Written by Montgomery J Granger @mjgranger1
What’s plain to see, as the fighting continues in the newest Arab-Israeli War, is that we are losing the Global War on Terror.
This Global War actually began in November of 1979, when hoards of Islamist “students” stormed the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing a young aspiring Marine by the name of Stephen J. Crowley (from my home town), on the false news that the holiest site in Islam, the mosque at Mecca, Saudi Arabia, had been occupied by US troops.
This wonton murder began decades-long attacks on the sovereignty of the United States and other Western allies. The US mostly ignored the pesky brats, who only occasionally reared their ugly theocratic heads but landed blow after blow over the years in drive-by and hit-and-run guerilla tactics that more annoyed than set in motion any kind of meaningful response.
Until, that is, 9/11/2001.
Since the end of WWII, the US has only occupied foreign land as liberators, not conquerors, subsidizing rather than taking over national defense of our former enemies. We were allowed bases and access as protectors and then, slowly but surely, loosened the reins on autonomy for countries like Germany, Japan, and Italy. As a result, and through the wildly successful Marshall Plan, these countries and others are among the most peaceful and prosperous in the world, not despite the US, but because of us.
Fast forward to the attacks of September 11 and the aftermath, and we found an opportunity to rid the world of belligerent Middle East henchmen, such as Saddam Hussein, who spent 12 years thumbing his nose at UN sanctions until a coalition of 40 nations, with a unanimous Security Council vote approving the use of force, laid that threat bare.
Thanks to the surge and embedded allied forces, the insurgents were on the run in Iraq up to 2011, when, of course, President Obama withdrew, opening the door to a new and improved Islamist terror group, ISIS.
Ironically, it took a dove president, Donald J. Trump, to squash the upstart terror group and force peace to break out all over the world. The neo-cons were apoplectic! How could they skim riches from the Military Industrial Complex if there were no hot wars to exploit? Off with his head!
Post-Trump, we have seen such ineptness, politically, diplomatically, and militarily, that we may not soon or ever recover.
Surrendering power projection platforms in Iraq and Afghanistan, combined with the phenomenally incompetent retreat from Afghanistan two years ago that probably armed the Hamas barbarians, announces to the enemy and adversary world: WE SURRENDER – DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. GO!
In addition, releasing terrorist murderer after terrorist murderer from the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has not helped . . . us, that is. It has been a boost to tactical and strategic intentions for the bad guys. Obama’s release of five Taliban leaders for one US deserter, along with many more releases of top suspected enemy operators, has made the message even more clear that we have no intention of winning the Global War on Terror.
We have lost any long- or short-term initiative we may have had over our long engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our absence from those places has emboldened the Iranian terrorist factory, and they are asserting their control. They are more or less daring Israel and her allies to “Come git sum!”
This incursion is most likely a set-up for the roundhouse punch. It is a jab, a poke, a tease. This is nothing compared to what they have planned.
The two essential elements of operational success, surprise and deception, have been employed effectively by Hamas and Iran. They have more to come.
It will take a wake-up call, smelling salts, and grit to repel and then finally defeat worldwide Islamists, but defeat them we must if we want to live in peace.
The Hamas attack, barbaric as it was, is meant to strike fear into all of us. The videos being released of captured men, women, and children; the scenes of the desecration of dead IDF soldiers; the indiscriminate explosions of hundreds if not thousands of missiles are designed to create in us paralyzing fear, enough to try and turn hate towards our allies, the Israelis for bringing this upon themselves, and by association, us! Balderdash! The only thing we haven’t heard yet from the Left is that the Hamas attack on Israel was somehow Trump’s fault. Don’t hold your breath.
Now is the time to seize the initiative with deception and surprise of our own. It is time to dust off those contingency plans for Middle East terrorists and Iran.
Ignore the calls for restraint and reason. That time has passed. The time for defense has passed. The best defense is a swift, lethal, and permanent offense.
When the dust settles, whoever is left would do well to envision and then realize a Middle East Marshall Plan, which could bring peace and prosperity without compromising cultural integrity.
Montgomery J. Granger is a three-times mobilized, retired US Army major, retired educator and author of “Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior,” available on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Author web page: http://sbprabooks.com/montgomeryjgranger/ Follow him on Twitter/’X’, GAB, GETTR TruthSocial, Bluesky @mjgranger1. Blog: http://www.savinggraceatguantanamobay.com You can find his military profile on http://www.RallyPoint.com