beliefs of every Muslim who practices Islam.  The Muslims in America who attend mosques services in America are taught:

  1. Islam is the only true religion (ideology)
  2. Prophet Mohammed taught Muslims that all Jews and anyone who supports the Jews are enemies.
  3. A caliphate covering the entire world is the ultimate goal Islam.
  4. All of Sharia must be adhered to for a Muslim to be a true Muslim.
  5. If a Muslim picks and chooses which parts of Sharia law to adhere to, that person is an enemy and apostate of Islam.

Destroy the Islamic ideology and the world will have peace.  Destroy individual Islamic terrorist groups and we will lose the war.  Will Obama or any politician openly denounce Islam itself?  The answer is no. Will any counter-terrorism group leader in America ever say the Islamic ideology is the enemy.  No. The only fact that will come is that America will crumble in the very near future.

Sad, but true.

EDITORS NOTE: To understand the Islamic State and how it is practicing Islam please watch this video titled “Flames of War” produced and distributed by its Mohammedan followers (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES):

Retired Marine General: Obama’s ISIS plan hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding

About two weeks ago, President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy, and he is struggling to garner support – not only from an alliance or coalition (which is lacking, as no one is naming the countries or their level of support) – but also from senior military generals and defense officials, current and retired, who certainly know something about battle. The latest torpedo comes from a former Commandant of the US Marine Corps, General James Conway.

As reported by The Daily Caller, “The man who was the top Marine general from 2006 until his retirement in 2010 says President Barack Obama’s strategy to defeat the terrorist group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is doomed to fail. “I don’t think the president’s plan has a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding,” retired Marine General James Conway, who served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, said at the Maverick PAC Conference in Washington, D.C. Friday, according to a source in attendance.”

You can always count on a Marine to not mince words. Then again, this is something we all knew was the case two weeks ago, when Obama delivered his 15-minute empty speech which focused more on what he was not going to do along with self-righteous indignation in dismissing ISIS’ Islamic ideology.

Another highly decorated and regarded US Marine General chimed in on the subject. As the Daily Caller reports, former CENTCOM Commander retired General James “Mad Dog” Mattis told the House Intelligence Committee, “You just don’t take anything off the table up front, which it appears the administration has tried to do. Specifically, if this threat to our nation is determined to be as significant as I believe it is, we may not wish to reassure our enemies our enemies in advance that they will not see American ‘boots on the ground.’ If a brigade of our paratroopers or a battalion landing team of our Marines would strengthen our allies at a key juncture and create havoc/humiliation for our adversaries, then we should do what is necessary with our forces that exist for that very purpose.”

Even former Obama administration Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, has confided in an interview that he was against the withdrawal of our forces from Iraq. So who does Obama listen to? Obviously not the people assigned to key national security positions. I suppose being a complete political animal means he only confides in Darth Vader’s sister, Valerie Jarrett. Of course if this were a campaign, then David Axelrod and David Plouffe would be in charge. Maybe behind the scenes, Chicago is still running our country.

We are slowly watching the demise of our nation at the hands of an egomaniacal intransigent ideologue. We will be ultimately victorious, but the pain is going to be rather intense for a period of time.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com. The featured image of Marine General James Conway is courtesy of the Examiner.

Israel/U.S. National Security Summit 2014 Trailer

Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman small

Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman

On Sept 9, 2014, The United West, in partnership with Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman presented a unique national security event which featured some of America’s top subject-matter experts on the issues of Israel, Gaza, the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Obama Administration’s foreign policy initiatives.

Please watch this trailer featuring Rabbi Jonathan H. Hausman, Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West, U.S. Army (Ret.), Lieutenant  General Jerry Boykin, U.S. Army (Ret.), Lieutenant  General Tom McInerney, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), and author and former CIA Station Chief Gary Berntsen.

By early October The United West will release the full video documentary completed on this special day at this historic event. But for now, please watch this “teaser” trailer:

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40 Islamic State jihadis have already returned to the U.S.

These jihadis have already effectively renounced their U.S. citizenship by joining up with the Islamic State. They have aligned themselves with an entity that considers itself to be at war with the United States, and have vowed to destroy it. They should not have been let back into the country, much less trusted to the surveillance of the politically correct and willfully ignorant FBI.

“Dem Rep: 40 American ISIL Fighters Have Already Returned to the United States,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, September 19, 2014 9:35 am

Rep. Tim Bishop (D., N.Y.) warned during a recent speech that up to 40 radicalized U.S. citizens who have fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or ISIS) have already returned to the United States, where they could pose a terrorist threat.

Bishop claims that of the 100 or so Americans who have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIL’s ranks, some 40 have returned and are currently being surveilled by the FBI, according to his remarks, which were filmed and uploaded to YouTube last week.

“One of the concerns is the number of U.S. citizens who have left our country to go join up with ISIS,” Bishop said during the speech. “It is believed there have been some number up to 100 that have done that.”

“It is also believed that some 40 of those who left this country to join up with ISIS have now returned to our country,” Bishop said, eliciting shocked responses from some in the crowd.

These 40 individuals, Bishop said, “are under FBI attention and surveillance. So they are known and being tracked by the FBI.”

