For seven and a half years our President refused to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorists.” He did this despite the fact that every terrorist attack since April of 1972 has been perpetrated by radical Islamic jihadists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States#Islamic extremism
He did it despite the fact that many of the attackers shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as they sprayed innocent people with bullets.
He did it despite the fact that Al Qaeda, ISIS, or some other radical Islamic terrorist organization took credit for most of the attacks, claiming either that the organization had planned and executed it, or that the attack was carried out by their members in response to a generalized order to “make war on the infidels.”
For the entire seven and a half years, Obama was criticised by his political opponents and challenged to call the terrorists what they clearly were—radical Islamic jihadists. And for seven and a half years he ignored his critics and refused to speak the words “radical Islamic terrorists.”
Then, on June 14, 2016, he spoke the words—but he spoke them in an effort to alibi his prolonged refusal to use them. He challenged his “friends across the aisle” to explain how using the words “radical Islamic terrorists” would change anything. Would it destroy ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any other organization trying to terrorize us? Would it have stopped any of the attacks, in this country or around the world? In short, what difference would it make, then or now?
A fair question, Mr. Obama, and one deserving of an answer. My friends know that I’m an amateur historian. Let me draw you a picture of history, not as it was but as it could have been.
The date is December 7, 1941. At 7:48 in the morning, with the sun barely above the horizon, aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attack the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Over the next three hours, more than two-thirds of the Pacific Fleet is sunk or severely damaged. All but two of the 190 aircraft at Hickam Field are destroyed. More than 2,400 Americans are killed and another 1,100 are wounded.
The next morning, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses a joint session of the Congress. He tells them that the cowardly attack was perpetrated by the Japanese military, which comprises less than 2% of the Japanese nation. He tells the Congress—and the American people, who are gathered around their radios listening to his speech—that they must be careful not to hold this attack against the other 98% of the Japanese people, who are peace-loving and feel no animosity toward America—despite reports that civilians all over Japan were cheering and celebrating in the streets when they heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Three days later, on December 11, Nazi Germany declares war on the United States. President Roosevelt again addresses the Congress and the American people, and again he tells them that this war in Europe is entirely the doing of the German military high command, not the German people, who are friendly and peaceful. The German people don’t support their military but are powerless to stop them.
Over the next few days, President Roosevelt formulates the “rules of engagement” that U.S. commanders and troops will be required to follow, both in Europe and the South Pacific.
- Since he believes—or at least claims to believe—that the German and Japanese civilians have no part in these hostilities, he orders that there will be no attacks in which German or Japanese civilians might be harmed. If there is even a remote possibility that a civilian might be in the vicinity, the attack is to be aborted.
- That means that trains and trucks are off-limits even if they’re carrying military supplies and equipment, because the crews might be civilians. Likewise, there will be no attacks against fuel stores or supply depots, because they might be staffed by civilians.
- Churches, schools, and hospitals are off-limits, even if they’re known to be used as storehouses for military supplies.
- All attacks are to be approved in advance by the Roosevelt Administration in Washington, D.C. In the case of an enemy attack, troops may defend themselves but may not counter-attack without permission from Washington.
- Captured enemy soldiers are to be returned to their native countries if they promise not to engage in further hostilities against the U.S.
- President Roosevelt also instructs the U.S. State Department that since the German and Japanese civilians have no part in the war, their movements are not to be restricted. They are to be allowed to travel to and from Germany and Japan at any time. New immigrants from Germany and Japan are to be allowed free entry in any numbers, especially if they say they’re fleeing the ravages of war in their home countries.
- Finally, the President instructs the FBI, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies, that people of German and Japanese ancestry, whether citizens or immigrants, are not to be subjected to any extraordinary surveillance. Their phones are not to be tapped, their mail is not to be read, their churches and clubs are not to be spied on. They are to have the same freedoms and liberties as any other resident of the U.S.
Now, dear reader—before you move on, please go back and re-read this section, and think about it in comparison to Obama’s “strategy” regarding radical Islamic terrorists and the so-called “war on terror.”
Back in the real world—that is, history as it was, not as it might have been—World War Two lasted only three and a half years after the U.S. entered the war in December of 1941. Germany and Japan were simply overwhelmed by the industrial might of the U.S. We were producing weapons, ammunition, airplanes, and ships faster than the enemy could destroy them
Also, the U.S. rules of engagement were very simple—attack the enemy whenever and wherever possible, and do whatever it takes to win. Entire cities and military installations were levelled by U.S. bombers. Our Army and Navy swept across Europe and the island chains of the South Pacific, moving ever closer to Germany and Japan and forcing the enemy to retreat ahead of them. U.S. forces on the ground, in the air, and at sea engaged the enemy whenever and wherever possible, and did whatever it took to win.
President Roosevelt didn’t try to run the war from the White House. He left the execution of the war to the men who had trained for war all their lives—men like Eisenhower, MacArthur, Nimitz, Patton, and Spruance.
Now let’s return to the world of history as it might have been. How long might World War Two have lasted if President Roosevelt had followed the policies that Obama has followed in his “war on terror?” Ten years? Fifteen? Maybe twenty? It’s now been fifteen years since September 11, 2001, and the radical Islamic terrorists seem stronger and more formidable than ever.
One thing I think we can say with certainty—World War Two would have lasted much longer than it did, because Japan and Germany would have taken advantage of our lax immigration and surveillance policies to build up a “fifth column” inside the U.S. Before long those people would have been sabotaging our war effort, disrupting the flow of things needed by our soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
Would the German and Japanese infiltrators have succeeded? We’ll never know, because that’s not the way things happened.
Will the radical Islamic terrorists succeed this time? We don’t know that either, because even after fifteen years, the battle is still going on.
There is this, though: there have been 21 recorded attacks by radical Islamic terrorists since April of 1972. That’s an average of one attack every 24.6 months.
Since the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, there have been eleven attacks. That’s an average of one attack every 16.1 months.
Since the beginning of 2015 there have been three attacks. That’s an average of one attack every six months.
My point is obvious. As our lax immigration and surveillance policies allow the number of radical Islamic terrorists in the U.S. to grow, these attacks will get more and more frequent. Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 16, 2016, CIA Director John Brennan said:
…as the pressure mounts on ISIL, we judge that it will intensify its global terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda.”
Translation: we can expect more San Bernardino- and Orlando-style attacks at ever-closer intervals. The U.S. will become like Israel, the Middle East, and North Africa—a place where just going to work, to school, or to the grocery store will put our lives at risk.
Let’s admit the truth, Mr Obama. These heinous acts are not being committed by blonde Norwegian Catholics. They’re not being committed by elderly Spanish grandmothers. They’re being committed by radical Islamic terrorists. Unless we face that reality and take steps to control it, our way of life is doomed.
That, Mr. Obama, is why it makes a difference.
