UNITY! – Terrorism – Je Suis “Charlie” – Je Suis “The World”

 Je Suis “Charlie”  Je Suis “The World”

President Hollande said it right when he called for UNITY in the wake of the insane terrorist attacks in his country this past week. And yes, it is far beyond the time for people of the world to come together and stamp out terrorists and their terrorism attacks on a free democracy.

 

People of the world need to wake up and come together become more than just “Charlie.” People of the free living global population must rise up together and become “The World.”

It is that time.

 

We cannot let terrorists and their hare brained attempts of having a global caliphate through any or all of the various extremist Islamic groups:

• ISIS (or ISIL or IS)
• Al-Qaeda (or Al-Qaida)
• Abu Sayyaf
• Jemaah Islamiah
• Boko Haram
• Etc., etc., etc

People of the world must stand together and stamp out such extremist groups, groups that purport to want to bring purism to the world, by exterminating others who do not fit their standards. This is what entities such as the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and Nazism (via Hitler) attempted to do – kill off blacks and Asians and Jews through mass genocide or to keep them as some type of cattle.

These last two groups were completely wrong in their efforts. The KKK wanted to have only a white world when there was and is a large number of whites that are of mixed race – but they do not know that. Hitler wanted to have a pure Aryan race even though at that time, there were a goodly number of mixed race Germans amongst his ranks of “pure bloods.”

 

Freedom means being free to express your viewpoints without the fear of hatred or retribution. Even if people should know better than to make fun of some image, religious figure, ideology, person group of people and so on – it does not give ANYONE the right to kill someone for making the fun of any of those groups.

Sure, these religious zealots may have been in ‘right’ back during the dark ages of ignorance and superstition 1,000, 2,000 or more millennia ago when people did not know better or were completely suppressed to the where they could not know better. There is no place in the world, among civilized people of the 21^st century where there is the right to kill someone for blaspheming (making fun of or going against) any religion.

Anyone should be able to make fun of some religious – if it is good natured fun that’s one thing, if it is education that is another thing, if it is stupidly obnoxious or evil that is another animal. IT STILL DOES NOT GIVE ANYONE THE RIGHT TO KILL SOMEONE FOR DOING SO!!!

Making fun could be making a point or it could be just simply ignorance – we all bear that price for a free society.

 

People of the world must stand together and stamp out these extremist groups. It means reporting these people or these groups who would cause bodily harm to others or physical damage to public/private structures. And reporting on other people you may know does take courage but it has to be done. No one can just turn a blind eye to others of their own faith, even if it is extreme, if the perpetrator of a future is going to cause physical harm.

Take the attempted firebombing of the NAACP building in Colorado, purportedly by some white guy. First he botched the attack but why did this individual want to firebomb the NAACP? Was it because they were of a different race? Because if it was because of the folks in the Colorado NAACP being black, well, this firebomber has a rude awakening – times have changed and he and others like him need to move on become more sophisticated as we move deeper into the 21^st century.

And this goes for people around the globe, this is a new time. This is not 1,000 BCE (or BC if you prefer) where superstition was rampant. It is not 1,000 CE (or AD) where ignorance and suppression were the law (so to speak) of the land.

 

This is 2015, we must all learn to live with each other and accept the other for the differences there are between you/us. The world is becoming smaller every day, the number of people on the planet keeps going up and living spaces are shrinking as more people move to cities. Religious groups must adapt and learn that their religion is not the only religion or the best religion – there are many but none of them gives anyone the right to kill in the name of religion as the Christian Crusades wrongly did (to name one set of extremes) for so many years, multiple times.

 

Freedom means that women can have equality in pay for work; or that women can drive a car, unchaperoned in the mid-East. Freedom means that girls and boys can go to school to gain an education rather than girls being banned from learning and boys only attending mind and soul sapping madrassas. Freedom means that if you are of one race or religion, you can freely marry someone of a different race or religion without the fear of being stoned to death.

Freedom means just that, being free to do what you, as an individual wants to do – not because some religious faction or extremely conservative religious organization tells you what to do.

 

We have freedom of choice; we need to spread it around the world. The world must stand together and stamp out these wildly extreme terrorist groups like Boko Haram. If a country like Nigeria cannot stop the spread and terroristic killings committed by Boko Haram, then the world must step in and help. For example, the African Union and neighboring countries must band together to stop this insidious spread of fanaticism and wholesale murder. Other countries should be willing and wanting to step in and stand with a country such as Nigeria to curtail and stamp out Boko Haram, especially as Boko Haram attempts to compete with ISIS for world attention.

