As ISIS dominates Iraq and terrorism is on the rise, our muslim in chief remains on vacation and, seemingly, uninterested in doing anything to curb the rise of radical Islam throughout the world. As Christians are routinely murdered for their faiths and the Jewish State of Israel continues to fight for its existence, our president offers shallow sentiments and weak follow-throughs on promises to keep America and her allies safe from the threat of terrorism. The world watched in horror as American journalist James Foley was beheaded. The world was shocked and appalled except for the White House who, reportedly, knew of ISIS’ intentions before the beheading. On Wednesday, ABC reporters Arlette Saenz and White House correspondent Jonathan Karl reported, “ISIS had recently threatened to kill U.S. journalist James Foley to avenge airstrikes the United States has conducted in Iraq, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.” ABC News further reported, At least one news organization said it notified the White House about threats it received regarding Foley. Phillip Balboni, CEO and founder of the online news service Global Post, told ABC News’ Brian Ross that the company received an e-mail on Aug. 13 demanding ransom and threatening to execute Foley. Balboni said the threat was shared with the White House. Balboni said his news organization began receiving threats from Foley’s captors via e-mail as early as last fall. The final e-mail Balboni received was “vitriolic and filled with rage against the United States,” he said. “It was deadly serious,” Balboni told reporters. According to reports, militants have threatened to similarly murder American journalist Steven Sotloff, who went missing in August. Foley and Sotloff were both presumed to be in the hands of Assad’s regime in Syria. However, if the Syrian government turned the captives over to ISIS terrorists, it will likely create friction in the already-tense relationship with Syria. On Tuesday, Business Insider reported: What is unclear is if previous investigations into Foley’s whereabouts were inaccurate, if ISIS militants somehow captured Foley from some of the regime’s most elite security, or if the Assad regime provided Foley to ISIS. “Until recently, James Foley was thought to be in hands of pro-Assad forces. If Assad is handing over Westerners to ISIS to be killed, it indicates Assad feels cornered, looking for leverage,” BBC’s Kim Ghattas tweeted, adding that the assessment jibes with what she has been told by sources in Damascus recently. Foley’s execution has garnered expressions of horror from many political pundits who eagerly look to the president to act. However, not all reactions have been ones of sympathy for Foley and his family. After denouncing Foley as a “coward” for bending to the terrorist demands before his execution, one blogger has quickly become one of the most deservingly hated men on twitter. What Foley’s execution illustrates, aside from the obvious barbarism with which we are dealing, is that the criticism of the Obama Administration has been well-deserved. While it would be illogical to expect the Obama Administration to shield all Americans in the Middle East from the prospect of danger, it is purely undeniable that radical Islam is not only on the rise, but meaning business. The president’s foreign policy is one of ad hoc, moment-to-moment panic that accomplishes little in a time when the advances gained at great costs by the U.S. are slowly being undone in the Middle East. From Russia to Syria to Iraq, Iran and North Korea, this administration has continually weakened the position of the United States on the global stage and the public execution of Foley serves as a brutal, macabre reminder that we are dealing with a savage enemy while our president is contented with foreign policy that revolves around strongly-worded letters, whining to the U.N. and the drawing of imaginary red lines that are all but ignored.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:49:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015