My Memorial Day piece in FrontPage this morning:
The war on terror is long over. U.S. Army attorney Lt. Gen. Dana Chipman declared last week that the Fort Hood jihad massacre was a “criminal act of a single individual,” not an act of international terrorism. Barack Obama declared the war on terror over yet again last Thursday, saying, “Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless “˜global war on terror” — but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America.”
Obama announced the beginning of a glorious time of peace: “Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are most of his top lieutenants. There have been no large-scale attacks on the United States, and our homeland is more secure. Fewer of our troops are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months they will continue to come home. Our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the world. In sum, we are safer because of our efforts.” To be sure, he described small networks of ill-defined terrorists who wish to do us harm, but expressed every confidence that those networks would soon be dismantled, and aren’t that much of a problem in the first place.
And so the era of peace is dawning. The Taliban, as the Vice President has said, are not the enemy of the United States. Military and intelligence training materials have been scrubbed of any hint that there is any Islamic jihad against the U.S. As far as the U.S. Government is concerned, there isn’t. The Obama Administration has applauded and in some cases actively aided the “Arab Spring” that has brought Sharia rule to Egypt, Libya and elsewhere, and is stepping up aid to the “Arab Spring” jihadists in Syria. Meanwhile, it is abetting through the courts efforts to procure special privileges and accommodations for Muslims in American businesses and educational institutions.
We are at peace, except for our hearts-and-minds operation appealing to what General John Allen termed the “Noble People of Afghanistan,” which will soon be over. All is well. And so in these millennial days of peace, we look back in gratitude upon those who sacrificed all to preserve our nation and our freedom, and marvel at the wondrous times in which we live, when sacrifice is no longer necessary.
So much for fantasy.
In reality, it’s Memorial Day, and the jihad is stronger than ever, more confident than ever, and we are everywhere in denial, with our government and law enforcement officials, as well as the mainstream media, more clueless or complicit than ever. The millennial time of peace in which we live and which Obama tried to sell us last week is illusory, and that will do nothing but become clearer and clearer in the coming days and months.