If we do not stand together and stamp out these terrorist groups, they will continue to sprawl out, gaining more converts and continue killing.

WE – MUST – STAND – TOGETHER – NOW!!!!

 

SHAME! ISIS & WEAK Support from Congress, Senate, EU & mid-East allies

Shame on our American Congress and Senate! I will come back to that.

It is sad to see the growth and atrocities of the terrorist oriented group known as ISIS (or ISIL or IS) continue, not unabated, but slowed down. It is not just Americans being beheaded; it is Brits and other mid-Eastern citizens too.

It is Syrians, Iraqis, Yazidis and Kurds being, not murdered, but exterminated!

Okay, back to that shame comment. Here we are with many of our Congress and Senate unwilling to make a sincere, heartfelt move to vote for allowing America to make strongER moves against ISIS. WAIT! I do apologize; let me revise that last statement.

It appears that many in our Congress and Senate want to “wait” until after this fall’s election cycle is over. In this manner, those who are reticent to vote for a move against ISIS can first survive their election race. This way, they would not have to worry about their vote being recorded on the books.

This, to me mind you, seems highly “un-American” that those affected (or afflicted) individuals continue to put themselves before anything else, inclusive of a better:

• Health care system for all
• Educational system for our children
• Highway and bridge infrastructure system for all
• Clean, green energy infrastructure to wean us off of gas and oil (not just from abroad but from within the US as well)
• Etc. – it is a very long list that our Congress and Senate can work on.

But, those are episodes for other writings. 

What I currently understand is that these folks really are ready to fully engage – ‘after the elections, once they are voted in again.’

The problem here is, many constituents are very short sighted and selfish and do not look long term, down the road, for the country as a whole. So, we wind up with people in congress and the senate who are also narrowly focused on the short term…

In the meantime, ISIS goes on – very, very sad. 

Now, our EU and mid-Eastern ‘allies’ and “partners” should be even more ashamed. The U.S. did not single handedly create a growing ISIS, even though some snarky hot head will say we did.

This is a conflict of religion. A religious conflict of one extremely radical element with a desire to transform the entire region, if not the world, into what they envision the world should be – a strict adherence to Islam and Sharia law, no exceptions and with the death of all infidels, us. ISIS only wants one thing, a Caliphate.

 

Has diplomacy and communication failed America? Is force truly the ‘only’ answer and best method to curtail this type of situation? 

Maybe now is the time for us to pull back U.S. interests from the mid-East and possibly the EU, letting ISIS flourish and spread throughout the mid-East and into Europe and possibly even the western front of Russia?

If our EU allies and more specifically, our mid-East partners are unwilling to help quash this extremist brand of Islamists, should the U.S. realistically undertake so much of this fight any longer? We simply cannot be the primary force or the leading force in that region… 

Should we become the isolationists we once were prior to the beginning of the Great War (WWI)?

If we pull back all of our forces and much of our American interests as possible and resort to being isolationist again – we can focus on rebuilding America. We can help our own people to grow. We can stop dumping billions of dollars into the Middle East where centuries old tribal factions and sectarian consternation (or mayhem) continues on and on and on. And in the background, some mid-East countries (or leaders) continue to support the radicals.

If we pull back and become isolationists, we can focus on beefing up our airports, shipping ports, borders and coastal defenses to pre-empt any wannabe terrorist from entering the country, our home – where people supposedly stand together, for the American people…

And since there is only tepid overarching support from multiple coalition parties, should the U.S. just stand back in the distance and watch the Wahabis (or Wahhabis) kill off the Sunnis or watch the Shia kill off the Sunnis and Wahabis or some other configuration?

If we pull back, we can rebuild our currency coffers and reduce our national debt load. We can focus on making America great and wonderful!

 

Oh. Yes. You were saying, “What about the spread of ISIS and all the mass killings of men, women and children – and don’t forget the atrocities undertaken on the defenseless – and the wanton destruction of priceless historical artifacts?”

Well…. We can take the tack of Turkey, where they stated the U.S. would not be allowed to use any Turkish sites to launch American airstrikes. We could say in turn when ISIS becomes a bigger problem for Turkey that we prefer not to put U.S. troops in harms’ way by having them in Turkey, Turkey can fend for itself.

