I know that I'm going to get a lot of grief for this post, but at this point I don't care. When I write a blog post, I write from my heart and I trust my brain to translate it to words that make sense. Everything that I write has some sort of significance to me or else I wouldn't take the time to discuss it. This post is being written because I feel I have a responsibility to myself, my family and friends, and my country to speak up in hopes that others feel the same way.
What happened in Paris a few days ago is something that I think we all saw coming eventually, but we just didn't know where or how soon. It saddens me that any group exists on this Earth whose sole purpose for existence is to exterminate all who are not like them and to bring about the end of the world. This kind of thinking is archaic. Living now in the 21st century, we should all have figured out a place to exist where we don't have to interfere in anyone else's lives, yet groups like this continue to survive. Fighting in the Middle East has been going on ever since the beginning of recorded history, so it's nothing that surprises us. Most people here in the West will tell you that it's upsetting that violence continues, but as long as it doesn't affect them and stays "over there", they don't feel they have to get involved. Well, I'm pretty sure the time for that way of thinking is over. These barbarians have seen fit to move to other countries to spread their chaos and we can no longer turn a blind eye to what is going on.
ISIS is our generation's version of the Nazis. Let that sink in for a minute. Since World War II, we have not seen a group on this planet that has committed as many atrocities. The reports I've seen about the mass graves, the beheadings, the crucifixions, the other countless gruesome killings...this is not a group that should be taken lightly. Now they're on the move and starting to bomb in highly populated areas, bringing that destruction to areas outside of the Middle East. It's only a matter of time before we see it again here on our soil. We must act.
Now, I'm not saying that immediately overnight we need to take every troop in every branch of the military, ship them over to ISIS-controlled areas, and just mow everything down, but we do need to set some plans in motion that will ultimately end their reign of terror. The United States has long been the world leader in just about every military operation, but the last seven years has seen that role diminished. Budget cuts, setting time tables that become known to the public, and ridicule/scorn against soldiers from within the current administration are just some of the obstacles our military has gone through in recent years. We still have the world's most powerful military, but we're a bit battered and bruised. An effort against ISIS will take coordination with other powerful militaries, but we must be sure that our country's leaders will not undermine that effort with their apologetic kowtowing and the need to be transparent about operations when nothing else about them is transparent except their own personal agendas and motives. France has already started without us by bombing some strongholds. We need to join them and show the world that ISIS will not be allowed to continue.
Another thing that needs to be done is something that France has already done in the wake of the bombings. It was announced that they have closed their borders until everything can be sorted and security can be more assured. After all that we've seen and experienced ourselves, why is it so difficult for our country to do the same? Instead our borders to the north and south remain open to anyone with a will to find an opening to slip through. In some cases, they don't even need to work that hard. All that has to be done is join a group of refugees from Syria and you'll be welcomed in to a sanctuary city with open arms. Many stories are starting to emerge (like this one: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/15/europe/paris-attacks-passports/ ) that prove these waves of people are not being properly vetted. We cannot allow this to happen on our soil. "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" can still apply to the US, but not without proper processes to ensure who we're letting in. Back when those words were written there wasn't a threat of radicalized Muslims strapping C4 to their bodies and walking into a crowded square to become a human firework.
I'm sure by writing all of this, I'll be considered a racist, a warmonger, an "Islamophobe", but I assure you none of this is the case. I wish that none of this was necessary. The fact is that ISIS is not an organization that will listen to reason. They want nothing else except for us to either convert to Islam or die. In most cases, I think option #1 is even off the table for them. How can you reason with a group like that? I wish we could. I wish there was another way so that no one had to die. I truly wish that if there are actually such people as "moderate Muslims", that they would do everything in their power to denounce these acts and move far, far away from the people committing them, but I know if they do exist that some of them won't survive. I hate to be in an "us or them" scenario as it pertains to us or ISIS, but I really don't think we have a choice and I know which side I'm pulling for to win. I've got too much at stake in my life and in this country for us to not put everything behind surviving.