Lawmakers have warned that radicalized ISIL fighters could clandestinely enter the United States through the porous southern border.

U.S. officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other security agencies have said that while the southern border poses a risk, they are more concerned about lone wolf attacks in which an isolated radicalized individual with sympathy to ISIL carries out a solo terror attack.

Bishop said that while ISIL poses and extreme threat, it is not yet capable of attacking the United States, though that could change as the group grows in strength and resources.

“It is a very, very complex and very, very dangerous threat and I think the plan that the president outlined the other night [in his national speech] is a good plan,” Bishop maintained.

President Obama “is correct to recognize the threat, and it clearly is a threat to the stability of the Middle East, a region that is already remarkably unstable,” Bishop said.

“It is not yet a threat to the homeland, but there is a concern that it could metastasize in such a way that it could become a threat to the homeland,” Bishop said, echoing concerns expressed by lawmakers on both sides of the isle.

“But at the present time, the intelligence is ISIS does not present a threat to the homeland, although that is not something that will remain static going out into the future,” Bishop said, describing the regional upheaval as “more of a political conflict in the Arab world then a sectarian conflict” between Muslims.

DHS has said that while there is no evidence of a direct threat by ISIL to the United States, it is aware that the group’s affiliates have been discussing the possibility of crossing the southern border.

“There have been Twitter, social media exchanges among ISIL adherents across the globe speaking about that as a possibility,” Francis Taylor, under secretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, told senators during a recent hearing.

Other U.S. officials also have discussed the possibility of an ISIL adherent carrying out an attack on the United States.

“We remain mindful of the possibility that an ISIL-sympathizer—perhaps motivated by online propaganda—could conduct a limited, self-directed attack here at home with no warning,” Matthew Olsen, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in a speech earlier this month.

“We have seen ISIL use a range of media to tout its military capabilities, executions of captured soldiers, and consecutive battlefield victories,” Olsen said. “More recently, the group’s supporters have sustained this momentum on social media by encouraging attacks in the U.S. and against U.S. interests in retaliation for our airstrikes. ISIL has used this propaganda campaign to draw foreign fighters to the group, including many from Western countries.”

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Obama’s plan to defeat Islamic State just ‘toothless’ platitudes

All Midshipmen and Cadets, while matriculating at one of the US Service Academies, are taught to fight to “Win” in academics, on the athletic field, and ultimately in combat—they learn that there is no substitute for victory!!

Unfortunately, the resident in the Oval Office’s plan to defeat the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL), is not a serious plan; there is no consistency, no clarity, and no obvious will to “Win”  Allies have observed that Obama is calling the world to ride to an uncertain trumpet when he is not committed to it.  The failure to execute an effective air campaign (the 150 air strikes over many weeks should have occurred on the first day of air campaign and everyday thereafter).  The repeated statements by Obama that there will be no boots on the ground, and failure of the air campaign to strike supply lines, long convoys of armed terrorists, and weapons depots in Syria has signaled ISIL that the plan is not a serious plan.

The allies have watched over the last 6 years as Obama walked away from the victory in Iraq & refused to leave a residual US military force in Iraq overriding his own generals, Obama walked away from air strikes in Syria 3 years ago when Assad crossed the red line, he took out a friendly leader in Libya then walking away from a destabilized Libya that resulted in Al Q’ieda taking over Libya, walked away from the friendly Egyptian Army Junta after it removed the Moslem Brotherhood Mosci who was killing Christians, and Obama has sent a signal that he will walk away from Afghanistan leaving it to the Taliban and Al Q’ieda—Middle East & NATO allies are not interested in joining a consortium with a quitter who can’t be trusted to “Win” anything.

U.S. air power, the Kurdish Forces, the Iraqi Army (with an anti-Sunni Government), and the free Syrian Army cannot possibly defeat the 30,000 man ISIL army which is projected to soon grow to 60,000 men (ISIL is selling $3 million in black market oil to Turkey every day to fund its military operation).  Air strikes will not be sufficient, when there is no effective command and control organization on the ground, there is no effective reconnaissance operation on the ground, when the US does not have the ability to capture combatants in order to develop actionable intelligence.  The US is planning to spend one year to train 5000 Free Syrians Army personnel, while ISIL grows from 30,000 to 60,000 in the same year.

After 9/11 the US inserted small Special Operation Units and CIA Paramilitary forces on the ground in Afghanistan to coordinate with the Northern Alliance, in order to drive the Taliban, Al Q’ieda, and Osama Bin Laden out of Afghanistan  The failure of Obama to commit small Special Operations and CIA Paramilitary forces units on the ground in Iraq is dooming Obama’s plan to failure—Obama keeps telling ISIL that there will be no boots on the ground—what other occupant of the Oval Officer in 238 years has ever told the enemy what the US will not do?.

The Obama administration continues to send confusing messages to reluctant US allies who are being asked to join a coalition to defeat ISIL, to the American people who are being asked to support Obama’s inept plan to defeat ISIL (68% of the American people believe Obama’s plan to “Win” is folly), and to Obama’s leftist allies in the Democratic Party to prevent them from being alarmed before the November election (the leftists, Socialists, and Marxists in the Democratic party do not want Obama to carry out a comprehensive “War Plan” to defeat ISIL they want to take funds away from the US military and use those funds to expand the bloated and inept welfare state rift with fraud).