Or, we could take the tack of Egypt where they stated that they have their own terrorist problems to deal with. In that case, we could say that the U.S. has our own demons back at home to focus on, such as unhinged KKK members/groups, extreme sovereign citizens, out of control militias, etc.

As for Germany and France, shucks, I am not sure what to say about them. Maybe, we could just stand back and state we have our own problems as German/French ISIS members sneak back into those countries and cause mass casualties. Maybe the U.S. should just let Israel unload on Syria since Assad is unwilling to be a leader and step down from his dictatorial position.

I dunno….

 

In the meantime, tens of thousands of people will needlessly die or be forced to convert to that extreme religion. Along the way, women and young girls will be sold off and/or given away as unwilling brides. Or worse… 

Of course, our backing off and reverting to isolationist will not transpire. It will not happen because of oil in the mid-East and the great many U.S. interests throughout the EU.

Until we, the U.S., actually get to a clean, green energy economy and get people into congress and the senate who “want” to do the right thing instead of listening to the wild, vocal minority of their respective parties, well, we’re screwed basically and will continue playing a massive role of world policemen.

 

If other coalition partners are unwilling to do more to stop this heinous and cancerous growth of ISIS, it is only going to get worse and become costlier over time – in lives and the very, very tight budgets of all countries in the current state of global economy.

The biggest fly in the ointment is Syria, where everyone seems to agree is the nerve center for ISIS. If Assad is unwilling to allow strikes against ISIS and with Putin opening his yap (being Assad’s buddy and all) stating that any strikes into Syria is an act of war – then how will that region of the world ever get to a state of less terror???

 

We, the global community, are at a serious crossroad. How do we solve this ISIS problem if diplomacy has seemingly failed and religious differences continue to fester…?

Because it boils down to this, how does one deal with an unbalanced, unhinged person or group (ISIS)?

 

Decapitating ISIS & Terrorists and American & Western Interests…

Decapitating ISIS

It seems that some folks want to decapitate ISIS and that is a good thing. But doing it is going to be difficult, especially if the U.S. is going to go about it seemingly by ourselves. {UPDATE 9/6/2014: As many of you are well aware by now, there is a much broader coalition of other nations, via NATO, joining in to work on stopping ISIS, using strategic and tactical efforts…}

Leaders in other Western countries, mid-Eastern countries and their people as well, appear to not want to help quash this growth of barbaric thugs using religion as a cover.

It is quite likely a large number of Americans also do not have the heart to want to stop this group of zealots in a foreign country because it is not in the U.S. of A…

American / Western Interests

The issue of this ISIS problem and translating how it is a danger to American and/or Western interests is not one of presenting it to the large urban cities of the U.S. and Wall Street and the media.

We have to translate this issue for the folks of the mid-West, the Bible Belt, the Rust Belt – basically the people of Main Street.

Sure, talking about decapitating ISIS is one thing but we have to give more concrete examples of how purging ISIS would help American interests.

Now, I mean no disrespect to all but surely many people of Main Street understand that there are a large number of American interests to watch over in the various mid-East countries:

• Embassy/Consulate personnel (and their families) who are possible targets
• American businesses attempting to create harmonious opportunities between the country in question and the U.S. are targets
• American businesses such as FedEx, UPS and others who fly into and out of some of these countries affected by Jihadist bent individuals are targets, especially for those zealots attempting to covertly ship explosives into the U.S. and
• Peaceful American businesses attempting to expand around the globe (even oil companies)

And let’s not forget the American interests in the Homeland due to terrorist trained individuals. Those Americans and/or individuals from Western allied countries who convert to Islam in order to join the Jihad and easily (if they are not on any watch list) bring newly gained Jihadist skills back to the U.S. or throughout Europe to:

• Because of our openness, create targets out of shopping malls, banks, office complexes and other venues which have a large potential in causing massive panic and fear
• Need I go on as to what some idiot suicide bomber could do to American interests, within the U.S.? The converted Islamist zealot does not have to go to a major U.S. city to create havoc, they could go to any or several Main Street U.S.A.(‘s) to cause significant pain for our country.

Any and all conceivable American interests are in jeopardy of ISIS now that they have the funds (I talked about that in another writing), seized weaponry and it seems quite a large number of people to create massive turmoil throughout the mid-East, the E.U.

In addition, ISIS could very possibly, support/supply any American converted idiot/Islamic zealot who for whatever reason (low self-esteem, feeling slighted by some American policy or agency) wanted to create ‘pay-back’ for their individual problem(s).

