by WALLACE S. BRUSCHWEILER, WILLIAM PALUMBO
Two-thousand nine-hundred and seventy-seven people were murdered 15 years ago today on September 11, 2001. In succession, two planes attacked the Twin Towers. A third plane smashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane which was supposedly headed for the Capitol Building or the White House was intercepted by heroic passengers.
Fifteen years later, America’s response to the attacks is still lacking and in many cases amateurish to say the least. In each case below – immigration, intelligence, and militarily – successive administrations, and particularly Obama’s, have exactly reversed the policies required to win the war against and eradicate “radical Islam.”
Immigration
The 9-11 Commission recognized that the 9-11 attacks were possible, in large measure, due to a malfunctioning immigration system. The Commission’s recommendation included specific enhancements to immigration policies and security measures. Congress and several federal agencies have also recommended changes to streamline immigration security. Below are select key recommendations and their status as of today.
- The Commission recommended that the U.S. implement entry and exit controls on immigrants, visitors, and students in order to track overstays and other violations. Today, there is an extremely cumbersome entry procedure, including photograph, fingerprinting, etc. Yet on the other hand, there is weak and non-reliable exit tracking, and practically no attempt to systematically deport offenders.
- The Commission recommended securing our borders and ports of entry. Today, not only is the Southern border Swiss cheese, but since the election of Justin Trudeau, so is the Northern border with Canada. Within the country, lawless/criminal mayors declare “sanctuary cities” to harbor illegal and criminal aliens.
- Many security experts believe that full adoption of the E-Verify program would ensure employment of American citizens and legal immigrants only. Today, participation in the E-Verify program is voluntarily used by only 600,000 employers out of tens of millions nationwide.
- Today, there is a total lack of control applied to student visas. There is no verification that student visa holders actually attend the universities listed on their application and visa.
Intelligence
Another area that the 9-11 Commission focused on was the failure of American intelligence. The key recommendation was to ensure better inter-agency communication, so that synthesis of information on potential threats would be possible and immediately shared.
- Today, communication among intelligence and law enforcement agencies is at all-time low. Barriers to inter-agency communications have not been removed or reduced, but in some cases they have been exacerbated. “Privacy activists” insist that information sharing is a violation of our civil liberties. Yet these shortcomings are precisely why we still endure horrific attacks.
- Internationally, the degree of communication between the United States and our remaining allies is also at an all-time low. We are neither trusted to act on intelligence – recall the Boston Marathon attacks, which Russia warned us of not once, but twice – nor are we trusted to keep information secure – recall Hillary’s private email server, which recently got an Iranian asset caught and killed. How many other international assets and their families are potentially right now in panic mode?
Military and Wars
9-11 led directly to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the Bush years were characterized by misguided policies that made total victory impossible, the Obama administration delivered victory to the enemy.
- Bush’s primary blunder in Iraq was to disband the Iraqi army. This created thousands of families without a steady income to provide basic needs. As a result, one alternative for officers and soldiers was join potential terrorist groups.
- Under the Obama administration, Iraq (and Syria) have disintegrated due to ISIS, a spinoff of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
- The Taliban in Afghanistan is once again gaining influence, politically and territorially.
- Successfully confronting terrorist groups requires ad hoc rules of engagement. Instead, the rules of engagement are in the hands of JAG lawyers. This leaves our soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs.
- Thousands of serious and very successful military officers who have disagreed with the official approach have been purged and replaced by Obama puppets.
Today is also the fourth anniversary of another 9-11 attack. In Benghazi, Libya, four Americans were killed when an Islamist militia, sent and/or ordered by then-Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, attacked our consulate. The State Department and Obama administration did not respond, regardless of the fact that crack units in the vicinity could have changed the sinister outcome. For the first time in modern history an American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens, was killed. We should ask ourselves: Is Libya today better off than it was under Gaddafi?
This brings us to our final topic for comparison.
Politics
There was a palpable national resolve following the slaughter of innocents on 9-11 to punish the jihadis and their sponsors. Today, as a country, can we claim any resolve whatsoever?
- George W. Bush rallied the country after the 9-11 attacks, but less than week after the attacks he assured the American people that “Islam is peace.” We may fairly ask: Where is Islam peace?
- Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State under Barack Hussein Obama during the Arab Spring, the end result which created a vacuum of U.S. power in the Middle East. The Arab Spring changed the entire geopolitical map of the Middle East: e.g., radical changes of local alliances, etc.
- Barack Hussein Obama is the most pro-Islamic president in the nation’s history. His fight to import unscreened Muslim so-called “refugees” is just the latest example.
- A new president could redress the wrongs and bring the nation to victory with unconditional surrender by radical Islamists.
This year, come November 8, we can send a strong message. To honor the dead, we must demand victory and unconditional surrender from all our enemies.