Obama doesn’t have the strength of purpose to do what Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan did to protect the homeland.  Obama’s political policies are allowing ISIL terrorists to flood across the wide open southern border and threaten American citizens, while he hollows out the US Armed Forces, and creates a $1 trillion annual US deficient leading the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

For the last 6 years, the Obama administration used drones to kill Al Q’ idea leaders who were immediately replaced by the next Al Q’ieda terrorist in line. They killed one leader after another who had a great deal of valuable intelligence, instead of employing small Special Operations units to capture the leaders, interrogate them, and develop the requisite intelligence to oppose the spread of Al Q’ieda worldwide.  The net result of the killer drone policy that the Obama administration bragged about, has been that ISIL metastasized and Islamic terrorism spread throughout the world like cancer—while the Obama administration was blinded because they lacked actionable intelligence from captured Islamic terrorists.

Obama didn’t want to capture, interrogate, and jail terrorists in Gitmo, all he wanted to do was to kill terrorists in the field so he could close the Gitmo operation.  The Gitmo interrogations developed an incredible amount of actionable intelligence, including providing the intelligence that led to the location of Bin Laden’s messenger, and that messenger ultimately led to US forces to the location of Osama Bin Laden’s lair in Pakistan, where SEAL Team SIX took out Bin Laden.

There is no Obama administration plan to pull out all the stops to “Crush” ISIL.  We encourage you to read the below listed macro approach to Crush ISIL written by the former National Security Advisor in the Reagan Administration, the Hon Robert C. McFarlane, USNA ’59, Col-USMC (Ret); he is calling for the effective employment of diplomacy, applying economic pressure, training  & support of Special Operation Forces, and not to continue following the past policy of  “leading from behind”, but to exercise traditional effective US leadership to “Win”.

Robert  “Bud” McFarlane is the Senior Advisor for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and supports the Combat Veterans For Congress.

A plan for crushing the Islamic State: Toothless diplomacy is no longer an option

By Robert McFarlane – – Wednesday, September 3, 2014

It is astonishing that nearly six years into the tenure of any administration the commander-in-chief would acknowledge publicly that he has no strategy for addressing an evident, serious threat to American interests.

Last week, marauders from the so-called Islamic State overran Tabqa air base in Syria, where MANPADS, or man-portable air-defense systems, are stored. These are the weapons that can bring down commercial aircraft. Considering the pledge of this group’s leader to take the war to the United States, they now have the means to do so whether targeting the takeoff of a U.S. commercial airliner from Dubai, or in a few weeks after penetrating the Mexican border, from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas.

Historically, every new administration spends the first year of its tenure enunciating goals — essentially, to keep the peace and establish a climate at home and abroad in which American interests can be advanced — and then developing strategies for achieving them in specific regions of the world. The process begins with the president stating his view of what our regional interests are, inviting the intelligence community and the Cabinet to identify how those interests are threatened, and then tasking these principals and staff to develop a range of integrated political, economic and military measures for defending and advancing American interests throughout the world. By the end of the first year, the president has evaluated the options submitted to him and has made decisions among them. He then goes about implementing them by publishing and explaining them to three constituencies — the American people, the U.S. Congress and our allies. While this process involves hard work and disciplined leadership, it’s not rocket science. Doing it well yields enormous benefits. It engenders confidence among the American people and nurtures cohesion and support among our allies. Finally, it puts adversaries on notice that we are a serious nation that has the will, the capability, a strategic plan and the resources to prevail against any challenge they might consider posing.

Since World War II, U.S. presidents have engaged this strategic process as a proven means for defining and announcing our interests overseas, assessing how they are threatened, and developing effective strategies designed to deter, or — if deterrence fails — to prevail in any conflict well in advance of any such conflict. In the Reagan administration, I had the privilege of managing that process, and in the ensuing years, it proved invaluable not only in identifying — and pre-empting — challenges still over the horizon, but in crisis management as well. In the remaining years of the current administration, there is still time for President Obama to lead in the resolution of the plethora of crises before us — starting with the threats posed by the Islamic State and concurrently in Ukraine, China and Iran.

Modern terrorism by Islamist groups has posed a “clear and present danger” to our country for more than 30 years. In Iraq, we are faced with an especially challenging form of it.  A well-financed, well-armed and well-trained barbarous force has declared its intention, inter alia, to conduct operations against the United States on its way to establishing an Islamic caliphate of global reach and jurisdiction.

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Given the plausibility of their executing such a plan, the first comment our president must make is that this movement of uncivilized savages puts us all at risk — from Irbil to London, Chicago, Tokyo and Beijing — and that there is no basis for trying to reason with brainwashed, ideological, totalitarian, genocidal criminals bent on pursuit of an imperial strategy. The second is that they must be destroyed. Mr. Obama’s statement from Estonia on Wednesday was a good, though belated, beginning.

