In FrontPage today I discuss how Obama identified terrorism as the greatest threat we face, while having forbidden discussion of what exactly that terrorism is.
Barack Obama gave the commencement address at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday, and piled absurdity upon absurdity.
“For the foreseeable future, the most direct threat to America, at home and abroad, remains terrorism,” he said, but steadfastly refrained throughout his speech from explaining the source of that terrorism threat, much less its ideological foundation or goal. This is, of course, the President who in October 2011 placed off-limits any investigation of the beliefs, motives and goals of jihad terrorists, overseeing the scrubbing of all counter-terror training materials of all mention of Islam and jihad in connection with terrorism.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole declared at that time that he had “recently directed all components of the Department of Justice to re-evaluate their training efforts in a range of areas, from community outreach to national security.” This “reevaluation” removed all references to Islam in connection with any examination of Islamic jihad terror activity.
At the same time, Dwight C. Holton, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, emphasized that training materials for the FBI would be purged of everything politically incorrect: “I want to be perfectly clear about this: training materials that portray Islam as a religion of violence or with a tendency towards violence are wrong, they are offensive, and they are contrary to everything that this president, this attorney general and Department of Justice stands for. They will not be tolerated.”
Holton said that he had spoken with Attorney General Eric Holder about FBI training materials that Holton claimed were “egregiously false,” and that Holder was “firmly committed to making sure that this is over….we’re going to fix it.” Holton said that this “fix” was particularly urgent because the rejected training materials posed “a significant threat to national security, because they play into the false narrative propagated by terrorists that the United States is at war with Islam.”
Cole declared: “We must never allow our sorrow and anger at the senseless attack of 9/11 to blind us to the great gift of our diversity.” And this, he said, must involve a rejection of the stereotyping of Muslims: “All of us must reject any suggestion that every Muslim is a terrorist or that every terrorist is a Muslim. As we have seen time and again – from the Oklahoma City bombing to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway – no religion or ethnicity has a monopoly on terror.”
Of course, the controversial training materials did not really claim that all Muslims are terrorists or that all terrorists are Muslims, and it is noteworthy that Cole had to resort to dismissive caricatures to make his point. And the end result of this whitewashing effort, three years later, is that the President of the United States has to acknowledge that “the most direct threat to America, at home and abroad, remains terrorism,” but cannot bring himself to explain where that terrorism is coming from.
And the remedy he offered was no more realistic and showed no signs of being developed by people who were prepared to deal with harsh realities. “Today,” he announced at West Point, “…I am calling on Congress to support a new counterterrorism partnerships fund of up to $5 billion, which will allow us to train, build capacity and facilitate partner countries on the front lines.”
There is such a comic opera feel to all this, it’s a shame that Gilbert and Sullivan aren’t around. The U.S. is forking over another $5 billion to fight against those whom Obama referred to only as “terrorists” and “extremists” — that is, $5 billion to fight against a foe that U.S. officials are afraid to name, and officially forbidden to name.
Meanwhile, this radical new solution that Obama is proposing – spending money to help other countries fight against jihad terrorists (not that he ever called them that) – is nothing really new at all. It has been done for years. Right after 9/11, George W. Bush made a deal with then-President Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan, under which the U.S. gave billions to Pakistan every year to fight these shadowy “extremists,” only for the Pakistani government (which also affected high dudgeon at the killing of Osama bin Laden) to funnel a good bit of that money to those very same “extremists” — with no consequences from the U.S., of course.
Barack Obama is the very model of a modern U.S. President.
Also, if al Qaeda is “on the ropes” and all that, why do we need to spend another $5 billion to fight them?
Obama’s speech was full of the dissimulations and half-truths one would expect from someone who has steadfastly tried to ignore and deny reality, only to have it keep breaking in on his fantasies. He desperately hopes that with a few small adjustments to allow for undeniable realities, he could maintain the principal substance of his fantasies – but reality will keep breaking in, and chipping away at these cherished falsehoods, until there is nothing left of them at all. We may only hope that by the time that happens, there is something still left of us.
45charlie says
What a scum Obama is. America should be very afraid!
Ernie Banks says
Whether or not he is scum, that isn’t the problem. The problem is that he is deluded, and thinks that further sacrifice of blood and treasure will make it go away. It would be far more constructive if he called for reform of Islam.
45charlie says
Good luck on that one ! Obama is a scum bag LEFTY . Unfortunately the Americans elected that fiscally incompetent clown ! The correct message is that Islamatization is the biggest threat to mankind !
Richard James says
Whether Obama is “a scum”, a muslim, a marxist, or the man in the moon is in the end irrelevant, all that matters is that he is the leader of the free world and he is utterly wrong on the subject of islam and muslims.
As to “a further sacrifice of blood and treasure” not making the problem of Islam go away, a further sacrifice of blood and treasure is about the only thing that WILL make the problem go away but it must be spent subduing muslims and destroying their infrastructure, such as it is, not trying to modernize, reform, and democratize them and their vile faith.
