Isn’t ironic that the Congress is focused on passing a healthcare bill which violates the Constitutional restraints on government authority, while at the same time, Congress has abdicated an area of responsibility that the Constitution clearly lists as a primary function of the Federal Government. To provide for the security and defense of the United States is one of the enumerated powers that is granted to the Federal Government and while our DC demagogues chase legislation to bring about a socialist utopia, the threat of Islamic terror has grown exponentially in the face of the perceived feebleness of the Obama administration.
On December 24th, Nigerian born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 as the aircraft prepared to land in Detroit Michigan. Abdulmutallab returned to his seat from a lengthy visit to the rest room where he covered himself with a blanket to hide his attempt to detonate the plastic explosive, PETN, hidden in pockets sewn into his underwear. Passengers reported hearing “popping” noises and began to smell what they described as a foul odor. Once passengers and members of the flight crew saw the leg of Abdulmutallab’s trousers and the wall adjacent to his seat were on fire, they pounced on the would-be suicide bomber and restrained him until the aircraft landed safely in Detroit.
Janet Napolitano, Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, assured the nation that this was an isolated incident and did not appear to have any connection to organized terror. Well Abdulmutallab had another view. In police interviews, Abdulmutallab admitted that he was in Yemen from August until early December where he received training and material support from Al Qaida in order to carry out this attack. The Al Qaida faction in Yemen has since issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attempt. In an even more bizarre statement released to the press, Napolitano praised the capture of Abdulmutallab and claimed the system “worked”.
Really Janet? What system would that be? The system that allowed a man that was on at least one government “no-fly” list to board a plane bound for the United States? The system that ignored reports from Abdulmutallab’s father to the American Embassy that his son (Abdulmutallab) had become far more radical in recent months and posed a material threat to American interests? Or maybe it is the system that forces passengers aboard commercial aircraft to provide the first line of defense for America while Federal authorities are comfortably asleep at the wheel?
Apparently the only system that worked was Napolitano’s own insistence that there are no acts of terrorism, there are only man-caused disasters. The interests of the United States have been lost under this administration and that places our nation in danger. Homeland Security is more interested in the actions and whereabouts of United States citizens that are upset by this administration’s agenda, especially if those citizens are former military. The ATF is more interested in shooting down State ballot initiatives that preserve the second amendment rights of its citizens than they are about hunting down gangs and terror groups that have been obtaining fully automatic weapons that have been banned for decades. The Justice Department has ignored the military intent of terror groups and is preparing to turn the captured militants over to the civilian courts for trial. A move that again, places our nation in jeopardy as their Al Qaida brothers plot to disrupt the proceedings.
Abdulmutallab has already declared that he is not alone; that there is an army of other Al Qaida soldiers preparing their own attacks on America interests and embassies abroad and upon the American homeland itself. The purported leader of Yemen’s Al Qaida group is Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri. Al Shihri was a Guantanamo detainee that was released and repatriated to Saudi Arabia in 2007. There was a board hearing that determined the status of Al Shihri’s detention in Guantanamo Bay. By unanimous vote, the board ruled that Al Shihri would be repatriated even though the review listed eleven primary factors favoring continued detention and only five that favored release or transfer. The board issued a report and corresponding memos on Al Shihri’s transfer but the documents were so heavily redacted that very little usable information remained that would point to a reason for their decision.
Whatever prompted the decision, the transfer placed Al Shahri in the hands of Saudi officials where he was enrolled in a rehabilitation program for former terrorists. Yep, they have reform schools for terrorists now which apparently have the same record of success that American rehabilitation programs have. Immediately upon his release from the Saudi rehabilitation program in January 2009, Al Shahri appeared in several jihadist videos, including one where he was identified as second in command of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He also appeared in a “You-Tube” video with three other men, identified as Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira Qasm al-Rimi threatening America and American allies.
The New York Times reported that an earlier car bomb detonated outside the American Embassy in Sana was the work of the reformed and freed, Al Shihri. Now that the Yemen Al Qaida group has claimed responsibility for the attack attempted by Abdulmutallab, it is clear that Al Shihri is behind that as well.
How fortunate we are. If it were not for Janet Napolitano’s soothing assurances we might be fooled into believing that America is under as great a threat by Islamic extremists than we were prior to September 11, 2001. Even the idea that these are no longer acts of terrorism but mere man-caused disasters makes it so much better now. Yes the system indeed worked and one must wonder if it will work even better in the future as we close Guantanamo and repatriate even more of these unfortunate and misunderstood detainees.
