The Return of Terror and the Stubborn Incompetence of the Obama Administration

In its response to this past weekend’s spate of terror attacks, the Obama Administration exposed once again a disturbing pattern of weakness, incompetence, and lack of accountability. This stubborn pattern undermines any serious root and branch effort to confront the terrorists whose goal is to destroy us.

After a weekend of bloodshed in which two out of five attempted terror attacks in three states were successful, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest offered a feckless response. He argued that the United States is engaged in a “fierce narrative battle” with the Islamic State.  Stating that the Islamic State wants to project that they are representing Islam in a war against the West, Earnest says this narrative is false and one that the Administration will combat.

This is absurd.  We face an enemy that wants to see us, our families, and our very way of life destroyed, and it’s deeply troubling that the Obama Administration is combating this real enemy with nonsensical narratives. Rhetoric will not win this war. It must be fought with military might.

The weakness of the Obama Administration’s current response recalls Attorney General Lynch’s claim that the nation should respond to the Orlando terror attack with “peace and love.”

While the Obama Administration refuses to name the enemy as radical Islam and while Secretary of State Kerry expresses hope that the media will devote less coverage to terrorism than climate change, the blood of Americans still flows red. Indeed, the facts on the ground dispute the White House’s naive narrative.

This past weekend the facts show that a Somali Muslim immigrant engaged in numerous knife attacks in St. Cloud, Minnesota injuring nine people, an attack for which ISIS has already claimed responsibility. Within hours, a bomb in lower Manhattan was detonated, injuring dozens. Law enforcement officials have identified the prime suspect in the Manhattan bombing as Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized Muslim citizen from Afghanistan – who has been taken into custody after a shootout with police. In both cases, neither a focus on the power of narrative nor expressions of peace and love were enough to stop the bloodshed. Instead, the discharge of lethal force by police officers was required to kill or capture both the leading suspects in these attacks.

At the same time, gaping holes emerge on the national security front. As the Associated Press reports, an internal audit by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shows that at least 858 immigrants who had pending deportation orders from countries of concern to national security or with high rates of immigration fraud were awarded citizenship. DHS officials identified an additional 953 people who were naturalized despite outstanding deportation orders, even though auditors could not determine if those immigrants had digital fingerprints on file or not.

This may be the tip of the iceberg as well as a ticking time-bomb for national security. The Inspector General’s report indicates that incompetence, aided and abetted by a lack of accountability, surfaces because fingerprints are missing from federal databases for as many as 315,000 immigrants with final deportation orders or who are fugitive criminals. Meanwhile the Obama Administration has announced plans to increase the number of refugees from the Middle East despite the fact that it is impossible to properly vet these individuals.  

This record of ineptitude and inaction in the face of terror is reinforced by evidence that the United States shipped foreign currency to the leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite evidence that Iran may have participated in the 9/11 attack on the United States. As the Washington Times reports, there is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al-Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11. It is highly likely that the shipment of foreign currency from the United States will expand the reach of terror, hasten the day that Iran acquires nuclear weaponry, and strengthen Iran’s alliance with Russia and Syria, as well as the jihadists who threaten the United States.

It is time for the United States to name our enemy: Radical Islamic Jihadists. It is time to strongly confront this enemy as well as their allies. The failure to do so will result in the loss of more American lives.

Despite the Obama Administration’s refusal to name the enemy or recognize evidence that is hidden in plain sight, Americans must recognize that we are engaged in a civilizational struggle that we did not choose. Expressions of peace and love, however poetic this narrative may be, are insufficient for the war we face. Instead of accepting the Obama Administration’s devotion to poetry or politically correct language, which taken together, diverts attention from the actual motives of terrorists, Americans must acknowledge and understand the turbulent times that confront us.

ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, in his new book (released in stores nationwide today), Unholy Alliance: The Agenda Iran, Russia, and Jihadists Share for Conquering the World, shows how jihadists are plotting to export Islam to the West through violent acts of jihadist terrorism. He offers a clear-eyed explanation that demonstrates that the goal of radical Islam is to institute Sharia across the globe. He also explains that this war of ideas is richly propelled by Russia and Iran’s bilateral relationship with Syria. Given these facts, it is clear that in order to win this war of ideas, Americans must summarily reject the Obama Administration’s politically correct narrative, which is reinforced by weakness and incompetence.

It is time to end the Obama Administration’s stubborn pattern of incompetence. It is time for a clear-eyed assessment of the facts on the ground. Such an understanding will prepare the United States to lead an offensive against radical Islamic terror – one that will defeat the historic evil once and for all.