Islamic State
512 pieces tagged “Islamic State”, newest first.
Grateful for What They Hate
The Paris attacks have occasioned a wide-ranging debate about what they mean and how to respond, involving Islam and its role, military strategy and, oddly enough, how Muslims in New Jersey reacted to Sept. 11 (thanks, Donald Trump). It's all very interesting and, for the most part, quite important. At bottom, though, the import of the Paris attacks is not complicated: ISIS terrorists are enemies of our civilization.
Turkey-Russia Turmoil
The deadly consequences of America "leading from behind" in the fight against ISIS.
Cracks in Obama's 'Feel-Good Story'
"I don't want intelligence shaded by politics," he says.
Terrorists as 'Tourists'
President Obama has put a new twist on the Islamic invasion now taking place across Europe and the United States. Speaking to reporters last week during his visit to the Philippines, the president compared Syrian refugees to "tourists," saying they are no bigger a threat than people who come to sightsee and visit attractions.
Be Afraid ... of Obama
According to a new Fox News poll, 83% of Americans think it is likely that ISIS will attempt to attack America in the near future. President Obama's refusal to acknowledge and counter the threats facing the United States and Western Civilization is likely contributing to the fear and anxiety that Americans are feeling. There is less and less trust even in some corners of the left that Obama is capable or willing to steer the ship of state through these storm-filled waters.
GOP Hopefuls Hope to Break the ISIS
While the rest of the West hunkers down to shore up their security plans, President Obama has been jet-setting to Asia to talk climate change. Well, the world is heating up all right — but it has nothing to do with greenhouse gas. Regardless, the president seems intent on minimizing the crisis that even his own party seems to recognize. On the hot seat over his plan to flood the U.S. with at least 10,000 Syrians (and who knows how many terrorists hiding among the refugees), the White House's latest approach seems to be ignoring ISIS into submission.
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Obama Drove Sunnis Into ISIS' Arms
Throughout the last third of George W. Bush's presidency, opinion leaders were obsessed with the question of mistakes. Among most members of the press and among Democratic officeholders (even, or perhaps especially, those who voted to approve the Iraq War), the appetite was strong to hold President Bush in a half nelson until he admitted that the war had been a terrible mistake. When Jeb Bush entered the presidential race, he was quickly charged with fraternal guilt in the matter.
Make Hashtag, Not War
The "hashtag" is the pound, or number, sign on a keyboard. Many on social medial place the symbol before words, allowing those words to be tracked as keywords on social media. Listeners to my radio show, for example, often tweet with #EERS at the end for "Erick Erickson Radio Show," making it easy for listeners to see each other's tweets.
Obama's Phony War
Tell me: What's a suicide bomber doing with a passport? He's not going anywhere. And, though I'm not a religious scholar, I doubt that a passport is required in paradise for a martyr to access his 72 black-eyed virgins. A Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the terrorists. Why was it there? Undoubtedly, to back up the Islamic State boast that it is infiltrating operatives amid the refugees flooding Europe. The passport may have been fake, but the terrorist's fingerprints were not. They match those of a man who just a month earlier had come through Greece on his way to kill Frenchmen in Paris.
Strike Back at ISIS and All Forms of Islamic Extremism
In leading his country in the confrontation of a unique set of challenges, Winston Churchill famously said: "This is no time for ease and comfort. It is the time to dare and endure." Scenes of pregnant women hanging from the balcony of a Paris concert hall and screaming for help on an otherwise serene Friday evening; young men desperately pulling the severely wounded down to the street to save their lives; blood-drenched public spaces; chaos: all of this is too familiar. It was sadly reminiscent of what we experienced and endured on 9/11.
This Column Is Exactly What the Islamic State Wants
President Barack Obama was in the Philippines this week getting worked up about the only thing that really grinds his gears, the GOP. "I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for (the Islamic State group) than some of the rhetoric that's been coming out of here," he said of Republicans, who were demanding a pause in the influx of Syrian refugees.
Obama's Strategic Bumbling Is Theater of the Absurd
"You're all suckers." That has to be what Barack Obama is thinking as the country falls for his head-fake. Let's recap. George W. Bush's surge reduced the Islamic State's precursor, al-Qaida in Iraq, to a paltry 700 members, according to CIA Director John Brennan. Its membership has grown by something close to 4,000 percent. As it metastasized, Obama yawned, calling it the "JV team." When Syrian President Bashar al-Assad violated Obama's "red line," Obama yawned again, and the refugee crisis was born.
Obama Gets Really Angry ... at Americans
Three days after the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris, Americans were primed to hear their president express heartfelt anger, which he did in his press conference in Antalya, Turkey, at the end of the G-20 summit. And they did hear him describe ISIS as "this barbaric terrorist organization" and acknowledge that the "terrible events in Paris were a terrible and sickening setback."
Paris Mastermind Dead
French authorities confirmed [Thursday] morning that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the jihadist behind the Paris attacks, has been killed. He also planned the August train attack that was foiled by three Americans. I am glad Abaaoud has received justice. But neither he nor any other individual is the creator of radical Islam. The threat didn't end after Osama bin Laden was killed and it won't end with the death of Abaaoud. Jihadists are being created every day in radical mosques throughout the Middle East, Europe and, sadly, even in the U.S.
Winners, Losers and Leaders
President Obama's reaction to the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris has been strange — and disturbing. Instead of rallying the country and calling for the United States to lead the fight to wipe out the Islamic State, what did he do first? He took pot shots at Republicans for their reluctance to open our borders to thousands of Syrian refugees. He even said some Republicans were helping ISIS recruit new fighters by suggesting that the United States should give preference to Christian refugees over Muslims. We're stuck with Obama and his failed leadership for another 13 months.
The Paris Attacks and the Rise of ISIS
In the wake of the Paris attacks, let's examine the rise of ISIS. During the last Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton gave this unchallenged "explanation" of why we left Iraq — without a stay-behind force. She said, "I think that what happened when we abided by the agreement that George W. Bush made with the Iraqis to leave by 2011, is that an Iraqi army was left that had been trained and that was prepared to defend Iraq."