Developing a political, economic and military strategy for containing and then destroying the Islamic State is not something that will come easily for the president, given his proclivities toward engagement and toothless diplomacy. Yet in some respects, his task has been rendered less onerous.  Politicians in every civilized state — especially European states that have known this menace was coming for years — understand that if they don’t join in countering this scourge in Syria and Iraq, they will face it in their own countries before long.  This week, the president’s task is to forge consensus among his political counterparts in Western Europe to direct NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove and the NATO military committee to work with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan for overcoming this menace.

Economically, it’s time to lean hard on the Gulf Arabs to shut down their formal and informal funding of radical Islamists. The diplomacy needed to get this done ought also to be a little easier than it would have been even five years ago. Their tenure is at risk, and they are palpably conscious of it. Separately, our work with European allies should involve closing their financial institutions to Islamist transactions.

The U.S. military must work with Kurdish, Kuwaiti, Egyptian, United Arab Emirates, Saudi, Jordanian and Iraqi forces to forge a strategy, first to contain and then to destroy the Islamic State’s forces. U.S. and allied tactical aviation can help limit the enemy’s mobility and provide fire support during engagements. However, the training and supervision of ground forces from the aforementioned countries in the struggle to regain lost territory must fall to experienced U.S. special operations advisory personnel — several thousand of them.

By their brashness and brutality, the Islamists may have provided an impetus and a window for the civilized world to come together and reverse their gains. It will take extraordinary leadership from Washington to oversee this battle and stay the course. That window may not remain open for long.

As soon as we have stemmed this tide — a year from now — we must turn to the agenda that we have for so long avoided — bringing the moderate Arabs, Kurds and Israel into a sustained conversation on regional security that leads toward reconciling their differences. To do so offers a revered place in history for the American president. Yet it will require a far better understanding of the nature of the challenge than has thus far been apparent, together with the courage and commitment to lead such an effort successfully.

ABOUT ROBERT MCFARLANE

Robert McFarlane served as President Reagan’s national-security adviser. He is currently a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

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Texas Sheriff says it’s “naive” to say Islamic State not here: “We have found Muslim clothing, they have found Quran books”

In June 2014, Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) enunciated the concerns that increasing numbers of people have about jihadists exploiting our open Southern border when he said:

“This jihadist group ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi have promised direct confrontation with America. He is looking forward to that day and he has said that publicly, we should believe him when he says that. These folks hate everything about the United States.” What’s more, “Of course the way they would come to the United States would be through the porous border with Mexico. The drug cartels will bring people into the country no matter who they are — for money. Everyone in the world knows that the border between the United States and Mexico is completely porous.”

Jihad terrorists and their enablers and accomplices have been entering the U.S. illegally by means of the Mexican border for many years. According to TheBlaze, “Hezbollah members and supporters have entered the U.S. through the southern border as early as 2002, with the case of Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a Mexican of Lebanese descent. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison by Mexican authorities on charges of organized crime and immigrant smuggling. Mucharrafille had owned a cafe in the border city of Tijuana, near San Diego. In 2002, he was arrested for smuggling 200 people into the U.S., including Hezbollah supporters, according to a 2009 Congressional report.” Nothing has changed since then. It’s only gotten worse.

“Texas Sheriff: Reports Warn Of ISIS Terrorist Cells Coming Across The Border,” CBS Houston, September 15, 2014 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Midland County, Texas (CBS HOUSTON) – Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said that law enforcement agencies along the “wide open” border have received alerts to be on the lookout for terrorists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria crossing into the United States.

Painter, who said he has worked along the border for “about eight years,” stated that alerts have been issued to border law enforcement to be on the lookout for suspicious terrorist activity, specifically involving ISIS cells being smuggled into the United States.

“I received an intelligence report that said that there was ISIS cells that were active in the Juarez area, which is the northern part of the Chihuahua state, and that they were moving around over there, that there was some activity…” Painter told Fox News. The report asked “for the sheriffs along the border to be on the alert, for all law enforcement to be on the alert, and to be on the lookout for these people maybe trying to come across.”

Painter sidestepped any direct knowledge that ISIS, specifically, is along the border, but he reiterated that the border “is wide open.”

“Well I’m saying the border is wide open, there is no control on the border, it’s not shut off,” said Painter. “There’s places along the Rio Grande you can walk across, there’s no water in it. I worked the border for eight years I walked back and forth across the Rio Grande; I was in Mexico, I was on this side. I never got challenged.

“There’s always a way to get across, there’s coyotes that bring those people across for thousands of dollars.”

Painter noted that “Muslim” items have been strewn along the border and estimated that 10 to 15 million “undocumented aliens” have crossed the border.

“I think it’d be naive to say that (ISIS is) not here…We have found Muslim clothing, they have found Quran books that are lying on the side of the trail, so we know that there are Muslims that have come across and are being smuggled into the United States,” Painter told Fox News….

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VIDEO: The history is ISIS

Activate Worcester, hosted by Ron Motta shows viewers how to participate and become active in Worcester County, Massachusetts. I was Ron’s guest on the sad day that American journalist James Foley was beheaded by ISIS now known as the Islamic State.

