For a multitude
of reasons, I listen to the radio a lot.
There were three things that I’ve heard in the last three weeks that
struck a nerve. This neurological
incident should not be confused with the thrill that ran up Chris Matthews’s
leg when he heard Obama back in 2008.
- The first was uttered by a survivor of the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France -- it is a perfect metaphor the Obama administration’s response to radical Islamic terrorism.
- The second was during an NPR interview with the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter and Renee Montagne on topics that ranged from Afghanistan, to ISIS, to Turkey.
- The third was from Obama himself, specifically on the topic of Turkey, in which he declared our ignorance as a badge of honor.
Which one is the worst? Like the old sports show used to say, “You make the call.”
The first disturbing statement was from a French girl -- she was giving her firsthand account as a survivor of the radical-Islamic truck driver, Mohamed Bouhlel’s deadly jihadist joyride. Mohamed drove a 19-ton truck though throngs of Bastille Day revelers – not stopping until police bullets ended his life. His personal contribution to the holy war -- 84 people dead and more than 200 injured. The rampage only ended when Bouhlel was shot dead by police. The young woman said with the music, the fireworks, and all of the revelry – “they never heard it coming.”
The second, and absolutely infuriating statement, was when Renee Montagne of NPR was setting up a question about Afghanistan to Ash Carter. Thousands of lives, billions upon billions of dollars have now come to this – four minutes and forty seconds into the seven-minute interview Montagne says, “The UN estimates the Taliban holds more ground in Afghanistan now, then since the US led invasion in 2001.” What a pathetic point we’ve come to.
The third one, as previously pointed out, pertains to Turkey. In the same aforementioned interview with Carter, Montagne asked him, “How much of a problem for the fight against ISIS is this situation with the coup in Turkey?” Carter’s response is baffling, “Well, we didn't know this was coming and so it did come as a surprise to us, but I don't think it's going to affect our campaign against ISIL... the Turkish military is a very large, very professional organization. They are a NATO ally, we've worked with them for decades, and I expect our relationship there to continue.” One might hope so, since there are at least two thousand American military and thousands more US citizens living there.
Turkey is not
an insignificant nation and the repercussions of this attempted coup are not
going away. It is a nation of
approximately eighty million, 99.8% of whom are Muslim (the majority of those
Sunni). It’s teeming with Syrian
refugees – roughly three million. The role
Turkey will play in the ongoing crises is pivotal. The US European Command reports, “As part of
the cooperative effort to further Turkish economic and military self-reliance,
the United States has loaned and granted Turkey more than $12.5 billion in
economic aid and more than $14 billion in military assistance.”
Exactly what was the impetus for the coup is in dispute. Many Turkish officials blame the United States for not immediately handing over a US-based Muslim cleric who they claim orchestrated the failed coup. Whether that’s true, or just the Benghazi version of a YouTube video, remains to be determined.
One thing’s for sure though – as Obama’s former Chief of Staff stated – Turkey is not going to let this crisis go to waste. They have declared, “A three-month state of emergency and detaining or dismissing tens of thousands of people in the military and other state institutions. In the latest measures, the government revoked nearly 11,000 passports and detained 283 members of the presidential guard” according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
- The first was uttered by a survivor of the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice, France -- it is a perfect metaphor the Obama administration’s response to radical Islamic terrorism.
- The second was during an NPR interview with the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter and Renee Montagne on topics that ranged from Afghanistan, to ISIS, to Turkey.
- The third was from Obama himself, specifically on the topic of Turkey, in which he declared our ignorance as a badge of honor.
Which one is the worst? Like the old sports show used to say, “You make the call.”
The first disturbing statement was from a French girl -- she was giving her firsthand account as a survivor of the radical-Islamic truck driver, Mohamed Bouhlel’s deadly jihadist joyride. Mohamed drove a 19-ton truck though throngs of Bastille Day revelers – not stopping until police bullets ended his life. His personal contribution to the holy war -- 84 people dead and more than 200 injured. The rampage only ended when Bouhlel was shot dead by police. The young woman said with the music, the fireworks, and all of the revelry – “they never heard it coming.”
The second, and absolutely infuriating statement, was when Renee Montagne of NPR was setting up a question about Afghanistan to Ash Carter. Thousands of lives, billions upon billions of dollars have now come to this – four minutes and forty seconds into the seven-minute interview Montagne says, “The UN estimates the Taliban holds more ground in Afghanistan now, then since the US led invasion in 2001.” What a pathetic point we’ve come to.
The third one, as previously pointed out, pertains to Turkey. In the same aforementioned interview with Carter, Montagne asked him, “How much of a problem for the fight against ISIS is this situation with the coup in Turkey?” Carter’s response is baffling, “Well, we didn't know this was coming and so it did come as a surprise to us, but I don't think it's going to affect our campaign against ISIL... the Turkish military is a very large, very professional organization. They are a NATO ally, we've worked with them for decades, and I expect our relationship there to continue.” One might hope so, since there are at least two thousand American military and thousands more US citizens living there.
Turkey is not
an insignificant nation and the repercussions of this attempted coup are not
going away. It is a nation of
approximately eighty million, 99.8% of whom are Muslim (the majority of those
Sunni). It’s teeming with Syrian
refugees – roughly three million. The role
Turkey will play in the ongoing crises is pivotal. The US European Command reports, “As part of
the cooperative effort to further Turkish economic and military self-reliance,
the United States has loaned and granted Turkey more than $12.5 billion in
economic aid and more than $14 billion in military assistance.” Exactly what was the impetus for the coup is in dispute. Many Turkish officials blame the United States for not immediately handing over a US-based Muslim cleric who they claim orchestrated the failed coup. Whether that’s true, or just the Benghazi version of a YouTube video, remains to be determined.
One thing’s for sure though – as Obama’s former Chief of Staff stated – Turkey is not going to let this crisis go to waste. They have declared, “A three-month state of emergency and detaining or dismissing tens of thousands of people in the military and other state institutions. In the latest measures, the government revoked nearly 11,000 passports and detained 283 members of the presidential guard” according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Obama, during
a joint news conference with Mexico's President put it this way, "Any
reports that we had any previous knowledge of a coup attempt, that there was
any US involvement in it, that we were anything other than entirely supportive
of Turkish democracy, are completely false, unequivocally false.” Obama also said he had a phone call with Erdogan,
the Turkish president, telling him that any reports about US knowledge of the
coup plot "puts our people at risk on the ground in Turkey and it
threatens what is a critical alliance and partnership between the United States
and Turkey."
Never heard it
coming. Great -- it has finally come to
the point that ignorance (whether feigned or actual) is our best defense. 
Thank you, Colonel. Sadly, this pattern of history repeating itself with respect to willful ignorance is the prophetic paradigm of our global future when the Lord returns.
ReplyDelete"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
They never saw it coming.