The verdict is in. After 16 years of death and destruction in the Middle East
and Afghanistan at the hands of the U.S. national-security establishment,
America is now facing four more years of the same.
How do we know this? Because President Trump has now clearly signaled that he
intends to travel the Bush-Obama road.
First of all, there is the Muslim ban on those seven countries with
predominantly Muslim populations. Trump says that he is imposing the ban to
keep Americans safe from terrorists who would do American harm if they were
permitted to enter the United States.
Second, there is a total disconnect in Trumps mind as to the cause of
anti-American terrorism, especially among Muslims. He has made it clear that
his mindset is the same as that of Bush and Obama — that the terrorists just
hate us for our freedom and values and that U.S interventionism has nothing to
do with anti-American terrorism.
In fact, with Trump its actually worse than it was with Bush and Obama. While
they tried to threat the needle and claim that their interventions were aimed
at ''the terrorists'' or ''extreme Muslims,'' Trump has clearly bought into the
whole ''Islam is at war with the West'' paradigm that afflicts the most extreme
elements in American society.
One thing is for sure: Like Bush and Obama, Trump is mentally and
psychologically unable to recognize that the real cause for anger and hatred
against the United States, especially among Muslims, is the massive death and
destruction that the U.S. national-security state has wreaked and continues to
wreak in the Middle East.
In fact, that inability to recognize the U.S. government as the root cause of
the anger and hatred that manifests itself in anti-American terrorism afflicts
many more people than Trump, Bush, and Obama. It also afflicts the U.S.
mainstream media, the political left, and conservatives.
Consider all those protests against Trumps immigration ban. Look at the signs
the protestors are carrying. Theyre all about the immigration ban. I havent
seen one single sign protesting Trumps continuation of Bush-Obama
interventionism in the Middle East.
In fact, its the exact opposite. Virtually every editorial and op-ed in the
mainstream media dutifully follows the Bush-Obama-Trump line — that ISIS is so
dangerous that it is necessary for the U.S. government to continue intervening
in the Middle East and wreaking perpetual death and destruction.
Unfortunately, Trump has immediately fallen into the Pentagons and CIAs war
on terrorism quicksand. Within the first week of taking power, he approved a
military raid in Yemen (yes, Yemen!) presented by to him by the U.S.
national-security establishment that resulted in the deaths of two American
citizens: 36-year-old Chief Petty Officer William ''Ryan'' Owens a U.S.
serviceman and Nawar al-Awlaki (take a look at her picture — its important to
see what this little girl who just had her life snuffed out looked like). She
was the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American citizen that the
U.S. national-security establishment assassinated without benefit of due
process of law and trial by jury six year ago. You will recall that the U.S.
national-security establishment also assassinated Newars brother, 16-year-old
son, Abdulrahman, in 2011.
They werent the only ones killed in the latest raid in Yemen. U.S. officials
estimated that 14 al-Qaeda (remember them?) militants were killed. Yemenis
claimed that the dead including 59 combatants and civilians, including women.
The aim of the raid? According to the UK Mirror, ''A senior military official
told NBC News the aim of the raid was to seize intelligence, including
computer equipment.''
So, there you have it: Death and destruction in Yemen, a country that Congress
has not declare war against, on orders of President Donald Trump, with the aim
of grabbing some computers belong to al-Qaeda (which was the national-security
states official enemy before ISIS), that might have some ''intelligence'' in
them.
Thats what 9-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki died for. Thats what Petty Officer
Owens died for. Like the 58,000 plus U.S. soldiers who were sacrificed in
Vietnam, that 8-year-old American girl and that 36-year-old American man died
for nothing.
Lets be clear: ISIS is not coming to get us. Neither is al-Qaeda. The same
for the dictators of Syria, Yemen, Libya, and the other seven countries on
Trumps Muslim ban list. The same for the Islamic dictators of Iraq, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, or Afghanistan. The same for the people trying to overthrow
those dictators.
None of those people is coming to get us, take over the federal government,
and run the IRS and HUD. The conflicts over there are about who is going to
rule the Middle East and Afghanistan. Whoever prevails is not coming to get us
and take over the United States.
In fact, make no mistake about it: most of the violence, chaos, and disorder
in the Middle East are rooted in U.S interventionism in that part of the
world. For example, ISIS, the national-security states newest official
boogeyman, is a direct result of the U.S. illegal and unconstitutional war of
aggression against Iraq, a country that never attacked the United States or
even threatened to do so.
There is one and only one reason that people of Muslim faith engage in
anti-American terrorism: They are retaliating against the U.S. government and
the American people for the death and destruction that the Pentagon and the
CIA have been wreaking and continue to wreak on Muslims and others in the
Middle East and Afghanistan.
What is both pathetic and sad is that Trump has already announced, within one
week of assuming power, is that he intends to continue unleashing the Pentagon
and the CIA to do what they have been doing for the past 16 years of Bush and
Obama. He has also announced that he intends to build up the military
establishment, thereby enabling it to wreak even more death and destruction
around the world.
Thats why Trump imposed his Muslim ban: Hes essentially saying to the
American people: ''Get ready. Were going to continue bombing and assassinating
people as part of our war against ISIS but dont worry — Ill keep you safe
from the inevitable retaliation with my Muslim ban.''
Its not going to work. As I have repeatedly asked, Can they keep everyone in
shopping malls and office buildings safe from bombs and shooters? Can they put
metal detectors everywhere? Just ask the families of victims from terrorist
attacks here in the United States or in Europe. And how do they purport to
protect American tourists traveling in Europe and elsewhere?
Its really too bad. All that Trump had to do is pull the troops out of the
Middle East and Afghanistan and bring them home, immediately, without killing
one more person, including 8-year-old Nawar al-Awlaki. That would have meant
the end of anti-American terrorism, which would have meant no more war on
terrorism, including Trumps Muslim ban.
But then again, that also would have meant a severe diminution in the power,
influence, and taxpayer-funded resources of the U.S. national-security
establishment, which is the undoubtedly the biggest reason why Trump has now
chosen to travel the 16-year-old road of death and destruction, loss of
liberty, and out-of-control federal spending of George W. Bush and Barack
Obama.
Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom
Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in
economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the
University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He
also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught
law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become
director of programs at the Foundation for Economic Education. He has
advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the
country as well as on Fox News' Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows and
he appeared as a regular commentator on Judge Andrew Napolitano's show
Freedom Watch. View these interviews at LewRockwell.com and from Full
Context.
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