Ignoring Jihad at Our Own Peril 15 Years After 9/11

This weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I’ll never forget.

Fifteen years ago, jihadists bent on destroying America hijacked four planes and decimated thousands of lives – killing nearly three thousand Americans, injuring countless more.

On that day, jihad changed all of our lives.

I remember in grave detail first seeing the horrific scene as it unfolded right before our eyes as I watched the attack in our offices in Virginia.  I vividly remember trying to contact my son Jordan who was a student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., one of the cities attacked by the Islamic jihadists that day. I remember the relief when I was finally able to get a hold of him and learned he was safe.

But I also remember the hours of trying get in touch with loved ones in New York City, just across town from where I grew up. So many lives lost. So many deeply affected.

Each and every one of us has similar stories. America was one that day. We stood in solidarity against radical Islamic terror. We named the enemy, and we took the fight to the jihadists.

I’ll never forget how President George W. Bush summed up our American unity and resolve only a few days after that horrific attack.

Yet today, our leadership in America has forgotten.  As ISIS (the Islamic State) rose and terrorists continue to attack – abroad and right here in our homeland – President Obama refuses to name the enemy.  His Administration refuses to acknowledge that Islamic jihadists are intent on destroying everything we hold dear. 

Jihadists want to desecrate freedom.  They want to demolish America.  They want to destroy the freedom that has built western civilization. And they want to eradicate Christianity.

15 years later and the threat looms just as large, with terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Brussels, and Orlando in the past year alone. Hundreds more have been killed. When will we wake up to the threats we face?

At the ACLJ, we continue to take legal action to force the Obama Administration to confront the truth about the jihadists targeting our nation. We have taken our critical five-step policy plan to defeat ISIS and jihadists to Capitol Hill.

And later this month, I’m releasing my latest book – Unholy Alliance: The Agenda Iran, Russia, and Jihadists Share for Conquering the World – that discusses the evolving geopolitical threats we continue to face in the post-9/11 world and what we must do about them.

But on this 9/11, we must not forget what happened 15 years ago that changed everything. We must remember the sacrifices made by our fellow Americans and the threats we continue to face.