Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Narratives vs. Bombs - Ari Lieberman




by Ari Lieberman

Why Obama and Clinton have lost the War on Terror.




President Obama spoke to the nation on September 19 to address the rash of Islamist-inspired terror attacks that occurred in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota over the weekend. Instead of reassuring the nation, the brief, lackluster address regurgitated the same tired banalities and lacked substance. Obama inexplicably failed to classify the East Coast attacks as terrorism and then noted that “[a]t this point we see no connection between [the Minnesota] incident and what happened here in New York and New Jersey.” The sanitized speech was also devoid of any reference to radical Islam even though the evidence suggests that these attacks were inspired by this pernicious ideology.

The nation witnessed similar platitudes from Obama after the Pulse nightclub massacre in Florida. While Obama classified that incident as “terror,” he failed to note its Islamist motivation and merely noted that the perpetrator was filled with “hate.” This of course left the door open for other motivations, leaving the main culprit – radical Islam – blameless.

Obama also made it a point to snipe at the press for doing its job and asked them to “refrain from getting out ahead of the investigation,” and to confine their reporting to what official experts revealed about the investigation. A similar sentiment was expressed by Secretary of State John Kerry last month in Bangladesh when he obscenely noted that the media would “do us all a service” if they didn’t cover terrorism “quite as much.” Obama is either delusional or incredibly disingenuous and his novel approach to combating terrorism – silencing the media – would be comical if it wasn't so sad.

Moreover, contrary to Obama’s assertions, the nexus between the Minnesota stabbing spree and the NY/NJ bombings is patently obvious. The Minnesota attacker was a Somali Muslim who made references to “Allah” during his stabbing spree and reportedly asked at least one victim if he was Muslim before lunging at him. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the coward who carried out the NY/NJ bombings was almost certainly motivated by the same ideology. He made multiple trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan prior to the attacks. A note scribbled in Arabic that was found next to one of the unexploded, shrapnel-packed, pressure-cooker bombs made reference to the Boston Marathon bombings. And perhaps most tellingly, a notebook found on Rahimi’s person after his capture made reference to the radical Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki.

While the two terrorists may not have known each other, they were most certainly driven and inspired by the same malevolent ideology that despises the West and wishes to hoist the black flag of the Islamic caliphate over the White House. Obama and his possible successor, Hillary Clinton, have refused to come to terms with this fact. Instead, both stubbornly adhere to politically correct dogma and cling to the notion that these incidents magically emerge from a vacuum while dancing around the obvious. This naive and dangerous approach seriously undermines our ability to effectively combat radical Islam.

Obama and Clinton bellow about the “war of narratives,” and spew nonsensical platitudes about the “religion of peace” instead of recognizing that this is not simply a war of competing narratives but a war that pits the civilized world against those who wish to turn the clock back 1,000 years. As the NY Post’s Michael Goodwin succinctly notes, “we throw adjectives and they throw bombs.”

In the meantime, the administration is moving full speed ahead on its self-destructive plans to absorb yet more Muslim migrants from high-risk nations into the United States. Ironically, those who need and warrant our protection the most –Christians – represent barely a fraction of those recently relocated to the United States.

Hillary Clinton, perhaps in an attempt to garner Muslim votes, has promised to expand Obama’s suicidal migrant policies and place yet more American’s at risk. Clinton and Obama have tried to mollify legitimate concerns by claiming that there will be a careful vetting process. Hogwash! Those who carried out the Pulse nightclub massacre, the San Bernardino massacre, the Minnesota stabbing spree and the NY/NJ bombings as well as countless of other attacks against Americans on American soil were also “carefully vetted” and yet America still counts its dead and wounded.

Federal agencies tasked with securing America’s borders are already overburdened and undermanned. An influx of an additional 100,000 Muslim migrants, which Clinton is advocating, represents irresponsible policy and places Americans in jeopardy. Even if only 1 percent of those admitted were radicalized, it would further burden law enforcement and pose a clear and present danger.

Underscoring this fact is a disquieting report released by Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General which notes that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services granted U.S. citizenship to at least 858 individuals who had been ordered deported or removed under another identity. They fraudulently obtained citizenship due to flaws in the system which enabled them to slip through the cracks.

The IG further found that at least three of those individuals had received credentials “to conduct security-sensitive work at commercial airports or maritime facilities and vessels.” The report further notes that 148,000 fingerprint records of illegal aliens from high-risk countries who had final deportation orders or who are criminals or fugitives have not had their fingerprints digitized and uploaded to the FBI and DHS repositories. This potentially opens the floodgate for massive immigration fraud and terrorism.

Compounding the problem is an open, porous border with Mexico where smugglers and traffickers of all shapes and sizes have free reign. Often, they operate in conjunction with Hezbollah terrorist cells that have firmly established themselves in Latin America. Overwhelmed U.S. customs and border protection officers simply do not have the resources to cope with large stretches of unprotected border areas and the administration doesn’t seem the least bit troubled.

The Obama/Clinton duo appear to be more concerned with political correctness, safe spaces and transgender bathrooms than securing America’s borders and dealing with the daunting challenges posed by radical Islam. One need only look at the disaster that has befallen Europe to understand that if this malevolence is not seriously addressed, what occurred over the weekend in Minnesota, New York and New Jersey will seem like child’s play.


Ari Lieberman is an attorney and former prosecutor who has authored numerous articles and publications on matters concerning the Middle East and is considered an authority on geo-political and military developments affecting the region.

Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264251/narratives-vs-bombs-ari-lieberman

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