The American convert does not have to carry any money with them as they return to the U.S. after being trained – Western Union is still one of many ways to transfer money to the converted Jihadist, even if it is via multiple small amount transfers (ie: $3 – 4,000 at a time).

So, do your own thinking of other American interests (in the Homeland or abroad) as to what might be a juicy target for these religious ragamuffins…

Asymmetric Warfare

In performing strategic and tactical moves against ISIS (and Boko Haram – they need some love as well) we have to consider moving to more asymmetric guerilla warfare efforts. If ISIS is doing it, we sure as, ahhh, S**T (or rain) had best be doing the same maneuvering as they are. Besides, did we NOT learn anything from Vietnam and our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20+ years???

We ‘do’ need to consider more and better ways of tagging and tracking those wanna be American Jihadists before they cause death in this country. And whatever we do decide, we have to be clearly conscious of American and EU privacy issues.

We have to develop better intelligence sources to combat this scourge of evil before they go even further.

We have to develop better relations, somehow, with countries in the mid-East, better than what we have in place now.

We have to get better at communication to be sure what we are saying is coming across clearly – FROM the perspective of those in the mid-East, not through the blinding filter of our Western perception.

But, overall, if we have to fight ISIS and Boko Haram type groups without significant help from other Western or mid-Eastern countries, then we had best become even better at asymmetric guerilla warfare and wipe out these individuals.

For one, we have to cut off the flow of individuals from Syria, at the border there, into Iraq and then create a massive pincer movement (guerilla style) around those fighters within Iraq.

Because if we do not do something now, it will only become worse as time goes on.

Again, there are many who myopically do not see the danger to American interests at this time – those short-sighted individuals (American or European or mid-Eastern) want to be complacent until it is too late.

Or the complacent will decide to leave it to others to fight ISIS. But if it is not the U.S. then who else is fighting ISIS, besides the Kurds who are out-armed…???

Yes, it would be quite nice to decapitate ISIS but we need a major concerted effort to do so. The decapitation of James Foley should have been an eye-opening wake-up call for the faint at heart and weak of will.

So…. wouldn’t it be great in preventing:

• yet another genocide from occurring (the Yazidis) and/or
• the forced conversion of people to another religion or else face mass murder…?

Last of all and even more importantly – there MUST be TIMELY and equitable sharing of intelligence information between all law enforcement (LE) and intelligence agencies within the U.S., Interpol and several other Western LE and Intel organizations.

That sharing HAS to happen for any of this having any chance of working. FBI cannot stonewall DHS, nor can DEA block needed intel amongst LE agencies around the country (only two examples here).

ISIS, Boko Haram & Home Grown Terrorists – in the U.S…. Surveillance time?

**** moved from http://patrick642.wordpress.com ****

It appears that we are entering another era of pain and trouble, globally.

When I say we, it is not the ‘Royal “We”’ but we as in citizens of the world, in the Western developed countries and most especially those of us in the U.S. 

We, the United States, have stepped into a situation in the mid-east that should have been handled by that country’s own military and security forces. That country, yes, is Iraq.

Due to Nouri al-Maliki, of the Shia sect, Prime Minister of Iraq being ‘unwilling’ to logically, diplomatically, politically and economically share power with the Sunni and the Kurds of that country – he failed on a massive scale. So, as a result, we now have the outrageous growth of a group of religious zealots – the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, formerly ISIL and even further back, an off-shoot of al-Qaeda (or al-Qaida or even al-Qa’ida – depending on your viewpoint and background).

 

In doing our humanitarian bit of sending our resources (men, women, financial, materiel, etc.) to willingly go into harm’s way to help those that cannot help themselves, we may have painted another bulls eye on our collective back. ISIS is easier to type than writing out their latest and newest name, kinda like some rock star constantly changing names depending on where the moon is in the sky…. so, I will continue using ISIS.

As it stands, there is no other country willing to step as far forward and help other countries with the advancements of equality, democracy and openness. These other large countries only make token drops of assistance during times of disaster or humanitarian need.

Yes, yes, yes, the U.S. – we DO still have problems but we are continually working on them, much better than many other large countries seem to be doing. For example, we do not censor or block Internet access just because some official (or government) does not want transparency and/or takes offense at someone or some group making disparaging/revealing remarks/statements …

 

A couple of days ago, Abu Mosa, a spokesman for the terror group ISIS, in talking about America made this statement (1): ““We will humiliate them everywhere, God willing, and we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House,” he added.”

