Allahu Akbar Orlando — Analysis of the Absurd

Allahu Akbar Orlando — Analysis of the Absurd

BO Gets It Wrong, Again

By Mark Alexander

"We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die. ... Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions." —George Washington (1776

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Historically, the worst in America brings out the best in America. Whether the catastrophic Islamist 9/11 attack 15 years ago, or the devastating Islamist attack in Orlando last weekend, killing 49 civilians and leaving many others in critical condition, first responders, friends and neighbors, and most Americans nationwide, are quick to rally in support of victims and their families. This unity in moments of great tragedy speaks volumes about the combined character of our nation.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said about most leftist demagogues and many of their loyal constituents. When a political machine depends on a generationally tried and true "divide and conquer" strategy — one that foments discontent and division based on income, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, education, occupation and the like — in order to achieve its political objectives, predictably their politics of disunity will emerge before the blood on the walls has dried.

Indeed, that was abundantly apparent after the murders in Orlando, when Barack Obama and his water boys wasted no time converting this tragedy into political fodder, propping up their political agenda upon the coffins of the dead. The contrast between the unifying good of the American people and the gross politicization of this tragedy by BO et al. was crystal clear. BO is not only divisive, but he appeals, directly, to the absolute worst in America.

Breaking from my usual narrative column, allow me to share some categorical observations about the Orlando attack.

The Perpetrator

As you know, the assailant, Omar Saddiqui Mateen, was the son of Afghan immigrants, and his father has ties to the Taliban. He was 29, divorced and remarried to Noor Salman, who prosecutors are now seeking to indict as a co-conspirator on 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder. She also had knowledge that Mateen was considering a Disney property as an alternate target.

Mateen was working as a security guard for a British company, G4S, which has been the recipient of substantial DHS funds since 9/11. In other words, our tax dollars supported the Orlando assailant.

Over the last 10 years, Mateen was indoctrinated in part by the online teachings of Islamist cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki and affirmed by members of his own Florida mosque.

He selected his target, an "LGBT" nightclub, based on Islam's mainstream prohibition against homosexuals. He had previously visited this club, either as a patron or casing his target. If the former, he will likely become a "gay cause célèbre" for those who blame Christians and Republicans for not unconditionally embracing the LGBT agenda.

Notably, an Islamist imam who preached that it was merciful to murder homosexuals came to Orlando in April of this year. After the attack, his father posted a video message noting that his son should have refrained because "God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality."

Mateen modeled his attack after the Paris and Brussels assaults, as well as the San Bernardino and Chattanooga attacks.

I have spent some instructive time consulting with counterterrorism analytical groups over the course of the last five presidential administrations. While the focus of those groups has always been the prevention of WMD attacks — and BO's Iran deal certainly ratchets up the potential of that threat vector — the most likely terrorist threats have always been low-tech assaults aimed at soft targets.

As I wrote in "Islamic Jihad — Target USA," "The most likely near-term form of attack against civilians on our turf will be modeled after the conventional Islamist assaults in the Middle East — bombings and shootings, as we have now seen in Paris, London, Berlin, Brussels, Sydney, Toronto, Boston, New York and Washington. These attacks were low tech but effective in terms of instilling public fear." Indeed, the 9/11 attacks started with box cutters, and subsequent attacks at Fort Hood, Boston, Chattanooga, San Bernardino and now Orlando have all been low tech.

The Failed Investigation of Mateen

The day of the attack, FBI investigator Ron Hopper said the assailant bragged about "having ties to terrorist organizations." He added in the most politically correct phrasing, "We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings toward a particular ideology." (Of course, Hopper would be reassigned to some FBI outpost on a Pacific island if he dared use more descriptive language than BO.)

Now, what "particular ideology" might that be? The assailant dialed 911 and swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State shortly after his initial assault.

Indeed, Mateen was the subject of two extensive FBI investigations based on his Islamist connections and his assertions of allegiance to radical Islam. The first investigation began in May of 2013 and lasted 10 months, and the second was launched three months after the conclusion of the first, and lasted four months.

