Image via USA Today
On the evening of Nov. 13, the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant (ISIL or ISIS) carried out a series of terrorist attacks in Paris and a suburb called Saint-Denis. Among locations attacked were restaurants, bars, a concert hall, and a sports stadium. As of now, the death toll is above 120. That makes it the second-deadliest terror attack on a Western city since 9/11.
Though France had already been at war with ISIS, since it started conducting airstrikes against ISIS in late September, French President Francois Hollande was quick to call the attacks “an act of war” after ISIS claimed responsibility for them.
It should go without question that these gruesome attacks against Parisian civilians were an act of war. However, in the aftermath of the attacks, much of the mainstream media conveniently ignored the jihadist ideology of ISIS. The media generally falls back on a narrative that pretends ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. For example, Piers Morgan tweeted that the Paris attackers are not “real muslims” and they have “hijacked a religion.” President Obama also referred to ISIS as “not Islamic” despite their purporting to be the “Islamic State.” These liberal rhetorical exercises could not be further from the truth. There are several passages in the Quran that promote violence. In addition, the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, holds a Phd in Islamic theology. If we wish to construct a meaningful, resolute foreign policy that, together with our allies, will ultimately destroy ISIS, we must recognize the link between Islam, radicalized or otherwise, and ISIS.
“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.” – Quran (8:12)
In addition to understanding ISIS, the United States and Europe need to reconsider accepting refugees from Syria. Right now, the Obama administration is still committed to letting in 10,000 within the next year. But, soon after the Paris attack some media outlets reported that one of the Paris attackers was a Syrian refugee. This report has not been confirmed, but the attacks still make the case for water-tight borders in Europe rather than their current open-border policy.
Already more than four million refugees from the Middle East have come to Europe since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, and there are no signs the mass migration will end soon. Western European nations have extended open arms to these unknown people coming from an incredibly radicalized area of the world, and once they have let them in, have made no efforts at assimilation.
While we should be concerned with innocent Syrians who are fleeing for their lives, we must put our own country first. This policy may sound harsh, but the attacks on Friday night have clearly shown the imminent dangers of senseless open border policies.
Some politicians are beginning to understand the inherent dangers in accepting just anyone from a very dangerous area of the world. Rick Snyder, Republican governor of Michigan, suspended his state’s acceptance of Syrian refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fully reviewed its procedures, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Still, many liberal politicians such as Hillary Clinton have suggested a screening process for allowing in Syrian refugees. The problem is that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to effectively screen for terrorists. Referring to the proposed vetting process, Marco Rubio stated that “There’s no way to vet that out. There’s no background check system in the world that allows us to find that out because who do you call in Syria to background check them?” For this reason, Rubio concluded that the U.S. should not take more refugees.
Rubio is right. These attacks should serve as a wake-up call to the West. We must put the security concerns of our own citizens first. The acceptance of refugees needs to be halted, and ISIS must be defeated.
Bobby Jindal needs to take those 1,000 refugees that arrived in New Orleans, put them on a state-owned bus, and drop them off in front of the White House on national TV. They are the wards of 0bama. States need to push back hard on the fed, refuse to accept any refugees, and generally, grow a pair. So far only the governors of MI and AL have refused to accept refugees.
That’s a great idea! Democrats need to start practicing what they preach.
In the USA we still abort approximately 25% of humans conceived every year. Should we be surprised that the illegals and the legals find room here? Could it be the judgment of God that we “suffer” the “indignity” of these “unsavory” Hispanics” and “detestable” muslims for the abortion hypocrisy of many who call themselves christians? All have sinned, and I’m no exception, so pray also for me. But really, we are offended at almost everything, and have forgotten the silent screams of the aborted children whom God hears, EVERY ONE OF THEM. Obama wanted us to have change… God wants US to change.
One point that you could’ve mentioned was how media bias has been promoting this “refugee” crisis and bring the refugees to the States. As always, Ted Cruz’s point on media as a superPAC seems to revolve around this. If states start to oppose the intake of refugees, how does the federal gov’t still hold power?
It was not the intention of the constitution (IMHO) that the federal government require any state to admit immigrants. I could be wrong. If not I think it should not require it. It might be wise to hand over the INS to the states. In a land governed by law, the law must be upheld locally, but should not be upheld from afar against the good judgment of the local people. It seems man and now American man encounter great difficulty in maintaining sovereignty, peace and safety for very long. Good thing there really is a God and Savior!