As the new “system” under Obama’s administration continues its efforts to soft-pedal the threat of Islamic terror, it is simply charming that Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security and Eric Holder’s Justice Department are more concerned with a possible American backlash against Muslims and now Nigerians, in response to new threats of terrorism. Sorry Janet…I meant man-caused disasters. Actually, the way things have been going these days, I’m surprised the passengers that tackled and restrained Abdulmutallab were not themselves arrested for assault or even possibly, for perpetrating a hate crime against this poor man. After all, anything could have caused his pants to burst into flames so it must have been prejudice that prompted them to tackle Abdulmutallab instead of rendering assistance to him.
Hmm? Could it be that it is the attack on Abdulmutallab by fellow passengers itself that Napolitano is concerned with? Could this be part of the backlash she warned us about? It is clear to me that America under Barack Obama has become a far weaker presence in the world and it is the appearance of that frailty that has invited the renewed interest of Al Qaida. While Obama makes his world apology tour, bowing to foreign leaders and begging forgiveness for the Bush years, our security machine has been stripped of its most potent components and our enemies know it.
It would be wonderful if the world was that simple. The idea that showing fairness and kindness to Islamic terrorists would somehow change the paradigm and create an era of peace is indicative of the naivety of this President and of the left in general. The fact is that the fundamentalist roots of mid-east terror have existed for centuries and the terrorists hate for hate’s sake, not because of a detention camp in Cuba. Al Qaida does not seek dialogue with the West; they are only interested in the total destruction of America and the murder of all “infidels”. This is the first time in history that we are facing an enemy that wants nothing from us but our deaths and will stop at nothing, including the sacrifice of their own lives to accomplish that.
During the Revolutionary War, American colonists used Indian tactics and fought a guerilla war against Britain. The British Army, until then, had only fought in conventional wars against organized armies. The rigid discipline of the British Army could not adapt to this new kind of warfare and that is the real reason that the Colonies prevailed. Without the willingness of the Obama administration to admit that this is a non-traditional war and that we will have to consider brutal and unconventional means to combat the threat, we will lose just as surely as the British did.
Abdulmutallab’s attempt was close to having been a reality and if successful, would have rained flaming wreckage down upon the city of Detroit as well as killing everyone aboard that plane. We must engage these factions as relentlessly as they seek to engage us and we must fight them wherever they appear with a ferocity that will leave no doubt as to our resolve. When it comes to the defense of the United States, nothing should be "off the table".
Paul
On December 24th, Nigerian born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 as the aircraft prepared to land in Detroit Michigan. Abdulmutallab returned to his seat from a lengthy visit to the rest room where he covered himself with a blanket to hide his attempt to detonate the plastic explosive, PETN, hidden in pockets sewn into his underwear. Passengers reported hearing “popping” noises and began to smell what they described as a foul odor. Once passengers and members of the flight crew saw the leg of Abdulmutallab’s trousers and the wall adjacent to his seat were on fire, they pounced on the would-be suicide bomber and restrained him until the aircraft landed safely in Detroit.
Janet Napolitano, Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, assured the nation that this was an isolated incident and did not appear to have any connection to organized terror. Well Abdulmutallab had another view. In police interviews, Abdulmutallab admitted that he was in Yemen from August until early December where he received training and material support from Al Qaida in order to carry out this attack. The Al Qaida faction in Yemen has since issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attempt. In an even more bizarre statement released to the press, Napolitano praised the capture of Abdulmutallab and claimed the system “worked”.
Really Janet? What system would that be? The system that allowed a man that was on at least one government “no-fly” list to board a plane bound for the United States? The system that ignored reports from Abdulmutallab’s father to the American Embassy that his son (Abdulmutallab) had become far more radical in recent months and posed a material threat to American interests? Or maybe it is the system that forces passengers aboard commercial aircraft to provide the first line of defense for America while Federal authorities are comfortably asleep at the wheel?
Apparently the only system that worked was Napolitano’s own insistence that there are no acts of terrorism, there are only man-caused disasters. The interests of the United States have been lost under this administration and that places our nation in danger. Homeland Security is more interested in the actions and whereabouts of United States citizens that are upset by this administration’s agenda, especially if those citizens are former military. The ATF is more interested in shooting down State ballot initiatives that preserve the second amendment rights of its citizens than they are about hunting down gangs and terror groups that have been obtaining fully automatic weapons that have been banned for decades. The Justice Department has ignored the military intent of terror groups and is preparing to turn the captured militants over to the civilian courts for trial. A move that again, places our nation in jeopardy as their Al Qaida brothers plot to disrupt the proceedings.
