The West Cannot Avoid Jihadist Terrorism - They Must Defeat It Now

Americans are now so disappointed with President Obama that, if they could vote in the 2012 election all over again, they'd overwhelmingly vote for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. That's just one finding in a negative CNN poll just released, which shows Romney beating Obama in a 2012 election rematch by a huge nine-point margin, 53% to 44%. That's a greater spread than CNN found in a November 2013 survey that showed Romney winning a re-vote, 49% to 45%. Two years ago, Obama actually won re-election with about 51% of the vote. Of course, the poll changes nothing. But, the finding comes as foreign and domestic crises have sent Obama's approval rating tumbling to 40% in recent Gallup polls. And, the CNN survey gives a record-low 46% agreement when respondents were asked if Obama "shares [their] values," while only 49% say he is "sincere in what he says," also a record-low. ~~~~~ One major reason Americans are so fed up with Presidebt Obama is his absence in the world - a total lack of engagement in, or expression of, world leadership or support for allies and against terrorists and tyrants. One obvious example is Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression against Ukraine. Senator Lindsey Graham said on US TV Sunday that Putin is beating the United States by bluffing : "He's playing a poker game with a pair of 2's and winning." Senator Graham noted that President Obama's leadership is not held in high regard by Putin or other enemies, and it is hurting not only America, but the world. Graham said : "What we've learned from these changing times is that without American leadership the world disintegrates pretty rapidly. Russia is more aggressive, not less. The sanctions clearly are not working. Hamas is demanding open borders in Israel. America is not responding to threats throughout the world." Graham expressed special concern for American allies such as Israel and Ukraine : "Passive responses to naked aggression all over the world is our foreign policy," Graham said, adding that Europeans can't lead without the United States setting the standard, describing the European Union as "a dysfunctional political organization." Graham said that if he were President, he would ask Congress for more sanctions on Russia, including personal sanctions on Putin, and he would ask for money to equip and train the Ukrainian military. He also said he would condemn the UN human rights report that holds Israel responsible for its current fight with Hamas in Gaza. "The UN human rights report is a joke," Senator Graham said. "The UN is becoming more anti- Israeli, anti-Semitic." ~~~~~ Senator Graham might have added that the entire Middle East and north Africa are being overrrun by al-Qaida affiliates, mostly Boko Haram and ISIS. So far, Obama has sent American troops to guard the US embassy and study the situation in Iraq - giving the murderous islamist ISIS time and space to take the central third of the country, just as his do-nothing policy toward the orignal Syrian rebels has led to the same ISIS ascendancy in Syria. He has said he will continue his plan to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan despite US and allied fears that this will lead to another collapse like that now underway in Iraq and will certainly lead to a Taliban resurgence crushing human rights. Obama's refusal to unequivocally support the post-Qadaffi Libyan government has encouraged tribal war and led to the Benghazi massacre. His refusal to aid the Egyptian military's determined efforts to drive out the jihadist terrorist Moslem Brotherhood - Obama even withdrew significant military aid - has left America as an onlooker instead of a decision leader in the Middle East, not only in Egypt, which is the most influential country in the region along with Saudi Arabia, it also has left Israel to fend for itself with its Arab neighbors. Obama's Israel diplomacy seems largely limited to asking Israel to announce a ceasefire and continue to submit to the terrorist acts of Hamas, whose goal is the extermination of Israel and its Jewish citizens. ~~~~~ Are these exaggerations? Here is the latest ISIS atrocity on Syria. The London Daily Mail reported yesterday that islamist militants have apparently beheaded dozens of soldiers at a Syrian army base and mounted their heads on poles. According to the Daily Mail, extremists from the group "Islamic State," previously known as ISIS, seized the base in the northern province of Raqqa, killing more than 85 soldiers and leaving 200 unaccounted for. The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said at least 50 of the soldiers had been executed - many of them beheaded - as horrifying videos began circulating online which appear to show the bodies. The video, which has been independently verified by the Associated Press and the Iranian Press TV, has a voiceover by one of the militants as several decapitated heads are shown mounted on poles on top of a fence. At least two of the bodies at the Division 17 al-Assad army base were crucified, according to the AP, which said the video appeared to be genuine. Other photographs posted on jihadist social media showed fighters inside the military base in control of several tanks, trucks and ammunition boxes. In one photo, extremist militants raised the black flag of the Islamic State above a building. In another, ISIS fighters are shown apparently inside Division 17 living quarters burning a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad. Press TV, Iran, also gave the information that 50 soldier's of Syria's Division 17 were beheaded and their heads put on poles, after bring ambushed. The ISIS jihadists, accordong to Press TV, summarily executed most of the soldiers after their capture. The assault in Raqqa province, the jihadists' Euphrates valley stronghold, came amid their fiercest assault yet on Damascus-held territory. The deaths added to the 74 already killed in the offensive across the north and northeast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday : "At least 50 soldiers were ambushed, some of them were killed in fighting but most of them were beheaded," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. ISIS militants claimed the toll was as high as 75. ----- Dear readers - especially in Europe and America - to turn a phrase, you can hide but you cannot run far enough or fast enough to avoid jihadist terrorism. You must stand and fight -- if not now in their territories while you are still relatively in control, then later when it will be infinitely more difficult to eradicate them from your own streets and countrysides.