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(Editors Note: I will repost this piece every time another hostage is beheaded)...
When commenting on the recent beheading of Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa, our President should have said... "Let me be clear; the subhuman terrorists who did this are now walking dead. They will not get away with these barbaric, uncivilized war crimes. Period. As President of the United States of America and the Commander-in-Chief of our Military, I will not tolerate using Americans as props for sick Jihadist propaganda. I am putting you on notice that the clock is ticking. Starting now, you are Dead Men. You will be extinguished, either sooner or later. You can start counting your days now, because you will be dead soon. In our country, because we are civilized and compassionate, not all States enforce the Death Penalty. But, in reaction to uncivilized acts of war crimes, acts that are clearly committed as acts of pure terrorism, that have no concern for the innocence of the victims, we will circumvent the conventions of criminal justice procedures. We consider these circumstances as the actions of war. The opportunity to stop and submit these incidents to the conventions of street crimes is not an effective or strategic option. We will react to these war crimes as though we are engaged in the theater of war. It is either us or you, at this moment, and I am telling you what the result is going to be. We reserve the right to protect our innocent citizens from war crimes, and to suppress any agents of terror who are directly involved with those actions. We don't accept the torture and murder of our citizens as a political act. It is an act of war. Period. It is no different than taking a member of our military hostage; We don't distinguish between citizen hostages and military hostages. We don't leave anyone behind, and those that defile, torture or kill our citizens will pay the ultimate price. We will track them down. and hold them, and their brothers-in-arms, responsible. Period.....End of story. As President of the United States of America. I don't have to apologize for America's reputation for fighting to protect and support Freedom, and Justice. Those people who think that we will stand by while they trample human rights, use hostages to gain financial or political advantage, ignore civilized norms of protest and civil disobedience, are living in a bubble of ignorance. I am here to to inform you, America won't stand by and let you use our citizens in your cynical propaganda campaign. We are coming after you right now. We are on a wartime mission. Your life is over, you can count on us, we will kill you soon! Whatever you thought you were going to accomplish with your kidnapping, violence and intimidation, will be terminated soon. Let me be clear, you will not be around to see the end of this Jihad. Justice knows no borders. America is not ever going to be intimidated or deterred. You take one of us, you will pay with your life, and maybe even more. Period. Got it? Think about it....do you really want to 'F' with America? Before you go down that road, you might want to talk to Germany or Japan."  Only 2% of Americans recently polled rate terrorism in the top ten of our political priorities. The economy was ranked as the number one concern, reiterating the common notion that 'American's vote with their pocketbook.' Besides the obvious question of 'what are you thinking?' It shocks me that now, coming on the heels of the recent attack in Paris, the ongoing online beheadings of innocent civilians, the mass execution of women and children in Liberia, and the slaughter of 142 elementary school children in Afghanistan, that Americans are so seriously narcissistic. This is a societal sickness. It is metastasizing. Our culture is in some ways guilty of some of the worst moral excesses that so irritates Ultra fundamentalist Muslims. Not that I can in any way justify the Culture of Death, but during the same discussion, I think it fair to talk about the Culture of Self. We are an arrogant bunch; us North American people who are currently wailing about the latest 'brutal and uncivilized' attack on innocents in France.