Muslims and the “muslim world” must be laid low and realize that their foul “Allah” existed nowhere except in the sick brain of their psychopathic “messenger” Mohammed and their trust in his sick religion instigated our destroying as an act of self-protection their evil pseudo-civilization.
As to “reform”, it isn’t possible to reform a “final revelation” which is what Muhammad and the scriptures of Islam insist it is – that leaves only three options:
1) submit to Islam – nobody here except a few trolls thinks this is an acceptable option
or
2) remove Islam from our countries – this can only be achieved by removing muslims from our countries regardless of their birthplace or ethnic origin
or
3) eradicate Islam completely from the face of the Earth. What this would necessitate is obvious.
Only number 3, if achieved, will work completely.
It’s long past the time when we should have realize that “Freedom of Belief” cannot consistently be extended to Islam or similar belief systems that insist on the oppression and murder of non-members. The rule should be “freedom of belief to those that grant others freedom of belief, absolute condemnation and complete removal of those that deny freedom of belief to others”.
There is no contradiction in this. Muslims condemn themselves by freely choosing evil and to adulate and emulate a mass-murdering racist child-molester as their “Perfect Man”.
Islam is evil – muslims insofar as they follow islam are evil and the rest cannot be trusted because of the muslim doctrine of telling strategic lies.
Roughly 75 years ago our grandparents and great-grandparents faced up to the hard necessity of ending Nazism – they had it harder than we do because not all Germans were Nazis. It should be easier for us because all muslims are by definition muslims.
It is time to get our consciences dirty and face up to the job ahead of us.
CogitoErgoSum says
If the job is done in accordance with the same beliefs our grandparents and great-grandparents had concerning freedom, then my conscience will be clear. Let’s hope Americans will be able to choose a person as President who is up to the challenge next time around.
Ralph says
This Muslim could not be elected in Japan…
Japan – some interesting facts
These practices set a high standard for young people . . . . .
* Japanese children clean their schools every day for a quarter of an
hour with teachers. This led to the emergence of a Japanese generation
who is modest and keen on cleanliness.
* Any Japanese citizen who has a dog must carry special bags to pick
up dog droppings. Hygiene and their eagerness to address cleanliness
is part of Japanese ethics.
* A hygiene worker in Japan is called “health engineer” and can command
salary of USD 5000 to 8000 per month, and a cleaner is subjected to written
and oral tests!!
* Japan does not have any natural resources, and they are exposed to
hundreds of earthquakes a year, but this has not prevented its becoming
the second largest economy in the world.
* In just ten years Hiroshima returned to what it was economically vibrant
before the fall of the atomic bomb.
* Japan prevents the use of mobile phones in trains, restaurants and indoors.
* For first to sixth primary year Japanese students must learn ethics in
dealing with people.
* Even though one of the richest people in the world, the Japanese do
not have servants. The parents are responsible for the house and children.
* There is no examination from the first to the third primary level because
the goal of education is to instill concepts and character building.
* If you go to a buffet restaurant in Japan you will notice people only eat as
much as they need without any waste because food must not be wasted.
* The rate of delayed trains in Japan is about 7 seconds per year!!
The Japanese appreciate the value of time and are very punctual to minutes
and seconds.
* Children in schools brush their teeth (sterile) and clean their teeth after a
meal at school, teaching them to maintain their health from an early age.
* Japanese students take half an hour to finish their meals to ensure proper
digestion because these students are the future of Japan.
The Japanese focus on maintaining their own culture. Therefore . . .
* No political leader or a prime minister from an Islamic nation has visited Japan
– not the Ayatollah of Iran, the King of Saudi Arabia or even a Saudi Prince!!
* Japan is a country keeping Islam at bay by putting strict restrictions on Islam
and ALL Muslims.
1) Japan is the only nation that does not give citizenship to Muslims.
2) In Japan permanent residency is not given to Muslims.
3) There is a strong ban on the propagation of Islam in Japan.
4) In the University of Japan, Arabic or any Islamic language is not taught.
5) One cannot import a ‘Koran’ published in the Arabic language.
6) According to data published by the Japanese government, it has given
temporary residency to only 2 lakhs, Muslims, who must follow the
Japanese Law of the Land. These Muslims should speak Japanese and
carry their religious rituals in their homes.
7) Japan is the only country in the world that has a negligible number of
embassies in Islamic countries.
8) Muslims residing in Japan are the employees of foreign companies.
9) Even today, visas are not granted to Muslim doctors, engineers or
managers sent by foreign companies.
10) In the majority of companies it is stated in their regulations that no
Muslims should apply for a job.
11) The Japanese government is of the opinion that Muslims are fundamentalist,
and even in the era of globalization they are not willing to change their
Muslim laws.
12) Muslims cannot even rent a house in Japan.
13) If anyone comes to know that his neighbor is a Muslim then the whole
neighborhood stays alert.
14) No one can start an Islamic cell or Arabic ‘Madrasa’ in Japan.
