January 18, 2010
Exclusive: We Are at War with the 25th Panzer Division…Right?
Gadi Adelman
Um, no…wrong.
Have you found yourself angrily talking back at the television lately? Or better yet – as in my case – screaming? Well, as I found out recently, I am not alone.
When public opinion and the real world collided on President Obama’s lap after the Christmas Day bomber set his pants on fire (and let’s hope something else near and dear to his BVDs) during Northwest Flight 253’s approach to Detroit, President Obama finally stated publicly that America is at war. With his keen sense of the obvious coming to his aid at last, he stated, “Let’s be clear. We are at war. We are at war with al Qaeda.” The only problem is…that statement is not clear and only confuses matters, because it is wildly incorrect.
This administration continues to make very serious mistakes about our national security because they are not very serious about it. A very serious administration would know – and admit to – the fact that we are not just at war with al Qaeda, but with Jihad itself. Saying that we are at war only with al Qaeda would have been tantamount to saying, during World War II, that we were at war with only the 25th Panzer Division of the German Army, and not with the entire German Army itself.
Yes, we are at war with al Qaeda… and also with Hamas and Hezbollah and Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Ansar al Islam and Harakat ul-Mujahadin …well, you get the idea. What animates, connects and indeed unites these various groups – and many more? Jihad. Holy War against the infidels. In fact, according to the April 30, 2008 report from the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State, there are 42 different “U.S. Government Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” It might do the president’s advisors well to read the report before they allow him again, with the entire world watching, to embarrass himself mightily.
We are at war with Jihadists. We are at war with Islamic terrorists. We are at war with Muslim extremists. We are at war with Islamic radicals. There are many ways to state the obvious, so why then does the administration insist on playing word games? Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says in her speeches “man-caused disasters” rather than “terrorism.” Attorney General Eric Holder announced in March of ‘08 that the term “enemy combatant” will no longer be used by the federal government to describe, er, enemy combatants captured on the battlefield during counterterrorism and counterinsurgency military operations. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised that Obama even used the word “war” at all since he had stated that the "war on terror" would now be called "Overseas Contingency Operations."
Why is our current administration so hell bent on being politically correct – or just plain incorrect? Do they honestly believe that if they use kinder, gentler language that those who want to kill us – those who want to destroy our country and destroy our entire culture – will just lay down their weapons and play patty-cake with us? Are they trying to convince the American public of this or just themselves?
This is nothing more than political correctness, with a little ignorance thrown in, run amuck. The United States as well as the rest of the world is facing an enemy of epic proportions. This is a war unlike any other this country has ever had to face. The battlefield is not in a specified area but rather it is worldwide; the enemy has no common uniform nor does he come from a common country. We are at war with the whole of militant Islam, wherever it resides on earth. There is no room for political correctness in any war, and much less so in one where our enemies are trying to kill innocent civilians in the name of their religion.
Imagine where we would be if we had adhered to political correctness during World War II. Most of you reading this would be speaking German and others, like me, would not be here at all. We called the Germans “Nazis” because that’s what they were. While I was growing up during the Cold War, we called the Russians “Commies” because that’s what they were. As best as I can recall from history, America and the allies defeated the Nazis as well as brought down the Iron Curtain only 40 years later. This was not accomplished by trying to re-write words to be more appealing to the enemy. This was not done by giving the foreign enemy American constitutional rights and then trying them in our civil courts. We had P.O.W. camps for a reason and the enemy was treated as such.
The people of this country, and the administration as a whole, need to wake up and look at history. The first Jihad that swept through the Middle East, southern Spain, North Africa and into southeast Europe resulted in Islamic domination of those areas; that’s why in areas where there used to be large Christian populations, there are no longer Christians even living there. They either were forced to convert to Islam by their Islamic conquerors, or they fled, or they were killed. History shows us what Islam is capable of and what must be done to stop it. It will not be stopped by using politically correct terms, which do nothing more than show our enemy that we are weak, intimidated by them and confused.
The people who died on 9/11 were from all walks of life, many countries, all political parties and all religions. One thing they all had in common: no matter who they were or what their nationality was, is that they all bled the same color. The enemy has said they “will kill us wherever we are.” Does that sound politically correct to you? Do you think they care about such nonsense? While our country is trying to figure out new ways to say the truth, but to sugarcoat it so it sounds like kids’ play in an elementary schoolyard, the enemy is devising ingenious new ways to slaughter us – men, women, children. They could not care less about who goes first or worst.
Somewhere along the line, America became more concerned with analyzing its own alleged guilt than with securing its own borders and aggressively protecting its own citizens. If we as a country continue down this path of childishly naïve political correctness and tip-toeing around our enemy’s feelings, we will ourselves become victims of a “man caused disaster.”
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He is currently writing his first book, “Terrorism; Understanding the Threat”. He can be reached at antiterror@nc.rr.com.
G,
Excellent article. I suppose we have to also question the leader of this country Mr. Obama himself? To be a fly on the bedroom wall of Barach and Michele to hear what they really intend. But I have to wonder is Mr. Obama is really that smart? Actually he's just a pawn of the god of this world the Devil himself. The Devil hates America because America helps, protects and supports the Jewish state. Amen?
posted by: Larry Freeman
Monday, January 18, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Excellent article. Your counter-terrorism expertise and clear mindedness are most refreshing!
posted by: Bette Pena
Monday, January 18, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Bravo, Gadi - you nailed it. Would even go one step farther and say, We are at war with all who follow the call of Islamic jihad which derives from the Qur'an, the hadiths, and the Sira.
Wonderful clarity. Thank you.
posted by: Clare Lopez
Monday, January 18, 2010 at 11:55 AM
It's just too bad we can't dress Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano in Marine fatigues and send them over there with 100 lb back-packs. Let them go out on patrols and run the gauntlets of IEDs, drop in to hostile villages and interview the populace,find out what every other soldier is going through. It's no cake walk and these morons just have no sensitivity towards there own troops. As a matter of fact they offer more sensitivity to the enemy than to their own troops.
They disgust me and I'm just waiting for the political bombshell that will allow them all to be impeached for traitorism.
posted by: Kim Bruce
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 08:38 AM
> "What animates, connects and indeed unites these various groups – and many more? Jihad."
Good article, as far as it goes. But you actually are making a similar mistake as Obama.
To continue using the WWII analogy, saying we are at war with "Jihad" is similar to saying we are at war with "Blitzkrieg", instead of Nazism.
The root cause of WWII, was the fascist ideology behind the 25th Panzer Division and the Blitzkrieg.
And the reality is that the underlying fascist ideology behind the Jihad is Islam.
Without acknowledging this, we still aren't recognizing our enemy for who he is.
posted by: StephenDvd
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 01:04 PM
Can we add that the clearest definition of enemy is anyone that promotes death of humanity.
Whether they are based in Detroit, Sydney, London or Yemen, the sooner that we start taking out the 'imams' promoting this, the sooner we will be cutting off the head.
posted by: Denis
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 07:31 PM