Episode 1 – Islam and the Islamic State:

Episode 2 – Islam and the Islamic State:

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“You cannot imagine the pleasure you get from cutting off a baby’s head”

Obama does not acknowledge or recognize the fact that ‘Radical Islam’ exists

AA - Obama Stop ISISAs a lead into Obama’s prime time speech Wednesday he declared ISIL ‘the Islamic State’ is not Islamic. He justifies his comment that no religion condones killing innocents and that the vast majority of victims are Muslims. Obama refuses to either recognize or accept the fact that ISIL kills other Muslims, Christians and Jews because they are all infidels and are not true (Islamic) believers.

Radical Islam is a fact.

It appears Obama’s Muslim background has blinded him to reality.  It is difficult to see how as ‘commander-in- chief’ he can prosecute a war against an intractable Islamic enemy (Radical Islam) without understanding the nature and goals of the enemy.

In addition Obama says ISIL is not a State.  He is wrong.

ISIL controls a vast territory and its wealth, a caliphate. It passes laws, uses the wealth of the territory it conquered to further its malignant Statehood activities. It passes laws, jails or executes its adversaries and uses heavy weapons taken from those it defeated in war.. It is more than a hit and run terrorist organization. It sees itself as an Islamic Caliphate. These are the things that constitute a State? If it isn’t a State what is it?

It may be an evil State but it is a State – a caliphate. Unfortunately Obama doesn’t recognize the Islamic State (ISIL) for what it is.

Watch this compelling video with five experts speaking on the question – “Is the Islamic State Islamic?”

NOTE: The original propaganda video released by the Islamic State (IS, ISIS or ISIL) referred to by these five experts may be seen here (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES): http://grid.pjmedia.com/?cmd=view-show-profile-article&id=2087

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Obama: Islamic State ‘Is Not Islamic”

The War Neither Obama, Nor Any Other Nation Wants to Fight

Two trends have emerged since President Obama’s September 10thAA - Obama Stop ISIS speech regarding his intention to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State.

One is the understanding that he will not commit U.S. troops as “boots on the ground” to fight a force estimated variously between 10,000 and 30,000 depending on intelligence guesswork.

The other trend is the reluctance of any other nation to engage in the warfare that would be necessary to defeat the terrorist army occupying northern Iraq and a swath of Syria.

This was initially signaled at the NATO meeting in Wales and, according to a September 12 page one report in The Wall Street Journal, “A day after President Barack Obama outlined a strategy to combat Islamic State militants, Washington’s international allies didn’t make clear how far they would go to join military operations even as they pledged support.”

Who would support a President who said he had no intention of being “dragged back into a war in Iraq”?

That is not a “strategy.” It’s surrender. It is an admission of a lack of intent to confront what will surely emerge as a major threat to the Middle East and the West.

Word Games

The Obama administration was initially reluctant to even call it a war. It was a “counter-intelligence operation” according to Secretary of State Kerry.  The President and his administration have spent six and a half years labeling terrorist attacks as anything other than acts of war. But 9/11 was an act of war.

The killing of soldiers at Fort Hood was called “workplace violence” when it was clearly a terrorist act. Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told us that the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed our ambassador and three security personnel was just a bunch of militants angered by a video no one ever saw.

In Iraq—a nation now in name only—its military fled from combat with ISIS. The result has been a demonstration of the barbarity of ISIS, killing Muslims and “infidels” alike in large numbers. The videos of the beheadings of two American journalists sent the U.S. a message that dramatically altered the simmering reluctance of Americans to make war on the Islamic State. The beheading of a British citizen will no doubt echo the U.S. population’s desire for revenge and a full-scale war on ISIS.

Middle East expert, Walid Phares, says ISIS’s message is that it has concluded that neither the U.S. nor Great Britain will engage it with troops, preferring only air strikes. No military expert believes that will be sufficient to defeat ISIS.

Turkey, that shares a border with Syria, Iraq and Iran, is fearful for the lives of nearly fifty of its diplomats taken hostage in Mosul when it was captured in June. They have cause, but Turkey has been increasingly Islamic in its outlook for nearly a decade, shedding its secular approach to governance. It has refused to allow the U.S. to use bases there to fight ISIS.

In Europe, Germany said it would not take part in any airstrikes against ISIS. Other EU nations will likely follow its lead. In a similar fashion, Arab nations have not indicated any intention to actively—militarily—participate in what appears to be a “coalition” in name only.

A post by Steve Eichler, CEO of Tea Party, Inc. says it all:

“We are in the gravest of situations. Our military—once the most powerful in the world—is crumbling.

Obama is purging every branch of the US armed forces at an alarming rate.

He’s deliberately crippling our military, setting them up for failure and defeat. Through his actions he is rapidly demoralizing our troops en masse, creating a dangerous situation at home and abroad, leaving our troops, our country and we citizens open to attack.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, recipient of the U.S. military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, as well as other top retired officers, say Obama’s agenda is decimating the morale of the U.S. ranks to the point members no longer feel prepared to fight or have the desire to win.

Our Army has not trained for six months. Meanwhile there is tremendous domestic and foreign unrest taking place. “To have the Chief of Staff of the Army confess to the world that our Army has not trained for six months is highly disturbing,” says former Florida Congressman Allen West. ‘[It] should make us all sleep less soundly at night.’”

