Monday was a shameful day for America and for our state of
Michigan, as our leaders demonstrated an appalling inability to show leadership.
President Obama engaged in a petulant, argumentative series
of remarks defending his policy toward ISIS rather than addressing new military
and counterterrorism strategies that are needed in the wake of the Paris
attacks.
In Lansing, Gov. Rick Snyder, who has routinely trumpeted
his “Welcoming Michigan” policy of luring immigrants to our state, turned on a
dime and declared that Syrian refugees should stay out.
That hypocritical move
prompted 25 other governors on Monday to follow Snyder’s lead and assert that
they will keep out the refugees fleeing war-ravaged Syria, even if they lack
the authority to do so. I can imagine their private comments: “If Snyder, of all people, is doing this, we
better get on the ball – fast.”
On the campaign trail, the Republican presidential
candidates joined in this anti-refugee freakout, trying to out-shout each other
in declaring that the refugee crisis has been hijacked by ISIS for its own murderous
purposes. Some candidates said we should
impose a religious testy by admitting Christian refugees, not Muslims.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers joined in this xenophobic frenzy
as the House set the stage for a vote to turn away those seeking resettlement
in the U.S. – mostly women and children.
Playing into ISIS’ hands
But what we must realize is that it falls right into place for the benefit of
the Islamic State’s overall strategy.
As
National Journal columnist Ron Fournier noted, Obama, at a news conference in
Turkey for the G-20 summit, bristled in defense of his ISIS strategy, his
initial dismissal of the terrorist state, his military response, his diplomacy,
and his willingness to accept refugees from Syria.
what Fournier wrote:
What the people of France and its freedom-loving
allies care about is defeating ISIS. They wonder about the commitment of
a U.S. president who dismissed ISIS as a “JV
team” before it beheaded Americans, who declared ISIS “contained”
before it attacked Paris, and whose advisers now say ISIS can’t
attack the United States. Nobody believes that.
“No,” Obama insisted, “we haven’t underestimated
(their) abilities.” Nobody believes that, either.
For all his skills as an orator, Obama is a
lousy communicator. He doesn’t lead, he lectures. He argues rather than
educates. His rhetoric is self-focused, not uplifting toward a cause
greater than himself. He spins and shifts blame, rarely admitting fault.
his supporters slammed the president’s counterproductive performance as
he let loose with his frustration directed at the GOP.
One
Republican presidential contender, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, used a
slur to argue against Obama’s planned settlement of a mere 10,000 refugees: “Wake
up and smell the falafel.”
This is
the crude mentality that Snyder has associated with by taking a 180-degree turn
on welcoming immigrants.
Snyder’s decision ‘cowardly’
Jack Lessenberry pointed out on Michigan Radio that Snyder’s decision was
counterproductive and “cowardly” in an obvious way. He played right into the
hands of the terrorists.
them ISIS, or ISIL, or “Daesh,” these extremists want the world
separated into two halves, Muslims and everyone else.
They hate
anything that works for peaceful coexistence and assimilation.
What our
governor did reinforced the view that all Muslims are the “other” — not to be
trusted — possibly infiltrating murderers — cruel-eyed men with Kalashnikov
rifles who we know nothing about.
nationals, not Middle Easterners. The hysteria – among governors, Congress and
presidential wannabes – is based entirely on a passport of one ISIS attacker, Ahmad al-Mohammad, a 25-year-old born in
Syria, and his apparent journey through Greece, among the refugees, to France.
The question is: Why would ISIS use the migrant trail into
Europe when they have thoroughly condemned the refugees as a disgraceful bunch
who choose to live with “the infidels.” And why would al-Mohammad bring a
passport to a suicide mission when he was simply heading to downtown Paris, not
to some other country?
There seems to be a reasonable probability that ISIS leaders
strategically wanted the world to see that passport to sow discord. If so, they
succeeded famously as the refugees are now viewed with suspicion across all of
Europe and the U.S.
Adam Taylor of The Washington Post sums it up this way:
What seems almost certain is that the Islamic State wants you
to equate refugees with terrorists. In turn, it wants refugees to equate the
West with prejudice against Muslims and foreigners.
The reality is that most of these refugees are already receiving a
pretty rough welcome in the West. Syrian refugees who arrive in the United
States face remarkable scrutiny from multiple government agencies, including
the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, the State Department, the Department of
Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Defense
Department. The screening process can take years, leaving legitimate refugees
in limbo.
It’s worth remembering that making that welcome worse may be
exactly what the Islamic State wants.
Chad: What the Islamic terrorists want is to get people into this country who will kill people and break things. If we refuse to accept Middle Eastern Muslim refugees it gets harder for them to do that. Anyone who favors admitting Middle Eastern Muslim refugees into this country should ask themselves how they would feel if one or more of the refugees commits a colossal act of terror. Would our country's heightened reputation for humanitarianism outweigh the loss of thousands of American lives when the next building blows up? Or would we just look like idiots?