I’m sorry to hear that you think Islam causes violence, but the fact is the refugees are the people trying to escape the evils you talk about. If islam was the cause of isis’s horror, there would not be refugees, they would all be joining isis. If you want to know what a muslim is like look towards your muslim classmates.
Most of the refugees that would come here would not be terrorists, however, it is likely that a few would be. There is no effective vetting process that exists, so we must put our own country first. We could do other things to help the victims of the Syrian Civil War such as creating safe havens for refugees in the region.
I am sorry to tell you that Islam does incite violence. Most muslims do not support ISIS but their ideology is clearly rooted in Islam. Like I said in the article, the leader of ISIS has a Phd in Islamic theology. This is based on facts, not bigotry. We cannot defeat an enemy that we do not understand.
I am sure that most Muslim students here at Cornell are good people, however, they do not represent the Muslim World. The majorities of many Muslim countries have illiberal beliefs like that apostates should be killed, those who insult Islam should be killed, and women should be treated as second-class citizens.
Does Islam cause violence? Not really, but persons calling themselves Islamic do. And these people are quite adept at going where they want to with bombs and weapons by which these persons do great violence harm and murder. “Islam” is simply a religious and political system. Islamic people ARE the ones doing the violence, and they are certainly doing a lot of it. To escape that violence a person born into an Islamic family ought to leave the religion and politics of that system.
First of all not much is actually known about the leader of isis, except the propoganda they feed. His so called “pHD” is most likely nothing more than propoganda designed to create the very anti-islamic sentiment evident in this article. But let us suppose for arguments sake that he did get a phd, so what? I didn’t know getting a phd makes you right in everything. Having a degree does not make you correct. Second of all, you are committing the fallacy of letting one group, person dare i say, represent an engire religion. The kkk or the westboro baptist church do not represent christianity, isis does not represent islam. Yes westboro is named BAPTIST CHURCH, but that does not make it a representation of christianity. Third of all the passage you mentioned in this article is taken out of context. The entire chapter from that exceprt talks about hell, specifically that when you commit evil acts like killing and by extension terrorism, that hell is the punishment you recieve. The very chapter you are quoting, is condemning killing innoncent people, but you did not quote it in context, which is also what ISIS does when it tries to justify killings. Finally, i admit that Arab countries treat women terribly, but that is a statement of politics not religion. Let me remind you that 100 years ago women were forbidden from voting in America. Was that a flaw of Christianity? Of course not, it was a problem with politics. If you want to judge a religion, by countries (which is a fallacy in and of itself) look at the country with the most muslims on the planet: Indonesia. Or look at Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan, Tunisia, Morroco, etc. Muslims are 25% of the worlds population, I dont know why you generalize a fourth of the population based on extremes. There is a fundamental reason why your muslim neighbors, classmates, and 99.99% of muslims are not evil, which is because our religion condemns it. Open your heart to your fellow human being, and realize that we are not as different as you make us out to be.
The point I am making when bringing up the ISIS leader’s Phd is that ISIS clearly understands the Islamic religion. Having a Phd doesn’t make you right, but what is does mean is that you are knowledgeable about that subject area. The people in ISIS are devout muslims.
I am NOT letting one group define a religion. When I say that islam incites violence, I am speaking about its religious doctrines. There are 1.6 billion muslims. Some are moderate and secular. Some are fundamentalist and extreme. We should not let any one segment of the muslim population define the entire group. It is just as ignorant to say that muslim students at Cornell represent Islam as saying ISIS represents Islam. It is you who is making generalizations. You are telling me to use the most moderate elements of the populations to define the entire group. Like any other group, there is a spectrum of levels of observance, interpretation of religious doctrine, and how people act in response to it.
I have no reason to believe that people from the Westboro Baptist Church or the KKK are not Christians. They have some extreme beliefs that I have no reason to deny is rooted in Christianity. The difference in Islam is that many intolerant beliefs are the mainstream in many muslim countries like Saudi Arabia. Can you name any other region of the world where 10 or more countries give the death penalty for homosexuality?
Countries like Saudi Arabia which treat women terribly is CLEARLY rooted in Islam. These countries’ political systems are based on Sharia law. How exactly could you say that Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women, gays, and apostates has nothing to do with Islam when there is clearly verses in the Quran that support such treatments? The country is an Islamic theocracy.
Finally, I just want to make sure you understand that I have nothing against Muslims as people. Most muslims are against ISIS. However much of the Muslim world still holds some very intolerant beliefs. The problem is that Islam needs to be reformed. Christianity had once been very violent and fundamentalist, but it went through a reform movement. The same needs to be done for Islam.