http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/08/nothing_to_fear_apparently_isis_is_just_a_bunch_of_guys_wearing_pajamas.htmlAugust 30, 2014
Nothing to fear! Apparently ISIS is just 'a bunch of guys wearing pajamas'
By Carol Brown
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA, Member, House Armed Service committee) has gone on record as describing ISIS as:
“a bunch of guys wearing pajamas”
“not an existential threat to U.S.”
only a threat “if they can get their operatives inside the United States to carry out attacks”
If I may rebut:
First, anyone who underestimates ISIS is not paying attention and/or is in deep denial. To describe them as a bunch of guys wearing pajamas is in the same league (maybe even worse) as Obama’s description of them as a JV team. It is not only a serious miscalculation but an insult to those who have suffered and died, and who continue to suffer and die, at the hands of these brutal jihadists.
Second, Hunter’s assertion that ISIS is not a threat to the United States has been rebuffed by many experts who have unequivocally stated that ISIS is indeed a direct threat to the United States, a sampling of which is noted below.
Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense: "This is a force that is sophisticated. It's dynamic, it's strong, it's organized, it's well-financed, it's competent, [ISIS]. And it is a threat to our allies all over the Middle East. It's a threat to Europe. It's a threat to every stabilized country on Earth, and it's a threat to us."
General McInerney, Air Force Lieutenant General (ret): “Unchecked, ISIS is an existential threat to the United States, our allies. And very soon.”
Lindsey Graham, Member, Armed Services committee: "We should, in my view, look at ISIL [alternate name for ISIS] as a direct threat to the United States, a threat to the region that cannot be accommodated…A lot of jihadists have flocked to area. They have expressed they will to hit the homeland…It's about time now to assume the worst about these guys, rather than underestimating them."
Mike Rogers, Chairman, House Intelligence committee: "It's a very real threat. You saw the very barbaric behavior. And one of the problems is it's gone unabated for nearly two years…ISIS is a growing threat to the United States…This is as dangerous a threat matrix as I have ever seen in my time on the Intel committee…It is serious."
John Barrasso, Member, Foreign Relations committee: “They have the capacity and I believe the intent…They have stated it in terms of their opposition of the whole western world. They are the richest, most powerful and most savage group of terrorists in the history of mankind…So I think it is a direct threat to the United States.”
Put another way, David French writes at the National Review Online in a piece titled The ISIS Threat to the United States, in Six Sentences:
Let’s make this simple, shall we?
Al-Qaeda carried out the deadliest attack on American soil in American history and the most devastating foreign attack against an American city since the British occupied and burned Washington during the War of 1812.
ISIS is more brutal than al-Qaeda.
ISIS has more financial resources than al-Qaeda.
ISIS controls more territory — and possesses more firepower – than al-Qaeda.
ISIS has seized uranium in sufficient quantities to make a radiological weapon, a dirty bomb.
The leader of ISIS declared to his former American captors, “See you in New York,” and ISIS militants have pledged to raise the black flag of jihad over the White House.
In other words, ISIS is more capable in every way than the terrorists that hit America so hard on 9/11. Pinprick strikes weren’t enough to stop a much weaker Osama bin Laden. They will not be enough to stop a much stronger Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Finally, Hunter’s second and third points contradict each other. He states that ISIS is a threat “if they can get operatives inside the United States.” Well, they can. And they likely already have as it is becoming increasingly clear that, at the very least, ISIS may be able to enter the United States through our porous, unsecured border. In addition, we know Americans, as well as citizens from other nations, are joining ISIS, traveling around the globe undetected because it is extremely difficult to keep track of who they are, where they’re from, and what their movements are. See here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here in what is rapidly becoming an infinite list of examples.
Unfortunately, Congressman Hunter is not a lone voice. There are far too few elected officials who understand the threat we are facing. Too few who will name the enemy (Islam and the totalitarian doctrine called the Koran). Too few who understand the urgency. Too few, quite frankly, who seem to give much of a damn if this nation survives or not.
When did Republicans become weak on national security? Didn’t this used to be an area where they had a decisive edge over Democrats?
If so, not any more.
One looks and looks around for strong voices. And finds them few and far between.
