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SaveTheWest.com contributor writer Erez Winner spent 25 years in the Israel Defense Forces, and retired as a colonel.
In this essay, he again warns of the urgent need for Western leaders, particularly President Obama, to wake up to the reality of Islamist terror, the bulk of which is facilitated by the Iranian regime.
My last article for SaveTheWest.com, in December 2014, “Wake-up call 2014,” dealt with the growth of Islamic extremism, mainly in Europe. It is now undeniable that this growth is occurring in the United States and Canada, as well. I called on the leaders of those countries to wake up before it is too late, and to begin fighting back. I also called on the State of Israel to prepare for the absorption of Jews escaping from those countries, as terror against them increases.
Since then, Islamist terror attacks in France, Belgium and Germany illustrate better than any written word the growing threat, and in particular, our need to stop burying our heads in the sand. We must act quickly and intensely, in an attempt to save the West, and the values it represents.
To illustrate the problem, keep in mind that many of these recent attacks were perpetrated by Muslims from Western countries, who were in the Middle East and fought with Al Qaeda or I.S. (Islamic State). They had arms and explosives training and, of course, an extreme religious indoctrination against the West and what it symbolizes.
Those people who returned to their home countries were well known to all security agencies. Despite the familiarity, and even though any reasonable person could understand that this policy would lead to a “ticking bomb,” as people trained and brainwashed, sooner or later, take to extreme violent acts. Nevertheless, these people were not monitored continuously and no basic steps were taken that could prevent such attacks. Such behavior was dictated by the concern for the individual’s rights, as if the victims of these attacks have no rights.
To show the importance of these actions, we can review the latest event in Belgium, where security forces raided a group of such extremists, shortly before they went on to conduct a series of terror attacks. The raid was made possible not because of a special intelligence hacking, but due to a familiarity with those extremists, and an understanding of the necessity to deal with them before they go out to attack – not after.
“Rational centrists,” as my friend Ken Abramowitz (founder and president of SaveTheWest.com) calls them, find ourselves again being attacked from all sides. On one hand, we are under attack by al Qaeda, I.S., Boko Haram, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and its proxies, and other radical Islamic terror organizations. On the other hand, we find different human rights organizations, and institutions such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, whose main business is not the prevention of terrorism, but preventing the ability to fight those terrorist organizations effectively. Alongside them are politicians and leftists, who in the name of “liberalism” and “individual rights” prevent proper handling of these terror organizations, while simultaneously de-legitimizing of those who dare to stand up and fight.
President Barack Obama’s decision (tentative and late, as usual) to wage war on I.S. contributed to the “wake-up” effort dilemma. Mobilization was slow, coalition-building was tentative, and the course of action (air strikes only) was insufficient.
Recently an opportunity has presented itself, however. Now, it is up to the “rational centrists” to overcome those who are trying to weaken and stop them.
I.S. executions publicized its brutality, which has created a broad and comprehensive revulsion, and increased the legitimacy to fight back. Moreover, the killing of the Japanese hostages and the Jordanian pilot brought against them two very determined states – Japan and Jordan. Both nations have a tradition of honor and revenge deeply in their DNA.
Jordan’s immediate response, the execution of the terrorist that IS sought to release, was only the beginning of their response.
In another location, there was an operational success in the city of Kobane (Syria), where heroic and uncompromising fighting of the Kurdish forces on the ground, along with significant air support from the U.S. and other coalition states, led to the withdrawal of I.S. forces from the city, after long months of fighting. For the first time since its ascent, I.S. forces retreated and failed to capture the destination in which they sought to impose their brutal rule.
These counterattacks represent a great opportunity – assuming, of course, that President Obama will not continue in his efforts to sign what amounts to a surrender agreement with Iran. This agreement would allow Iran to continue developing their nuclear capabilities, thereby becoming a nuclear threshold state. In return, Iran would commit to fighting I.S. and al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. (Note: According to various intelligence reports going back to 2003, despite their Shia-Sunni differences, Iran has actually been aiding Al Qaeda; see articles here, here, here, here, here and elsewhere.)
It is time to act on the battlefield, and enable the intelligence and security services to fulfill their mission against those terror organizations. We should not give a terror state such as Iran a prize in order to avoid “dirtying our hands” in a war against other terror states.
It is finally time to stop burying our heads in the sand. We must rise to this challenge ourselves and take advantage of this “wake-up” call. We must stand up and save ourselves before it is too late!
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