I never tell people how and what to think. We now know that the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, was carried out by a Muslim American who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State. What follows are my personal views.
For one, I’m not going to tell anyone to “stop blaming Islam.” Muslims will survive a storm of angry words. The thing to keep in mind is that there will be no revenge massacres. Muslims will hear ugly things, but nobody will murder fifty Muslims to avenge the men in Orlando.
The second thing I’m going to say is that the Arab League and Iraq are fighting the same people who committed the last two terrorist mass shootings in the US.
Personal view on Islam
My personal view on Islam is irrelevant. I’m not religious. Although I’m a theist—I believe in God—I don’t practice a religion. This is simply due to my personal temperament. Still, it’s my experience that I have more values in common with the religious than with atheists.
But what matters to me is actions. Religious Muslims are taking the fight to Muslim terrorists in a way that the west never has. That’s reality. The goal of these religious Muslims is to eradicate terrorism in the Middle East. It’s absolutely clear that the only people who can defeat Islamic terrorism are Muslims. Only Muslims can craft plans that don’t backfire regionally or internationally.
The Iraqi army said on Sunday it had secured the first safe exit route for civilians to leave ISIS’ besieged stronghold Fallujah, and a Norwegian aid group said thousands of people had already used it to flee in the first day it was open.
The army is receiving air support from the US-led coalition and ground support from Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias and Sunni tribal fighters.
The Shiite militias have deployed behind the army’s lines and did not take part directly in the assault on the city to avoid inflaming sectarian feelings.
So far, every allegation I’ve seen of Shia atrocities in Fallujah has turned out to be a lie.
Sectarian strife in Iraq is under control. The Sunni and the Shia have a long history of conflict; if they can put aside their differences, it means that Muslims can coexist with everyone. Both Shia and Sunni are at war with the same terrorists who carry out massacres in Paris, Brussels, and the United States. Muslims, however, are far more effective at fighting these terrorists. There’s no such thing as political correctness in Muslim nations.
Personal view on war
Jihadist terrorism—Islamism or political Islam—can be defeated only through military means. However, the war must be fought clandestinely. Western powers don’t understand that. I myself didn’t understand it until early 2016. People like to classify the war on Islamism as a counterinsurgency. That’s not accurate. The war on Islamism is unique in human history. Modern jihadist terrorism is not an insurgency; it’s a global shadow empire. The US Department of State has it all wrong.
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is the blend of comprehensive civilian and military efforts designed to simultaneously contain insurgency and address its root causes. Unlike conventional warfare, non-military means are often the most effective elements, with military forces playing an enabling role.
The wars in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq show us that this is absolutely the wrong way to defeat Islamism. It’s totally backward: To defeat Islamism, military means are the most effective, with political forces playing an enabling role. But western powers are not capable of engaging the enemy militarily. We play right into their hands over and over.
My personal view on Operation Iraqi Freedom has completely changed. I can now admit that our approach was doomed to fail. We should’ve fought the war in secret, allowing the Iraqis to take credit for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.
Western powers are hamstrung by a misguided notion of “openness.” Disclosing information in and of itself is considered more moral, somehow. The Arab League completely disagrees. As a result, the Arab League is successful where the western powers fail. It’s now clear to me that the war in Yemen was a massive military deception (MILDEC) operation. The Saudis did not vigorously rebut the false accusations made against them because the plan was to keep world attention focused on Yemen.
This allowed Arab League strategic special operators to infiltrate into Syria by the thousands. These “Kurds” below are actually Saudis.
Saudi Special Forces never roll up their sleeves. The Kurdish Anti Terror Units (YAT) roll up their sleeves.
Obviously the Arab League and the Syrian Kurds are working together. But you see no Saudi flags in Syria or Iraq. Even in Yemen, the Saudis are virtually invisible. Yemenis are the face of the conflict.
A Syrian watchdog group refuted claims made earlier Saturday by Hezbollah that a top commander in Syria was killed last week as a result of shelling by Islamic extremists.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that Syrian opposition groups denied involvement in the death of Mustafa Badreddine, adding that sources in the Syrian military also said that no projectile was launched on the Damascus international airport recently.
Earlier in the day a Lebanese newspaper with ties to the group claimed Badreddine was killed by a guided missile only possessed by advanced nations. Al-Akhbar reported that Badreddine had just concluded a meeting with other commanders near the Damascus airport on Thursday night when the explosion occurred. The weapon used to kill him, the paper said, was a highly advanced one.
The newspaper claimed a guided missile exploded several meters from Badreddine. It said the majority of his injuries were internal, caused by the blast shockwave, and that only tiny amounts of shrapnel were found in his body.
On May 13th the Israeli government stuck to its usual policy of neither acknowledging nor denying involvement in attacks in Syria. Uncharacteristically, though, military sources discreetly briefed journalists that this time it wasn’t an Israeli job. Hizbullah’s reluctance to blame Israel is also a deviation from previous assassinations.
As for the Syrian rebel groups fighting the coalition of Hizbullah, Iran and Shia militias that supports the Assad regime, none has claimed responsibility either.
Badreddine wasn’t a top Hezbollah commander; he was the top Hezbollah commander, equivalent to the late Quds Force chief Major General Qassem Suleimani. Arab League strategic special operators killed both of them, using new weapons and a new form of warfare. The Arab League is waging an insurgency against Islamism.
Unprecedented genius that far outclasses the suggestion below.
No. We need a president who recognizes our limitations and supports the people who know best how to fight this enemy. The Arab League has created one-man armies.
Though that young Saudi soldier has mastered endless ways to destroy, his greatest skills are patience, deception, and stealth.
Personal view on protection
On March 18, 2015, Islamic State terrorists attacked the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, Tunisia. The National Police Brigade Antiterrorisme (BAT)—the Black Tigers—arrived on the scene in about three minutes and immediately entered the gigantic museum, where they engaged the terrorists in close-quarters gun and hand-grenade battles for three hours. Over 200 tourists were evacuated while under fire. The overwhelming majority of the people saved were not Muslim.
My personal view of the men who risk their lives for others has not changed.
Today the Islamic State called the Orlando mass murderer a “fighter.” He was no such thing. Mowing down unarmed civilians isn’t combat. The Islamic State is desperately attacking the defenseless because the terrorists are being thoroughly defeated by the most highly trained, devious, and ruthless soldiers who ever lived. It’s not possible to predict the actions of the Arab League and its allies.
Recently we were treated to the sight of US Army Special Forces wearing Kurdish YPG and YPJ insignia in Syria.
Unnoticed were Arab League and allied strategic special operators masquerading as others.
The “American Green Beret” above is a Saudi; he’s the only man who didn’t roll up his sleeves. And the “Kurds” behind him are all black men.
Look at the shape of the soldier’s head below.
He’s an African. And have you ever seen a more Arabic face than that of the Green Beret? He looks like a Saudi prince.
I’m grateful to have allies like this. My personal opinion is that they’re entirely trustworthy, we need them, and they’ll win.
