Whether We Like It Or Not
Now it’s Berlin. Recently, it’s been Brussels, Maganvile, Nice, Paris, Pas-de-Calais and others. MANY others. In fact, by last count (as listed in Wikipedia) the terror attacks in Europe for the year 2016 is now THIRTY SIX. If we list only attacks in which there were multiple fatalities, the list is still quite impressive:
1. Brussels, Belgium 3/22/16: subway bombing: 21 dead.
2. Brussels, Belgium 3/22/16: airport bombing: 14 dead
3. Maganville, France 6/13/16: stabbing: 2 dead
4. Nice, France 7/14/16: truck attack: 86 dead
5. Berlin, Germany 12/19/16: truck attack: at least 12 dead.
Four of these were carried out by “refugees”. The Berlin attack was carried out (as reported in the German newspaper, Der Welt) by a Pakistani “refugee” that entered Germany in March. The Nice attack was carried out by a Tunisian immigrant. The Brussels attacks (and the Paris attacks) were carried out by “refugees” (as reported by the Hungarian Intelligence Service on Oct 3, 2016) that entered Belgium via the Balkans.
And, not too long ago Europe suffered through the concert massacre and the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris. “Refugees” involved in both.
Now, one of the most troubling aspects to all this, is that it’s clear that Islamic terrorism has entered the brave new world of “soft targets”. No longer do they appear driven to spectacular attacks such as 911 or Lockerbie. Instead, they appear content, now, with cowardly attacks on crowds of defenseless people quietly going about their lives in unprotected public venues. Although this kind of attack is less showy than the “hard target” variety, it has one MAJOR disadvantage for us: THEY CAN NOT BE PREVENTED!
When terrorists can use weapons such as trucks, cars, guns, hatchets, knives, bombs, and gasoline, attacks can occur ANYWHERE and at ANYTIME. There is simply NO way they can be stopped. So, one might ask: is the situation hopeless? Will we, inevitably, find ourselves in the same situation as Western Europe, where deadly enemies have been welcomed with open arms to live among the populace and plot and scheme murder and terrorism? Must we lose the way of life we’ve fought for, earned and enjoyed for so long?
It is my belief, however, that the situation is NOT hopeless. There are strategies that we can fight back with:
1. First, we must carry out massive surveillance in this country of potential perpetrators. This surveillance must be pervasive and must be invasive. Unfortunately, in order to do this, we must sacrifice some of the privacy protections that we would ordinarily like to live under, but, now, can not safely enjoy in this hellish new world that Western Civilization has been creating for itself. And in order to do our surveillance comprehensively and efficiently, we MUST employ profiling strategies, whether we like it or not.
2. Next, we must reduce our exposure to “soft target” terrorism by closing access to our society by high risk individuals. As Europe’s current debacle is making perfectly clear: there is no way to accurately vet foreigners from high risk areas, especially from the Middle East and Africa. Until there is a dramatic reduction in the risk of Islamic terrorism we MUST close our society to high risk immigrants and even visitors. And we must do this, whether we like it or not.
3. Lastly, we must make our society less attractive to those of high risk ideologies. How? France has, for example, made wearing full face veils (niqabs) illegal. Another measure would be to legislate a ban on sharia law. Not only is sharia incompatible with the Constitution of the United States of America, it is, apparently, so important to many potential terrorists, that many may simply find, as a result, that our society is unacceptable as a place to immigrate to or even visit. Again, whether we like it or not, we must find a way to discourage high risk individuals from joining or even visiting our country.
I am aware that the measures listed above run counter to many important American values (including many of my own values), and it is with some sadness that I present them. However, it becomes more and more clear with each passing day that the threat of Islamic terrorism is not going to go away, and that, in fact, it appears to be growing steadily. With the new trend toward “soft target” terrorism, we enter a deadly stage in this conflict, where prevention is NOT possible, and the threat becomes very real through out the entire fabric of our society. We must meet this threat with determination and resolve, whether we like it or not. We must remember that the safety and well being of the American people MUST be our highest priority.