Obama has been destroying our military in every way he can and, other than air power, he has a greatly reduced infantry and other forces with which to wage a ground war in Iraq. ISIS knows this and so does the rest of the world.

Not since the end of World War II and our ascendance as a superpower has America fallen to such a loss and lack of real power both militarily and economically.

The years since Obama’s election in 2008 have been an unqualified disaster for the nation, the West, and the rest of the world. They have looked to the U.S. to lead and now see a U.S. that has twice elected a man whose entire agenda has been to abandon leadership.

To some, his actions reek of treason.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Obama’s nonsensical approach to ISIS

Obama’s ISIS plan: Outsourcing US national security in a chaotic world.

I just finished listening to President Obama delivering his strategy for dealing with ISIS and my summation of what Obama stated is simply: “Outsourcing US National Security in a Chaotic World.”

Lots of you here aren’t career military combat warriors, so let me explain why this speech made no sense. Obama said that we are committed to a counter-terrorism strategy and a systematic campaign — but then Obama stated there will be no U.S. combat mission on the ground — although he is deploying another 475 on top of the almost 1,000 troops there now. Folks, you cannot win a counter-terrorism operation without a combat force – it certainly cannot be won from the air.

And what Obama didn’t explain was who will coordinate close air support for these “coalition” partners on the ground — and of course Obama just recently derided the Free Syrian Army as being “doctors, farmers, and pharmacists.” Our air strikes — and you must understand 150 strikes over a one month period is not a dedicated air campaign — have to be targeted and that means SOFLAM (Special Operations Forces Laser Acquired Munitions) but if there are no American combat troops, none on the ground, then who is doing this critical mission? You cannot destroy a force from 30,000 feet with air power only.

Obama just had to state that this is not going to be another Iraq or Afghanistan. Well, let’s look at that. In Afghanistan a small American force of 600 Special Operators and CIA operatives along with the Northern Alliance routed a Taliban Army of 70,000 along with another 5,000 Al-Qaida enemy forces. That was a successful model which could be used here, but Obama told us again what he was not willing to do.

Now we are going to put our national security trust in surrogate forces? And we’re supposed to send in more trainers for the Iraq Army? Heck, if Obama had supported the generals on the ground and fought to leave a residual force in Iraq, we would have had the trainers there and wouldn’t be in this position! So now we have to go back in because of his ideological intransigence and “redo” it all over again and try to rebuild the relationships, which have now been broken — as many Sunni tribesmen have enjoined ISIS.

And to state that ISIS is not Islamic? You have to be kidding me. ISIS stands for, first word, “Islamic.” Obama continues to deny and refuse to define the enemy, and that folks is not helpful.

President Obama stated that America is safer — but not according to recent American polling — and certainly not reflected by the beheadings of two Americans, Foley and Sotloff.

Obama borrowed the “no safe haven” phrase from George W. Bush. And in a comparative analysis of coalition building ability, George W. Bush had 37 countries in 2003, but so far Obama only has 9 — and as we reported, one of them is Turkey and they’re already waffling about not joining unless we restrain support to the Kurdish Peshmerga Army — a core element of this strategy.

I was glad to hear Obama state that he would cut off funding — I hope he goes after Qatar with a strategy we have offered here. As well, since the Saudi King Abdullah is so worried, then have him foot the bill for this operation. But, there was no reference to our domestic jihadist recruitment problem and a porous southern border that must be sealed.

Another key point Obama failed to address, as he talked about his highest priority being our security — will Obama stop the decimation of our military force, which finds itself at horribly low levels? That is why I believe Obama’s strategy is about “outsourcing” our national security as he degrades and destroys our military capability and capacity, which we have addressed here.

This is not American leadership at its best, it is American acquiescence and incompetence. You cannot destroy an enemy or conduct a counter-terrorism strategy by hoping someone else will execute it, or by air — and how are we going to increase air strikes? Will we have a dedicated air campaign with countless sorties a day?

The finish to this speech was utterly weak; full of empty rhetoric and pabulum which means nothing to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — and it was Russia who sealed the deal to secure Syria’s declared chemical weapons.

Obama asked for our support — he certainly doesn’t secure mine, and he shouldn’t get yours either. Tonight President Barack Hussein Obama proved that polling drives his strategy, because this was supposed to be done midday.

He probably should have, since this was an utter embarrassment and a waste of time. Obama is expanding a combat operation and yet refuses to go to Congress, as George W. Bush did to make a case and secure — by vote — approval. He asked for a blank check for an ambiguous endeavor supporting surrogate forces to handle American business of destroying an enemy who he did not define, which has declared enemy against us.

I fear for my country. We are indeed rudderless amidst a maelstrom.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Islam is the Face of Evil

“ISIS is not Islamic”, said  Barack Obama as he gave yet another vapid speech to say what he will or will not do next about the threat of Islam. What he said is both idiotic and a lie. ISIS calls itself the Islamic State.

Obama used the word “war” only once, but ISIS is all about war—an Islamic holy war that has been waged since 632 AD.