We have been under increasing assault by radical Jihadist's and each time we spend an inordinate amount of time wondering about why we weren't able to predict the assault and preemptively stop it, or how incredibly sadistic and twisted the Jihadist are. We lament the fact that some people in the world just have no respect for human life, and that we will not give in to their threats and sick mass murders. And then we go back to drinking our latte. In France we saw 17 people die by gunfire or explosion. The whole world, it seemed, rallied in support. The headline fonts were enormous! Spontaneous street demonstrations of solidarity broke out all over Europe. The demonstrators wanted to support the right of free expression. What? What about the right to be free from the threat of the destruction of civilization? All the while, the unbelievable amount of barbaric carnage continued on a daily basis in North Africa: hundreds slaughtered and mutilated. Mostly elderly, women and children! Boko Haram simply walked into another small village and began to systematically slaughter the entire population. That, just after kidnapping hundreds of girls to be put into forced sexual slavery! Next up, the next edition of Jihadi John, the extreme reality mini-series of live beheadings of innocent civilians, appearing monthly on the Evening News! And this is just a couple of many incidents that are occurring daily around the world in Third World locations. Hundreds of thousands have been murdered, displaced and ravaged and have you seen one report on TV lately? To learn anything about these occurrences you will have to look to the back pages of the newspaper, or scour the internet... Just a few weeks ago, Taliban terrorists walked into a school for for the families of the Pakistani military and methodically executed over 140 attendees, mostly children! Not one street demonstration anywhere in the world! Where is the collective outrage? What will it take for the civilized world to recognize we are all in this together? We are the human race, and regardless of how wealthy and 'sophisticated' our western culture may be, we are still connected to our North African, Pakistani, and Somali brothers by DNA. Just because the cancer is mostly isolated to your little toe doesn't make it any less deadly. This is a Worldwide War. It is unlike any war in history, because it has no borders, no Nationalities, and no real politics. It is a war against civilization by Evil. A growing cancer of misguided and mutant non-human beings that are hellbent on destroying modern civilization. It is impossible to make peace with them, because there is no 'them.' We are dealing with a biological dysfunction of the human race. Though the radicals claim to be motivated by religious doctrine, the fact is they are in no way a religious movement. They have nothing positive to offer. They have not yet contributed anything to the well being of the Planet. And they never will. Quite the contrary, they threaten the very existence of the Planet. Just as cancer cells wage war on the healthy cell division of living things, the terrorist Jihad is waging war on the healthy coexistence of human beings with each other and the environment. What feeds their fire is the power to destroy, to demand attention and to cause death and disorder. It is the ultimate degree of Narcissism, and it amounts to Stage 5 incurable cancer, if you will. We cannot afford to waste another precious moment in time waxing about motives, inequality, religious affiliations, youthful alienation, or proportional responses. The doctor has said, this is a terminal disease and there are only a few possible treatments that MIGHT work. None are easy, most are going to cause severe side effects, but there is no chance of survival if we don't start serious and sustained treatment ASAP. But one thing is for sure: unless and until we recognize the fact that we are in a battle for survival, we have no chance of winning. Then he spells out what he recommends the treatment should be...more on that later. Click the button to read 'The Prescription' (Note: I submitted this essay to the UT San Diego newspaper just prior to the holidays, as a part of a 'contest' to see how locals defined Patriotism. I did not win, nor was my entry published. But I think it worth noting that most of the entries were from small children. That is great and I enjoyed their take on the subject. But I must say, it did not make me feel real good about how our children are growing up; they are overly concerned with themselves and what makes them 'feel good.' No once did I see any reference to any obligations that go along with their 'love' of country, parents, and schools. My sense is, that our public schools are so obsessed with pushing self esteem, diversity, and understanding, that any notion of self sacrifice smacks of nationalism/militarism and is therefore taboo.) This whole discussion has come on the heels of a number of proposed legislative efforts to limit or eliminate the few minutes before school for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance... * * * As a little guy, I stood every morning with my hand over my heart to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It made me proud I was lucky to be born American. As I grew I wondered if children in other countries practiced similar rituals everyday? I knew one thing for sure, their country didn't provide 'Liberty and Justice for All.' None of it really meant much to me until I joined a Little League team and before every game we sang the National Anthem and recited the Pledge. When we took the field, I felt a sense of pride and was inspired to play hard to try to win every game. Not to 'beat' my opponent, but to reaffirm my dedication and brotherhood with my teammates. They were my second Family. Our Family has always been extremely close. I knew if it ever became necessary, I would lay down my life to protect my Mom and Dad or my brother. No questions asked, right or wrong, I needed to be there for them just as they had always been there for me. During the Vietnam conflict I was of draft age and I wrestled with the moral dilemma of sending young men to battle indigenous villagers in the jungles of their backyard. But one thing kept coming back to me: I respected those who chose to go. They were my brothers and, right or wrong, I needed to be there for THEM, as I am sure they felt, they were being there for ME. Subsequent life changing events, marriage and children, my mom and my best friend both succumbing to cancer in midlife, brought my worldview into focus. My immediate family, my teammates, my American citizenship, they were in effect, all the same thing. It was just a matter of scale. My allegiance, and my sense of responsibility, were interwound around my need to belong. To be Family. To the best of my knowledge, a sense of belonging is as basic a human need as sex. It is a fundamental drive that functions as a survival mechanism, promoting things like self sacrifice which ultimately supports the greater need. It is what separates civilized societies from barbarian tribes. Patriotism could just as well be called Familyism, because that is what it means to me. |
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