Now what does that tell you? Keep in mind, this group of zealots has taken over banks and control of vast amounts of money to fund their growth. Also keep in the forefront of your thoughts, the world community cannot willy nilly freeze the Iraqi currency, the dinar, to keep it from being used…

And in addition, remember, these zealots have taken over Iraqi bases and armories, facilities full of weaponry that can be moved across borders. The weapons I refer to are things that can easily be smuggled, RPGs, grenades, mines and other projectile bombs and mines.

Think about it, if people and other illicit items (drugs, alcohol and cigarettes) can easily find their way into the U.S., so too can this kind of weaponry find its way onto American soil – for a price, via down on their luck (or not) traitorous U.S. citizens.

Many of you out there already are aware of the ‘Home Grown Terrorist’ growth in the U.S. and how so many people want to be part of a Jihadist movement – for whatever reason. These ‘home grown’ individuals are from many parts of America and take many forms as you have seen:

• Mexican American
• White American
• Black American and all the
• Displaced/Immigrated – legal/illegal mid-easterners – Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian, Yemeni, Saudi and on and on and on…

Now that ISIS has their hands on quite a bit of money, manipulative propaganda and weaponry, the next step you have to take is in asking yourself, “How much of these new resources can ISIS move into the West (and the U.S.)?”

Then you have to ask yourself “How fast can they do it?”

Following these two basic questions, you should be thinking, “Can we see this movement in real time and stop it, using tools like the power of the SWIFT network (2). Will we possibly use the power of our intelligence agencies to take peeks into the meta-data of phone, internet communications “BEFORE” something catastrophic occurs in the U.S., similar to our 9/11 rather than attempting to connect the dots “AFTER” whatever happens, happens.

The only snag here is, will the American people and people of other western countries be willing to allow tighter surveillance and scrutiny to stop the growth and insidious spread of ISIS and whatever harm they will continue to do…???

We now, more than ever, will need to strategize on how to counter a newer crop of home grown terrorists in light of the funding that ISIS has on hand and is getting. Some of that funding is and/or was purportedly from some U.S. allies – Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, I have no way of corroborating this other than going with content from several news outlets, two included below (3,4).

Will the Western world be willing to have tighter security in advance of ISIS or wait and see what happens, after it is too late? We, the U.S. will need law enforcement in conjunction with intelligence agencies, local/state/federal governments to develop and implement even better strategies on dealing with a ‘possible’ slew of more new home grown terrorists…

We already know that this group wants to put its imprint on everything and force everyone to bow to their way of life – sharia law, follow Islam or die, the continual destruction of ancient artifacts and buildings simply because they are not Islamic.

We also already know that the mass number of Muslims around the world do not stand for this brand of Islamic beliefs. However, I am very surprised that many more Muslims are not helping to stop this cancerous growth or condemning what ISIS is doing.

 

Boko Haram is likely hitching, or probably willing to hitch their wagon to ISIS, though I have no way of knowing if either group wants to be connected to the other.

 

No one should be fooling themselves into thinking that ISIS will never create trouble (or death) on the homeland that is just a waste of brain cells. These people are serious, deadly serious.

And I have not heard it yet but I would not discount anyone stating that these people have airplanes (after taking over so many Iraqi facilities) they can use as a form of WMD…

 

Is anyone willing to believe that ISIS could not make it to the U.S.? Is anyone going to be foolish enough to make a bet on that? Because as far as I know, no one on planet Earth is omniscient, at least not until someone reaches the long heralded Singularity…

Is anyone foolish enough to believe that we should not be making “better” preparations for Home Grown Terrorists ahead of ISIS aiding any maladjusted, misguided and dare I say ‘crazed’ individuals?

We already saw a significant spike in militias and sovereign citizens since our 44^th President took office – we do not need more.

 

And hopefully I do not come across as a dogmatic scare-monger; I am just looking at the landscape and down the road – especially if the people of the mid-Eastern countries cannot take care of this ISIS problem…

 

References

1 – ISIS Threatens America: ‘We Will Raise The Flag Of Allah In The White House’, http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/08/isis-threatens-america-we-will-raise-the-flag-of-allah-in-the-white-house/, 8 Aug 2014

2 – SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), http://www.swift.com/about_swift/index

3 – America’s Allies Are Funding ISIS, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html, 14 Jun 2014

4 – The United States’ biggest ‘allies’ are funding ISIL, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/08/08/374537/americas-biggest-allies-funding-isis/, 9 Aug 2014