The one person neither named, nor blamed is the so-called prophet, Mohammad, yet everything being done by the jihadists today is being done in his name.

In his memoir, “Dreams from my Father”, Obama, in the preface to its second edition, wrote: “Nor do I pretend to understand the stark nihilism that drove the terrorists that day (9/11) and that drives their brethren still. My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another’s heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those who would murder innocents with abstract, serene satisfaction.” And therein is the problem that he, as President, and we as citizens must address.

Political correctness is so dominant in the Obama White House that no one in the U.S. government dares say anything that might be deemed critical of a so-called “religion” that sanctions beheadings, amputations, stoning, kidnapping hostages, ransoms, polygamy, and slavery. To anyone deemed an infidel or unbeliever or a Muslim who questions anything about Islam, death is the only option other than dhimmitude, a second-class citizenship.

The pure evil of Islam was seen most recently in the two videos of American hostages being beheaded by the Islamic State, but despite decades of attacks on U.S. embassies, the taking of U.S. hostages in Beirut and Tehran, attacks in Bali, Madrid and London, and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon, Americans have been slow to realize the intensity and size of the threat that the Middle Eastern and North African nations represent along with wherever else a large Muslim population exists.


As the U.S. and threatened Middle Eastern nations hurtle toward a military confrontation with the Islamic State, the name it has given to territory it has seized from northern Syria and into Iraq, a new book, Fault Lines: The Layman’s Guide to Understanding America’s Role in the Ever-Changing Middle East, ($00.00, Elevate, Boise, Idaho, softcover) provides one of the best, short histories on U.S. involvement and why, at this point, its influence has reached a low point.

Liebich writes of the way the U.S. policy regarding the Middle East changed over the years, particularly in the wake of World War II and the Cold War that followed as the Soviet Union challenged us for the implementation of communism worldwide. Dependent on the flow of oil from the Middle East, much of our strategic interest in the region was based on exercising our influence, often bringing about the removal of leaders whom we regarded as a threat to that necessity. After 9/11 that went into overdrive.

Liebich notes that our concept of nation-building proved costly, not just in the lives of our troops, but which included $50 billion in Iraq “and it didn’t work. Before you can build a nation you have to have a nation and only the citizens of that nation can decide what kind of a country they want to have.” The problem the U.S. encountered was that “In the Middle East, people related much more to the Ummah (the Muslim community) and to their own tribes.”

The problem that George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, encountered was that “The Middle East is a part of the world where many odd alliances appear. One is never sure who is allied with whom and whatever one thinks may all change tomorrow.”

Liebich takes note of the “Arab Awakening” that followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq that deposed Saddam Hussein. It began “with so much promise” followed by “its subsequent descent into chaos, has drastically changed the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East and North Africa.”

Liebich says “My definition of a vital national interest is one that deals with an existential threat to the United States, and one for which the U.S. is willing to spill its blood and to spend its treasure in order to accomplish its objectives. By this definition, the U.S. has no vital national interest in events in the Middle East.” Written prior to the emergence of the Islamic State, a new existential threat is facing the U.S.

Liebich says our strategic interests in the Middle East for many years included access to stable supplies of oil at reasonable prices; support for the state of Israel; preventing adversaries or potential adversaries from coming to power or achieving influence in the region; improving life for the people of the region; and preventing terrorist attacks on U.S. territories and citizens.

“The region has become the epicenter for terrorist groups, some of which have ambitions for a global reach.” That alone will require a renewed military involvement by the U.S. as we are the only nation with the capacity to alter the facts on the ground.

It comes at a time when the U.S. is close to having developed its oil reserves to a point where the oil of the Middle East will not determine our policies, but it is that oil which other nations such as those of Europe depend upon. China and India need it as well so its protection by and for the West as well as the developing Asian nations affects our decisions. Even Russia whose economy is dependent on oil and natural gas has cast its support for Syria along with Iran.

Everything, though, depends on understanding the true nature and intent of Islam.

Liebich ends his book with a quote from Winston Churchill who said, “We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

Right now, the right thing is the destruction of the Islamic State.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

RELATED ARTICLE: Sorry Mr. President, ISIS Is 100 Percent Islamic

Those 9/11 Terror Attack Predictions

As we close in on the 13th anniversary of the infamous 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, the media is full of predictions about attacks that will occur.

A September 2nd Debka File, an Israeli news agency, reported “Credible information has reached Saudi, British and Australian agencies that two al Qaeda branches—ISIS in Iraq and Syria and AQAP at its base in Yemen—have wrapped up plans to roll out coordinated terrorist spectaculars around the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. According to Debka File’s counterterrorism sources, they are preparing to strike simultaneously in the Middle East and a West European city. Next, they will go for U.S. targets in the Middle East and Europe.”

This report and other factors incline me to believe there will not be a major attack somewhere in the U.S. on what is now officially called “Patriot Day.”  There could be a lone wolf attack along the lines of Major Hassan’s 2009 “workplace violence” at Fort Hood or the Boston Marathon bombing, but the threats being made by the Islamic State and other elements of al Qaeda, while intended to raise fears in America, are likely to be manifested in the Middle East. American outlets there will be on full alert for sure.