15) There is no Sharia law in Japan.
16) If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim, she is considered an outcast forever.
17) According to Mr. Kumiko Yagi, Professor of Arab/Islamic Studies at Tokyo
University of Foreign Studies, “There is a mind frame in Japan that Islam is a
very narrow minded religion and one should stay away from it.”
The Japanese might have lost the war, but they are in charge of their own country.
There are no bombs going off in crowded business centers, “Honor Killings”, nor
killing of innocent children or anyone else.
18) If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim then she is considered dead…
Something to think about……
Martin says
I completely agree with your comments. It’s asking that some if our countrymen saw fit to elect this loser twice
mortimer says
Exactly.
The DELUSION is that ‘terrorism’ must not be defined as ‘JIHAD’.
Larry S says
‘Smatter with you, charlie-
Don’t you appreciate the blessings of diversity? The opportunity to, shall we say, be lookup up to, by kaffirs doesn’t inspire you? Sexually inert women, victims of clitorectomies, draped in bags- don’t they just turn you on? The chance for a temporary marriage- maybe lasting only a matter of hours- after which you have no responsibilities- doesn’t that just mak your heart beat faster? Oh, and don’t forget the slaves- ah yes, the slaves- that are explicitly sanctioned by the ideology (if was good enuf for Mo-oh, and it’s good enuf for me). Shouldn’t everyone have a few slaves? (lemme tell, the young female ones are particularly interesting).
Don’t these things appeal to your most spiritual longings? No? What are you then- some kind of troublemakin’ infidel? Well lemme tell you something else: sorry, charlie, but we know how to handle your type.
45charlie says
No appeal at all. I guess you have to be a Muslim to appreciate the psychopathy of all that !
Martin says
I completely agree with your comments. It’s asking that some if our countrymen saw fit to elect this loser twice
Martin says
I also really like Japan’s stance on Islam. I would love those rules in this country
CogitoErgoSum says
Obama is displaying either his ignorance or his willful contempt for what should be the guiding principles of his life as a Christian and as President of the United States. He seems to have no understanding of either the Bible or the U.S. Constitution. He definitely has no understanding of Islam or its guiding principles as set fort in the Quran.
Mr. President…..you may not have declared war on Islam but it most certainly has declared war on you and the rest of us non-Muslims. Yes, I understand….not every Muslim is a terrorist…but I also understand that Islam teaches that each and every single Muslim has a duty to become a terrorist if he/she has the ability and the desire to achieve a greater place in the world to come. Why can’t you understand this? Muslims have a duty to destroy all other religions and anything else which stands in the way of Islam becoming the only religion and the only law ruling over every person on this planet. By refusing to admit this, Mr. Obama, you and all Christians who agree with you are traitors to Christ…. and likewise all citizens of the U.S. who support your cowardly policies aiding and abetting Islam are traitors to the United States of America. You have a duty as a Christian to stand up for Christ and as President to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. You are doing neither. You are sowing the seeds of our destruction. And yes…….I am damned angry about it!!!!!
Kepha says
I regret to say that the ignorance and confusion our POTUS displays is way too common among elite Americans of all stripes.
rubiconcrest says
So now we know that, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, is either a fool or a political hack. There is no excuse anymore for people in government to be as ignorant as this, or if they secretly know better, to be so spineless in defense of liberty. By failing to hold Islam to account they are empowering the evil side of Islam and protecting neither us nor muslims who want no part of the Jihad.
Wellington says
I have had the privilege of knowing many matriculates at West Point and Annapolis because relatives of mine have gone there. They are almost without exception sterling young persons (including my relatives). They deserve a far more informed, a far shrewder, a far tougher Commander-in-Chief than they have right now.
They know it. Believe me, the vast majority of them know it. And so what do they do? Well, they salute the office. But, as a soldier I spoke to decades ago said to me, ideally you want to salute both the office AND the man. Can’t do that with Obama, that’s for sure.
Bezelel says
They all know obaMUD hates them.
Artie Galvin says
I truly appreciate your sense of humor, Mr. Spencer. Brilliant and quite funny.
shortfattexan says
Our national leaders are not idiots, blissfully unaware of the truth.
Nor are they trying to shield us from a truth which they believe we can’t handle.
Either of the above would almost be excusable.
I am firmly convinced that the leaders of our government are deliberately attempting to conceal the truth for no other reason than to further their own political careers.
Our leaders, regardless of party, are scared to death of being labeled “islamophobic”, “racist”, or “intolerant”. They believe that being so labeled will ruin their chances of being re-elected or re-appointed.
I believe that they are aware of the fact that refusing to acknowledge the problem effectively prevents us from solving the problem. But they have deliberately chosen this path because it is more likely to keep them in power.
In short, they have chosen their own political careers over the survival of our nation.
Harsh words, I know, and I really, REALLY wish that this was not the case.
But unless we get a whole crop of national leaders who are willing to identify the real enemy, and are willing to actually fight a real war against the enemy, we as a nation are doomed.