Although many times we write about politics and sometimes we write about world events, we do our best, when at all possible, to tie it into the First Amendment. This month's article is going to deal with the terror attacks around the world and specifically the aftermath
of the attacks in Paris. And if you read on, we promise we will fulfill our obligation and
there will be a reference to the First Amendment.
When George W. Bush and his administration trumped up justifications for the United
States and the coalition to go into Iraq and dismantle that Government, he unleashed chaos
that will take decades, if not centuries, or if ever, to undo. Without going into a country-by- country analysis, any nonpartisan observer of events since 2001 could only conclude that what is happening around the world that is ISIS inspired is a direct result of our invasion of Iraq.
Some may say that had we kept troops in Iraq that things would be different. That is
probably true. There would be many more dead American soldiers, our national debt would
be much greater, but the end result of ISIS growing or some other organization with a
different acronym coming about still would be inevitable.
So the question becomes, what do we do now? There are those that say the solution
is boots on the ground, jet fighters in the air, and an all out military attack. There are others that say let's leave these people to themselves. Let them kill themselves. And let us sit back and watch. Others seem to be caught in between and want a military engagement led by countries in the region, supported by our air power.
Yet, with all of these suggestions and political blustering, no one seems to be willing
to speak the truth. If we go into Iraq/Syria where ISIL controls, and we are successful in
taking over every last square inch of the territory that they hold, what will be the aftermath?
ISIS/ISIL may have a geographic territory, but it is more than that. It is an ideal, it is a belief, it is a philosophy. So we go in and we take over that land mass. We certainly would not be killing everybody. And many of the people, with their radical ideas, will flee to all the corners of the earth and spread this radical brand of Islam. For those disenfranchised, they will look at this endeavor as an attack on the Muslim religion and they will listen to call to arms spread by cell phone, internet and all other social media.
If we lead a coalition not made up of countries from around the region, but rather
ourselves, France, Brittan and maybe even Russia, it will look like, to that area of the world, that it is the Christians versus the Muslims. We will be the crusaders once again. A holy war will be in order and if we thought this spark in terrorism throughout the world is bad, it could be become a daily occurrence.
If we do nothing and just allow that region to be, then there is no end in sight to what is going on and the growth of this brand of Muslim extremism and the terrorism that it
fosters. They have promised to come to the United States and certainly this promise is one
that should be believed. In essence, we cannot put the genie back in the bottle and there is nothing that we can do to stop this brand of radical Muslim terrorism. It is a fact that it is here and unfortunately, here to stay.
So we propose different steps. Let's stop taking in Syrian refugees because that
somehow will make us safe here in this country. Or others say they have a better idea. We
will only take in Christian Syrian refugees. Of course there is nothing more repugnant and
an affront to the First Amendment, then a litmus test as to who can come into this country
based upon their religious views. (See, we did it). Either of these steps make total sense if you disregard the fact that over 20 million tourists come into this country yearly from all different countries around the world and these tourists are not vetted whatsoever. So any fear that these governors have throughout the country that a terrorist may end up in their state is ludicrous compared to the fact that radical Muslims from a multitude of countries may and can enter this country as simple tourists.
The net result of all of this is that all of this political blustering of what "I would do if I was President" is just that. None of the plans and none of the rhetoric can conceivably lead to the world that we knew before we broke Iraq with our invasion after 9/11. Of course, it must be said that 9/11 itself was the grand daddy of all terrorist attacks. Therefore, terrorism was around before we invaded Iraq in response to 9/11. The difference is one of magnitude and one of scale. The 9/11 attack, as horrendous as it was, was viewed to us as an aberration.
Now, unfortunately, our children and our children's children will be forced to look at
terrorism as a way of life. This is the sad truth and sadder is the fact that there is no answer.