The Islamic State, while now wealthy, well equipped militarily, and attracting every lunatic Islamist and wannabe terrorist, is facing an increasingly united group of Middle East nations that have put old enemies like Iran and Saudi Arabia on the same page together. Iran has dispatched troops to Iraq to support the Kurds. When other Middle Eastern nations finally screw up enough courage to actually do something they will wage a war on ISIS in the interest of self-defense, a powerful motive.

As for al Qaeda’s war on America, it was declared in 1996 by the late, unlamented Osama bin Laden and, other than 9/11, it has done little to follow up on that dramatic sneak attack except for a few failed efforts. The U.S. responded by bombing the hell out of Afghanistan and our troops there have been attacking the Taliban ever since. Obama says he will pull them out in 2015. Given events in Iraq, that is a very bad idea.

The Department of Homeland Security has been on alert ever since it was created shortly after 9/11. This is not to say that the U.S. doesn’t need more on-the-ground intelligence penetration of al Qaeda and its affiliates. Indeed, DHS and other government agencies don’t know the whereabouts of several thousand foreign students who are supposed to be at our colleges and universities. They likely do not know who else among those with easy access to the nation is a potential terrorist.

So, yes, that could mean I am very wrong and that 9/11 would be a day for a whole series of attacks for much the same reason our consulate in Libya was attacked that day in 2012. The Benghazi cover-up has been falling apart ever since. The lie that it was caused by a video grows more absurd and obscene very day.

The Israelis have made a far greater and more successful effort than us to infiltrate their enemy’s organizations. Hamas was so rattled by the effectiveness of the Israeli bombing of sites where its rockets were stored and fired from, as well as the killing of a number of its leaders, that they made a public display of executing a number of people they accused of being Israeli spies, whether they were or not. The likelihood was that they were Gazans who had spoken out against Hamas.

After breaking a number of ceasefires, Hamas, running out of any support, accepted the most recent one and Israel thereafter announced the annexation of more West Bank territory for its settlements and, no doubt, for militarization to protect against further attacks. The Israelis know how to deal with their enemies, to prepare, and to take action rather than issue empty threats.

There have even been a number of small events by American Muslims speaking out against barbarity of the Islamic State and the threats leveled at the U.S. That is a hopeful sign, but it needs to increase in numbers and volume. The vast silence of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is an offense to humanity.

The Arabs of the Middle East are forever making dramatic threats, but they have a record of doing little. When Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, he waged a war against Iran that ended inconclusively and then invaded Kuwait and was defeated by a U.S. coalition. When he continued to make threats the U.S. invaded again and deposed him.

What followed was an effort in several Middle Eastern nations to rid themselves of their despots. This occurred in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Only Egypt, after a brief encounter with a Muslim Brotherhood government, rallied again with a military coup that led to the election of a new military leader. The Brotherhood has been banned! Libya is a failed state that has been taken over by Islamic militants. Tunisia has a new constitution as of January and numerous political parties. Its government is battling local militias.

Iraq is in near failure as it tries to unite its Shiite and Sunni factions in a functioning government. Much of the nation has been taken over by the Islamic State in the same fashion as northern Syria whose civil war has killed 190,000 and driven over a million out as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and anywhere else they could flee. Who has put troops into Iraq to resist the Islamic State? The Iranians!

One threat the President of the United States does not appear to have taken seriously is an Iran with a nuclear weapon and the intercontinental missiles to deliver it. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia are far more aware of the danger this poses and in all likelihood Israel will conclude it must destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and military installations.

The United States has lost virtually all the influence it once had in the Middle East, even if it came from the barrel of a gun. Our Secretary of State, John Kerry, is held in low regard by both the Israelis and Arabs. The President, Kerry, and Hillary Clinton keep insisting that “climate change” is the greatest threat to mankind.

If President Obama does not engage in the destruction—not “containment”—of the Islamic State, its oil wealth will enable it to become a major threat in the Middle East and beyond, including us. They have demonstrated no restraint on their use of violence and pose a threat comparable or even greater than the Nazi regime of the last century.

Will there be attack or attacks in the U.S. on 9/11? We all wish we know the answer, but we don’t.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

VIDEO: Top ten Qur’an verses to help you understand the Islamic State [ISIS]

The learned analysts know that you cannot look at the scriptures of a religion in order to understand that religion. After all, you can find violent passages in all scriptures, right? And all scriptures are subject to interpretation and reinterpretation, emphasis and de-emphasis, etc. Religions, we are told, are what their believers make them to be.

Very well. The Islamic State leaders say they are Muslim believers. They claim to be following the teachings of the Qur’an. Are they? Watch David Wood’s video and see —

Are they misunderstanding or misinterpreting these passages? So far no Muslim spokesman in the West, not one, has taken up these Qur’an passages and argued that. All they have done is proclaim the Islamic State to be un-Islamic, without confronting its Islamic case for itself.

Why does this matter? Because the Qur’an isn’t owned by the Islamic State. Muslims the world over read it. The Muslims in the West claim to reject and abhor the Islamic State. Very well. What are they doing to teach against its understanding of Islam, so that more Muslims from the West don’t go to Iraq and Syria to join it?

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