Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts

Saturday, November 21, 2015

The WWE Draw a Line In the Sand With ISIS

According to the (London) Daily Mail, the online group Anonymous has said ISIS is planning an attack at the WWE event Survivor Series which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia Sunday evening.  The FBI has said that there is no serious or credible threat, but they are taking it seriously nonetheless.  This must be a comfort to the thousands who will attend the event, to say nothing of the athletes who will be performing, given our government's recent track record of predicting exactly what ISIS is capable of doing.  Then again, it is possible that the FBI is attempting to deke ISIS into a fall sense of security, so that they might catch the terrorists in the act.

Bigger news to me is the fact that the WWE is (at the moment, at least) refusing to let the threat of a terrorist attack detract from their event.  While perhaps not as grave, it harkens back to how Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush responded in the hours after al Qaeda's attack on September 11th, 2001.  Cheney refused to go in to hiding, once others in the Presidential succession were secure.  Bush returned to Washington 9 hours after the attacks, against the advice of nearly everyone around him.

To confuse a WWE event with an attack on our nation would be ridiculous, but it's a positive attitude to see.  Terrorists thrive on the fear they spread, the way to combat them is to show that our way of life will not be changed, no matter what.  It shows that as Americans, we are not as weak as our current crop of leaders may lead terrorist leaders to believe.  Rather, the move echoes Bush's comments when he said

I knew these terrorists like al-Qaeda liked to prey on weak government and weak people.
ISIS may be terrorists operating under another name, but the message remains clear (for now):  Americans will go about their lives, whether or not their government leads.  The threat of terror is very real, but to succumb to it is to admit defeat in advance.  Kudos to the WWE, and the government officials who are charged with protecting the citizenry.

Monday, November 16, 2015

The U.S. Continues To Lead From Behind

Friday evening, as I listened to the horrific news that came out of Paris, I waited on the POTUS to come forward and offer a plan as to what would occur.  It never happened.  Mind you, he did come out and state that it was a great tragedy, and it was even a major setback in our battle with ISIS, but not once did he come out and say the words I longed to hear:  we are in a battle with Islamic jihadist terrorists.  These people are looking to destroy our way of life, and of course we will help the people of France in any way that we possibly can to help stop the global terror threat that is spreading around the globe. 

Instead, he went on to say that there was no credible threat to the U.S. from ISIS (despite the fact that ISIS has specifically stated that the U.S. is a top target.)  He also gave the thumbs up to continuing to allow Syrian "refugees" to come to our nation, despite the fact that governors from Florida to Massachusetts, out to Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and points pretty much everywhere else have specifically stated they will not accept any new refugees from a nation that has such large numbers of terrorist leaning persons until there is a way to properly vett those who are seeking asylum on our shores, something that the FBI and other government agencies have specifically stated is an impossibility.  Not only that, but they can't even keep up with the thousands of people that should be getting observed already, but can't, because there aren't enough resources.

Of course, what else could Obama say, as he is the man who (in) famously called ISIS the JV of terrorist networks, and then admitted months later that he didn't have a plan to forestall their terror regime.  It turns out, he still doesn't, outside of sticking his head in the sand and hoping that someone else comes up with an idea.

Thank goodness the French (the French!!  I'm banking on the French, now!!) have no such qualms about what needs to be done.  They spent their Sunday bombing ISIS centers in the city of Raqqa, with no civilian casualties sustained.  To all those who are against that, or are worried about the consequence of such action, I have only this question:  What else could be done?  ISIS had already stated very plainly that they intend to continue their attacks against France and other Western nations, and as the U.S. is turning a mostly blind eye to the situation, it is a good thing that someone has the cajones to stand up to ISIS.  I just wouldn't have expected the French to be the ones to do it, is all, but perhaps the fact that this is the second major terrorist attack in their nation in recent years has awoke them to the dangerous world we now live.

As a citizen of the United States, I can only hope that our leaders at the highest level take appropriate actions to preserve and protect our Republic, to say nothing of the citizenry.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Rob Lowe, Paris. Paris, Rob Lowe.

So Rob Lowe got himself into a bit of trouble on Twitter yesterday.  I don't think he meant to do that, but perhaps when a future tragedy occurs, he'll learn to simply stay on the sidelines.  As a friend of mine has noted often, celebrities should avoid Twitter and all other forms of social media unless it is expressly for the purpose of promoting a project they are involved with.  Rob Lowe is not involved with European politics, and with his words yesterday, he put himself in the cross hairs of a large portion of the social media world.

I have no more to do with European politics than Rob Lowe does, and my opinions certainly do not carry the weight of his, because being a political-type blogger does not draw in the same amount of Twitter followers as being a Hollywood actor.  It's simply the world we live in, and I have no problem with that.