On further review, according to FBI Director James Comey, Mateen had made "statements that were inflammatory and contradictory." Comey said, "First, he claimed family connections to al Qaeda. He also said that he was a member of Hezbollah, which is a Shia terrorist organization and a bitter enemy of the Islamic State, or ISIL. He said that he hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so he could martyr himself. When this was reported to us, the FBI's Miami office opened a preliminary investigation."

Some of his co-workers expressed concern that if they reported him, they would be viewed as insensitive to Islam and might, themselves, become subject to discrimination charges.

To be clear, the fact that Mateen was not arrested prior to this incident isn't so much about an FBI failure as it is about Barack Obama's blinding Islamophilia. This is clearly reflected in his administration's policies, which set the bar so high for prosecuting Islamists that the FBI took no further action.

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said this week, "We've got three examples now of folks on the radar — Major Nidal Hasan, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and now Omar Mateen — who were on our radar, who were looked at, are then dismissed."

Notably, this hypersensitivity toward Muslims is similar to that harbored by Bill Clinton. In 1999, his administration denied a request by an FBI agent to open a case file on Saudi nationals who were taking flight lessons. The agent was informed by a flight training supervisor that he thought it curious the Saudis were learning to fly heavy commercial aircraft, but showed no interest in mastering takeoffs or landings. Twenty months later, it would become tragically apparent why.

As for the assertion that because Mateen was not directly involved with a terrorist network, he is a "lone wolf" or "self-radicalized," that is grossly misleading. Each of the thousands of Islamist terrorist acts worldwide is unified by their allegiance to Islam.

Years ago, in order to better understand the Islamist threat, I coined the word "Jihadistan," which is a borderless nation of Islamic extremists comprising ISIL, al-Qa'ida and other Muslim terrorist groups around the world. Most of these groups and individuals are autonomous by the standard hierarchal nation-state definition, and are connected by ideology rather than centralized command and control. This makes identifying and containing this enemy more challenging.

BO's Obfuscatory Response

In his remarks the day of the Orlando attack, Obama did not use the words "Muslim" or "Islam."

Two days later, he angrily insisted that he would not associate Islam with these acts of terrorism worldwide. "What exactly would using [the term 'radical Islam'] accomplish?" BO huffed. "What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to try to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away."

Fact is, the correct answer is all of the above, and indeed, failing to identify a threat by name ensures it does not go away. Do the math — the number of Islamist terror attacks, foreign and domestic since Obama took office has increased tremendously.

Columnist Monica Crowley observed, "The fact that we are still having this conversation [about calling Islamic terror what it is] all these years after 911 is absurd, outrageous and dangerous. ... [Obama] has an ideologically allergic reaction to linking Islam with terrorism. ... If he makes that connection then he is going to have to pursue a more aggressive policy in the Middle East and he has never been prepared to do that."

Indeed, as I wrote in "Patriots v. Appeasers," respected researcher Graeme Wood published an objective and comprehensive exposition on the Islamic State, highlighting the absurdity of claiming that Islamic terrorism is anything but Islamic.

Wood notes, "Muslims who call the Islamic State un-Islamic are typically, as the Princeton scholar Bernard Haykel, the leading expert on the group's theology, told me, 'embarrassed and politically correct, with a cotton-candy view of their own religion' that neglects 'what their religion has historically and legally required.' Many denials of the Islamic State's religious nature, he said, are rooted in an 'interfaith-Christian-nonsense tradition.'" 

Wood concluded, "The reality is that the Islamic state is Islamic. Very Islamic."

Obama reiterated that Islam is a religion of peace, and unquestionably many, perhaps most Muslims, are people who want to live and raise their families in peace. But there is something that distresses me about each of these incidents: Where is the unified national condemnation for these attacks from American Muslim leaders? Where is it?

BO has demonstrated such limitless ineptitude and penchant for obfuscation in every aspect of national security that even his staunchest political allies should duck and cover whenever BO pontificates on the subject.

Obama's most catastrophic foreign policy failure was his ill-advised withdrawal from Iraq, the centerpiece of his 2012 re-election campaign. That political charade created the power vacuum that gave rise to the Islamic State.