Abdulmutallab has already declared that he is not alone; that there is an army of other Al Qaida soldiers preparing their own attacks on America interests and embassies abroad and upon the American homeland itself. The purported leader of Yemen’s Al Qaida group is Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri. Al Shihri was a Guantanamo detainee that was released and repatriated to Saudi Arabia in 2007. There was a board hearing that determined the status of Al Shihri’s detention in Guantanamo Bay. By unanimous vote, the board ruled that Al Shihri would be repatriated even though the review listed eleven primary factors favoring continued detention and only five that favored release or transfer. The board issued a report and corresponding memos on Al Shihri’s transfer but the documents were so heavily redacted that very little usable information remained that would point to a reason for their decision.
Whatever prompted the decision, the transfer placed Al Shahri in the hands of Saudi officials where he was enrolled in a rehabilitation program for former terrorists. Yep, they have reform schools for terrorists now which apparently have the same record of success that American rehabilitation programs have. Immediately upon his release from the Saudi rehabilitation program in January 2009, Al Shahri appeared in several jihadist videos, including one where he was identified as second in command of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He also appeared in a “You-Tube” video with three other men, identified as Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira Qasm al-Rimi threatening America and American allies.
The New York Times reported that an earlier car bomb detonated outside the American Embassy in Sana was the work of the reformed and freed, Al Shihri. Now that the Yemen Al Qaida group has claimed responsibility for the attack attempted by Abdulmutallab, it is clear that Al Shihri is behind that as well.
How fortunate we are. If it were not for Janet Napolitano’s soothing assurances we might be fooled into believing that America is under as great a threat by Islamic extremists than we were prior to September 11, 2001. Even the idea that these are no longer acts of terrorism but mere man-caused disasters makes it so much better now. Yes the system indeed worked and one must wonder if it will work even better in the future as we close Guantanamo and repatriate even more of these unfortunate and misunderstood detainees.
As the new “system” under Obama’s administration continues its efforts to soft-pedal the threat of Islamic terror, it is simply charming that Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security and Eric Holder’s Justice Department are more concerned with a possible American backlash against Muslims and now Nigerians, in response to new threats of terrorism. Sorry Janet…I meant man-caused disasters. Actually, the way things have been going these days, I’m surprised the passengers that tackled and restrained Abdulmutallab were not themselves arrested for assault or even possibly, for perpetrating a hate crime against this poor man. After all, anything could have caused his pants to burst into flames so it must have been prejudice that prompted them to tackle Abdulmutallab instead of rendering assistance to him.
Hmm? Could it be that it is the attack on Abdulmutallab by fellow passengers itself that Napolitano is concerned with? Could this be part of the backlash she warned us about? It is clear to me that America under Barack Obama has become a far weaker presence in the world and it is the appearance of that frailty that has invited the renewed interest of Al Qaida. While Obama makes his world apology tour, bowing to foreign leaders and begging forgiveness for the Bush years, our security machine has been stripped of its most potent components and our enemies know it.
It would be wonderful if the world was that simple. The idea that showing fairness and kindness to Islamic terrorists would somehow change the paradigm and create an era of peace is indicative of the naivety of this President and of the left in general. The fact is that the fundamentalist roots of mid-east terror have existed for centuries and the terrorists hate for hate’s sake, not because of a detention camp in Cuba. Al Qaida does not seek dialogue with the West; they are only interested in the total destruction of America and the murder of all “infidels”. This is the first time in history that we are facing an enemy that wants nothing from us but our deaths and will stop at nothing, including the sacrifice of their own lives to accomplish that.
During the Revolutionary War, American colonists used Indian tactics and fought a guerilla war against Britain. The British Army, until then, had only fought in conventional wars against organized armies. The rigid discipline of the British Army could not adapt to this new kind of warfare and that is the real reason that the Colonies prevailed. Without the willingness of the Obama administration to admit that this is a non-traditional war and that we will have to consider brutal and unconventional means to combat the threat, we will lose just as surely as the British did.
Abdulmutallab’s attempt was close to having been a reality and if successful, would have rained flaming wreckage down upon the city of Detroit as well as killing everyone aboard that plane. We must engage these factions as relentlessly as they seek to engage us and we must fight them wherever they appear with a ferocity that will leave no doubt as to our resolve. When it comes to the defense of the United States, nothing should be "off the table".
Paul
