The Hamas slaughter and kidnapping raid (along with the rape and baby beheading that demonstrates how great Allah is in the minds of the terrorists) showed that Israelis lacked sufficient imagination of how jihadis would seek to kill them. We're in that same stage of ignorance. And we lack even a border fence that our enemies need to overcome.
While I tried to think of a worst case explanation for the suicidal--but stunningly effective in the body count and shock--Hamas assault on Israel, we need to think about that kind of a worst-case scenario here.
I warned that losing the war in Afghanistan opened the path to fighting them over here. As I wrote in this post about our ability to stick our head in the sand:
We'll roll along thinking that problem is gone. In part because we can't see the threats.
And we'll even justify our inattention by claiming our war on terror was a counter-productive fiasco. Some will invert the jihadi hate-fueled murder sprees and America's response to claim our fight against the jihadis caused the hate-fueled murder. And that we are, of course, now focused on the "real" threats to America. That could be China, or Russia, or even--God help us--climate change.
As if we can only deal with one problem at a time.
Until another mass-murder attack here.
There's certainly a lot of chatter in American media about whether jihadis could hit us the way Hamas struck Israel with mass murder assaults. Could it happen here?
I can't help but think that our jihadi enemies see our long appeasement of Iran--on top of our skedaddle debacle out of Afghanistan--and conclude that we are the "weak horse" that they can safely attack. I mean, can jihadis look at our enabling of Iran's missile capabilities as anything but another sign of Allah's blessings and our hollow power?
Not long before the Hamas strike, our astoundingly inept national security advisor said the Middle East has been calmer than it has been in a long time. Rather than understanding that quiet can mean the enemy is catching up after our retreat and not a sign of peace, the administration rejected doing what is necessary to keep the terrorists away.
So we've essentially retreated to our borders. Homeland Security seems fully focused on preventing the use of
aircraft the way 9/11 was carried out. TSA guards airports but trains and busses are unguarded. As are our basic infrastructure. Or the entries to our airport secure areas, for that matter. Not to mention that our military bases have a thin shield of MPs and gates protecting unarmed troops. And the FBI is more focused on
defining dissent as terrorism. Also, the big airplane attacks were a signature of al Qaeda. Other terrorists are content with hitting concerts, public gatherings, and public transportation. Hamas killed a lot On October 7th without striking any high-profile target. Quantity had a quality all its own.
And if your pucker factor isn't redlining:
In fiscal 2023, 659 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were apprehended attempting to illegally enter the U.S. – with the majority being apprehended at the northern border, according to CBP data last updated Sept. 15. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
Infiltration isn't just for the unguarded southern border. So how many made it past our iron defenses without detection? While it seems inconceivable that so many terrorists would gather to strike in America, a failure of imagination has been a big problem lately, terror-wise, no?
Then consider the incentives to just pretend we "ended" the War on Terror so as not to remind people of the skedaddle debacle in Afghanistan.
And our military "leadership" goes along with this head-in-the-sand approach. Instead of recognizing the continuing terror threat to America, we focus on pivoting to China. Taiwan is in danger! And there's always North Korea. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. And now jihadis threaten to set the Middle East ablaze. Send the carriers! Not to mention that the military has to battle climate change, too.
And for God's sake, get soldiers' pronouns correct, you deplorable haters!
So with all that--some real threats, mind you--to occupy us, we could be missing something important, eh?
I was recently reminded that in the 1990s with the USSR gone we paid a lot of attention to the threat of so-called "militias" of Americans. Yes, there was the one-off Oklahoma City bombing to justify some precautionary interest. But funny enough, on September 11, 2001, militias didn't hijack four planes to fly them into the Pentagon, the Twin Towers in New York City, and a field in Pennsylvania as passengers tried to regain control (the Capitol Building was the probable target).
And while Hamas had to figure out how to nullify Israel's
border defenses to get at the soft targets, America has none. Our border personnel merely process and count illegal immigrants and fill out the necessary forms to get them inside America in an orderly fashion. People on the terror watch list have slipped across our southern border. Again, how many don't we know about? But we pretend an open southern border doesn't matter. We're a sanctuary country, basically.
Given the pro-terrorist rallies that have sprung up blaming Israel for the Hamas horrors, look me in the eye and tell me no Americans could be recruited to participate.
So yeah, jihadis could strike us at home on a wide front with guns and drones. And probably achieve surprise.
And they want to kill a lot of us.
Have a super sparkly day.
UPDATE: The only question is whether jihadi capabilities match their hatred of us:
Reinforcing reports that Americans are worried about Biden’s foreign policy blunders dating back to the flawed withdrawal from Afghanistan, a new Rasmussen Reports survey shared with Secrets found that 75% fear a domestic terrorist attack since the Hamas-Israel war began.
As the Hamas slaughter in Israel and the reaction of Arab Moslems demonstrates, my old observation was completely accurate:
Our world would be safer if Islamists rather than American liberals felt the need to put "COEXIST" bumper stickers on their cars.
Although as I
watch leftists in America celebrate Hamas terror, maybe they should be
passed out here again.
Ultra super sparkly.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
