Home Jon Sutz Ken’s Thought of the Week: Defending ourselves from Islamists is a marathon

Ken’s Thought of the Week: Defending ourselves from Islamists is a marathon

September 11, 2019

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By Ken Abramowitz; Edited by Jon Sutz and Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld

Ken Abramowitz is the President and Founder of SaveTheWest. Jon Sutz is SaveTheWest’s consulting editor and videographer. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Ph.D. is the founder and president of the American Center for Democracy.

Also see the Additional Reading section for a chronology of the resources cited in this article.

Americans don’t like wars, and neither do our leaders.

More broadly, no democracy likes war, and no democratic leader likes war. Democracies exist (some more, some less) to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Given this principle, how is the Trump administration doing in fighting Islamists? Let’s take a look:

(1) Afghanistan: President Trump correctly cancelled an important meeting with Taliban leaders at Camp David, after a Taliban attack killed 12 people, including 1 American soldier. But talks with the Taliban terror organization will continue another day, which is a mistake, as the U.S. should not negotiate with terrorists, under any circumstances. We should be dictating terms to terror enemies. Our troop levels in the region may fall from 14,000 to 6,000 soon. To fill out the gap, we should consider subcontracting some force levels to contractors like Erik Prince’s Frontier Services Group (FSG). Overall grade: C.

(2) Lebanon: The Trump administration is pressuring the Lebanese government to close down two Iranian factories that are being used to build and store precision missiles. The U.S. could just blow up the factories, but President Trump is working to exhaust all diplomatic options before we must do that. Overall grade: B.

(3) Israel: The Trump administration has greatly strengthened ties with our only real ally in the Middle East, Israel, and will soon unveil a peace initiative, which will hopefully encourage Israel to take 100% control over the educational system in East Jerusalem, including UNWRA schools, to annex Area C in Judea-Samaria, and to demolish all illegal Arab building. I addressed this in a recent Thought of the Week: Ken’s Thought of the Week: The U.S. “Peace to Prosperity Plan” is premature. Overall grade: A-.

(4) The Muslim Brotherhood: The founding organization from which every major Islamist terrorist gang sprouted, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has so far been able to shield its history behind an elaborate PR campaign that depicts it as a benevolent, Rotary-style civic group. Here is an excellent introductory video by terrorism analyst Cynthia Farahat:

Because the MB is financed largely by Turkey, which has also been funding its terrorist operations, the Trump Administration correctly cancelled Turkey’s participation in the F35 fighter jet program, but has not curbed Turkey’s mosque financing in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. The MB’s other major funder, Qatar, has also been infiltrating and subverting American universities. The Trump administration has discussed designating the MB as a foreign terror organization, but has done nothing yet. Overall grade: C-.

(5) Iran: The Trump administration has stepped up economic sanctions against Iran, the #1 terror-sponsoring nation in the world, and is moving toward “maximum pressure,” but has a long way to go till it goes bankrupt, closes its nuclear weapons program, and its worldwide physical, narco, and cultural terror organizations. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, yet in response to French PM Macron inviting him to the recent G7 meeting in France, President Trump said only, “No comment.” The U.S. expressed willingness to talk with Iran, but has no strategy to defeat It. Overall grade: D.

The total grade for all 5 issues: B-.

The key problem is that the Islamists’ war against the non-Muslim world began in year 632, after the death of Mohammad, and is now in its 1387th year. For the last 300 years, the Islamists’ war has focused on Western civilization, in general, and America and Israel, in particular.

Recall what Thomas Jefferson wrote, after he and John Adams met with the ambassador from Tripoli (now Libya), to inquire as to why the Barbary Pirates were seizing U.S. ships, terrorizing the crews, including even castrating young male captives, given that the U.S. had never attacked or done anything to provoke such attacks:

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.

That it was a law that the first who boarded an Enemy’s Vessell should have one slave, more than his share with the rest, which operated as an incentive to the most desperate Valour and Enterprise, that it was the Practice of their Corsairs to bear down upon a ship, for each sailor to take a dagger in each hand and another in his mouth, and leap on board, which so terrified their Enemies that very few ever stood against them, that he verily believed the Devil assisted his Countrymen, for they were almost always successful. We took time to consider and promised an answer, but we can give him no other, than that the demands exceed our Expectations, and that of Congress, so much that we can proceed no further without fresh instructions.

It should be noted that this declaration is almost identical to another, issued by an influiential imam, in the last few years, to justify the exact same type of savagery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Kh1EOKM1c&feature=youtu.be

Until Jefferson won the presidency, the U.S. government had been paying the cash bribes (called “tributes”) the Barbary Pirates demanded, each year. Jefferson, however, recognized that the only way to stop this threat was to deal with it for what it was — to direct that money to build a robust American navy, to protect her ships, and declare that we will not be cowed into submission by any pirates, or any other nation, ever again. Which gave birth to the articulated American principle, “Millions for Defense, Not One Cent for Tribute!”

Here is a ten-minute overview video about the Barbary Pirates, and Jefferson’s response:

America’s and the West’s efforts to defend ourselves against Islamism is a marathon, and we have to configure our resources to minimize our use of soldiers, but maximize our fire power through special forces, with Air Force support in close to 50 countries simultaneously, without bankrupting ourselves, and with as little publicity as possible, until Islamism is defeated, to the distinct benefit of peaceful Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Jews worldwide.

As in any marathon, we have to pace ourselves, and create the smallest military and political footprint that can get the job done, while the U.S. and other free nations continue to thrive and grow.