As an unbiased observer, I happen to think that Lowe is correct, and not just because his words echo my opinion from yesterday.  For those who missed it, I said:

 The time for pretending that there can be a coming together of the minds to solve the divide between the West and Islamic terrorists is gone.  Attacks continue on a daily basis in Israel, yet the press portrays Israel as the bad guys.  A *refugee crisis* was manufactured, much the same way it was in the U.S., which has allowed unknown amounts of terrorists and potential terrorists to enter the European mainland (to say nothing of the U.S. mainland.)  Western nations continue to absorb persons who wish to bring about the demise of the West, and then sit back and wonder where the problems come from.  Here's a hint:  from the people who you continue to allow in to your countries, even as said people state out loud that they want to destroy your country.
That message wouldn't have fit in to a tweet, and that is where Lowe limited himself.  If he had taken to YouTube, or other video formats, he may have been able to get his point across better than when he Tweeted:


Oh, NOW France closes its borders.
To his credit, unlike other celebs who make social media gaffes, Lowe has not backed down from his comments, nor has he removed them from his account (at least as of this writing.), which leads me to believe that he was not attempting to be crass or insulting, but rather was calling in to question policies that are harming the people of Paris directly, but greater Europe and the Western world, to boot.  I see nothing wrong with that.  Western *leaders* and the PC police continue to jeopardize the lives of the citizens they are supposed to protect.  While Lowe may have seemed to be insensitive with his remarks, what better time to make the point that has been largely ignored than while there is a tragedy occurring?  It's a page right out of the Liberal (U.S.) handbook, particularly whenever there is a gun tragedy, or a manufactured race crisis - Always use the storyline to push an agenda.  Never let a good tragedy go to waste.

I don't believe that Lowe was attempting to push an agenda, but rather was simply stating what all others who have the brain power to both walk and breathe at the same time:  things are the way they are, because of decisions made by the elected persons in charge.  If citizens want to be safe in their daily lives, they should elect officials that will put forth policies that protect them.  If they want to continue on in this new type of world where terrorists determine who lives and who dies, then there will continue to be consequences.  Hopefully the focus remains more on how best to protect the lives of the peace-loving citizenry, rather than any celebrity's remarks on the tragedy. 

Further, we can hope that this is the last such event that we have to mourn, because our leaders awoke to crisis that has been ongoing for centuries.

Friday, November 13, 2015

The Next Crusade Is Here, Like It or Not

This is a post I had begun writing weeks ago, when I read that the Swedish prime minister, among many others were concerned that Sweden was on the verge of collapse.  The causation of the collapse has less to do with the Swedish people, and the way they live their lives, and more to do with ideological failings of their 'leaders'.

Perhaps it's not simply ideological failings, but rather it is a belief that everyone can be saved, or converted to the *modern* way of living that has led to the problems that are occurring across the globe.  However, as today's attacks in Paris have shown,  there are some differences that cannot be bridged, no matter how many olive branches are extended.  The time has come to acknowledge this.

It is also past time for world leaders, and particularly those who are in positions of authority on the world stage to stand up and state
This is enough.  We draw the line in the sand here, and if you choose to cross it, we will crush you.  We will wipe every single man and woman off the face of the planet who seeks to disrupt and destroy our way of life.  We will not be overthrown, we will not be overcome.  We are who we are, you may accept that, or you may die trying to change it, but that is your choice.
 The time for pretending that there can be a coming together of the minds to solve the divide between the West and Islamic terrorists is gone.  Attacks continue on a daily basis in Israel, yet the press portrays Israel as the bad guys.  A *refugee crisis* was manufactured, much the same way it was in the U.S., which has allowed unknown amounts of terrorists and potential terrorists to enter the European mainland (to say nothing of the U.S. mainland.)  Western nations continue to absorb persons who wish to bring about the demise of the West, and then sit back and wonder where the problems come from.  Here's a hint:  from the people who you continue to allow in to your countries, even as said people state out loud that they want to destroy your country.  You should probably stop doing that if you want to continue on, and not be relegated past, failed civilizations.

The terror attacks in Paris may serve as harbinger for Western leaders, but it may not.  In the moment, France's President Francois Holland has taken a hard line approach, closing all borders to his country, he has imposed a curfew, shut the city down, and put the military in the streets.  Further, the government has the right under the state of emergency declared to control the media, and enter private homes.  This is a tenuous step, because a free people will tolerate such action for only so long, but it is a step that is necessary to help bring the situation under control in the moment.

Unfortunately, merely cleaning up the mess from this latest terrorist attack is not going to solve the problem.  What needs to occur is something that the people of Europe (or the U.S., for that matter) may not be all that interested in doing:  fully repel the Muslim invasion, and if need be, eliminate any who would pose a threat to the Western way of life.  What is needed at this moment is a leader as charismatic as Winston Churchill, with the gumption of George W. Bush.  Failing that, perhaps we could put some money in to resurrecting Charles Martel, who knows a little something about repelling a Muslim invasion.

If not, the future pages of history books will be written by those seeking to overcome us through any and all means.  To preserve the Western way of life, any and all resources must be put in to defending our basic rights.