by Christopher W. Holton
It’s Thanksgiving Day 2015 and, despite hollow assurances from a president who is increasingly regarded as cavalier about the national security of the United States, the country is on edge.
America is on edge because the Islamic State has been allowed to metastasize and spread over the past two years after President Obama dismissed them as the “JV” team.
Nor is the Islamic State “contained.”
Here is a list of the Jihadist entities stretching from the Philippines to North Africa, that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Among them is Boko Haram of Nigeria, which kidnapped and forced into slavery 300 Christian school girls over two years ago and continues to carry out savage attacks in west Africa…h/t Intel Center:
- al-I’tisam of the Koran and Sunnah [Sudan]
- Abu Sayyaf Group [Philippines]
- Ansar al-Khilafah [Philippines]
- Ansar al-Tawhid in India [India]
- Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) [Phillippines]
- Bangsmoro Justice Movement (BJM) [Phillippines]
- al-Huda Battalion in Maghreb of Islam [Algeria]
- Heroes of Islam Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan]
- The Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria [Algeria]
- Jundullah [Pakistan]
- Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) [Pakistan]
- Islamic Youth Shura Council [Libya]
- Jaish al-Sahabah in the Levant [Syria]
- Faction of Katibat al-Imam Bukhari [Syria]
- Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis [Egypt]
- Jund al-Khilafah in Egypt [Egypt]
- Liwa Ahrar al-Sunna in Baalbek [Lebanon]
- Islamic State Libya (Darnah) [Libya]
- Lions of Libya [Libya]
- Shura Council of Shabab al-Islam Darnah [Libya]
- Mujahideen Indonesia Timor (MIT) [Indonesia]
- Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSCJ) [Egypt]
- Tehreek-e-Khilafat [Pakistan]
- Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion [Tunisia]
- Mujahideen of Yemen [Yemen]
- Supporters for the Islamic State in Yemen [Yemen]
- al-Tawheed Brigade in Khorasan [Afghanistan]
- Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques [Saudi Arabia]
- Ansar al-Islam [Iraq]
- Leaders of the Mujahid in Khorasan (10 former TTP commanders) [Pakistan]
- Boko Haram [Nigeria]
- Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia [Tunisia]
- Jemaah Islamiyah [Philippines]
- al-Murabitoun [Mali]
- Mujahideen of Tunisia of Kairouan [Tunisia]
- al Shabaab [Puntland region of Somalia]
Moreover, the Islamic State has now carried out multiple attacks in Europe and inspired multiple attacks here in the U.S. The FBI reports that they have open investigations into Islamic State supporters in all 50 states.
No wonder America is on edge.
Some will lament that the article linked below from the New York Times has images that show the unnecessary militarization of police forces in the U.S. And, while we agree, when one considers the Kalashnikovs, RPGs and hand grenades that the Jihadists have attacked civilians with around the world, can one really fault the police for taking steps to protect themselves and give themselves a fighting chance in a gunfight with Islamic barbarians?
If it was my son or daughter standing watch over a Thanksgiving Day parade, I’d want them to have body armor and firepower too.
So consider that when you wince at the sight of cops looking like soldiers.
Maybe if we got off our ass as a country and decided to take the fight to the Islamic State in earnest, our cops could go back to carrying revolvers and billy clubs…
Incidentally, we are less worried about the prospect of an attack on Thanksgiving Day than we are about an attack on Black Friday. The Jihadists tend to focus more on days that are important to them than on days that are important to us. Black Friday this year falls on 27 November, which happens to be the same date on which Pope Urban II launched the first Crusade to defend Christendom from centuries of Jihadist onslaughts …
Terror Trends Bulletin 