Author Topic: Top terror expert: Obama 'didn't tamp down' America's fears  (Read 385 times)

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Top terror expert: Obama 'didn't tamp down' America's fears
« on: December 08, 2015, 10:56:07 am »
Top terror expert: Obama 'didn't tamp down' America's fears
'He moved quickly to associate this with gun control, which is bogus'
Published: 9 hours ago
 

President Obama addresses America from the Oval Office on terrorism, ISIS and the San Bernardino, California, shootings on Dec. 6 (Photo: White House video screenshot)

One of the nation’s leading terrorism experts says President Obama offered nothing new on the fight against ISIS and is actually adding to America’s security problems by establishing a tone of political correctness that makes people reluctant to come forward about possible terrorist activities.

On Sunday, Obama addressed the nation on the terrorist threat. He vowed to stay the course on the plan to confront ISIS overseas, from continuing current policy on airstrikes to training rebels to working with allies to disrupt terrorist plots. Domestically, he pushed for action on gun control and possible changes to the spousal visa program, through which Tashfeen Malik entered the U.S. last year. Obama also urged the public not to demonize all Muslims and asked moderate Muslims to loudly condemn violent acts and extreme ideology when it’s found in their midst.

Overall, Harvey Kushner, director of the Terrorism and Homeland Security Institute at Long Island University, thought the speech fell very flat.

“He was there. At least he addressed the public, but he certainly didn’t tamp down any fears that the public had and he certainly hasn’t said anything new in terms of a strategy for fighting ISIS,” said Kushner, who was especially underwhelmed when Obama called for banning gun sales to anyone whose name is on the No-Fly List and cracking down on so-called assault weapons.

“He moved quickly to associate this with some gun control, which I think is bogus, by saying that people on No-Fly Lists shouldn’t be able to get guns,” he said. “These two individuals were certainly not on a No-Fly List, and they were able to get guns. And clearly, they got guns in a state which probably has the most restrictive gun laws, the state of California.”
 

Ultimately, Kushner believes the underlying message of Obama’s speech is that he plans to do very little about the ISIS problem for the final 13 months of his presidency.

“I think it’s too little too late,” Kushner said. “Quite frankly, I think the president is looking for his legacy and wants to lay back and pass on the problem of ISIS and ISIL and their expansion to the next incoming administration.”

Since Wednesday’s terrorist attack, two different people have said they had suspicions about Syed Farook. His own father admitted that his son confessed an adherence to the ISIS goal of a global caliphate. And one of Farook’s neighbors said he saw some suspicious activity but didn’t report it for fear of being labeled Islamophobic.

Kushner said this is a huge problem.

“That’s political correctness gone wild. Quite frankly, I think our government has contributed to that in tremendous ways. For example, since the Obama administration, trainers who wanted to talk about jihad or use ‘Islamic terror’ in the same sentence, can’t do that,” he said, adding that the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has also placed a stigma on reporting suspicious activity among Muslims or Arabs in the U.S.

“That’s a huge problem and something our government can address. We’ve created an atmosphere since 9/11 in which if you see something and say something, people become concerned that they’re going to be labeled a racist,” said Kusher, who also denounced Attorney General Loretta Lynch and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for vowing to crackdown on anti-Islam speech they believe could lead to violence.

Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with Harvey Kushner:

On the contrary, Kushner said reporting is vital, especially among Muslims.

"We need the help of the Islamic community because the Islamic community are the ones who can really tell the ones becoming radicalized," he said.

Kushner admits 21st-century technology makes it easier for terrorists to recruit, radicalize and plot. While it also provides avenues to thwart plots, Kushner said it's impossible to track everything just as it's impossible to put every possible terrorist on a No-Fly List. However, when it comes to fighting the online war, Kushner said the private sector has to play a key role.

"The private sector needs to have some more controls out there in which they work hand-in-hand with law enforcement and intelligence-gathering agencies to allow to them to be able to get into some of these sites," he said.

Kushner also saved some fierce criticism for the media, which took a lot of heat on Friday for barging into the Farook apartment after the landlord reportedly gave them permission and authorities said they were done processing the scene.

"At a later date, [law enforcement] may have wanted to come back, in maybe a week or less, and revisit that," he said. "Now it's compromised and destroyed. I found that disturbing and bizarre. It was a perfect storm of stupidity."

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/top-terror-expert-obama-didnt-tamp-down-americas-fears/#D1poBII0FSMsjrIG.99