How can we be successful against terrorism if the administration won’t recognize terrorist groups?

In January of 2014, Daesh (ISIS) was a “JV [junior varsity]” team. Until 2014, the State Department did not consider Boko Haram a terrorist organization. Now, Daesh has led murderous attacks on multiple continents and according to the New York Times, Boko Haram is the “Deadliest Terror Group” in the world. None of these came without warning. In May of 2012, the Justice Department warned Secretary Clinton’s State Department that “Boko Haram ‘are likely sharing funds, training, and explosive materials’ with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.” The silence from State against this group was deafening.

After Daesh had taken Fallujah in 2014, President Obama, the avid basketball fan, used what he saw as an apt description; “…if a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.” Even today, after attacks in Paris, and across the world, democratic leaders seek to justify that phrase. With the opportunity to admit an error, the Democratic party chooses blissful ignorance, stating today “from the perspective of what they accomplished at that time…” As a reminder, “at that time” Daesh was in control of Fallujah.

How can the American people expect a different result with the same people negotiating?

This administration has misunderstood and misplayed their hand against numerous threats. In 2011, the Secretary of State, agreed that Bashar al-Assad was a “reformer.” This is the president/Secretary of State duo that presented Russia with the “reset” button. Without a change at the top, what will be different?

How can we begin to win this battle if our leaders refuse to recognize whom we are fighting?

Once again leaders are doing their best to dance around calling what the murders in Paris are. They are members of radical Islam. Yes, those who entered a university in Kenya killing 147, bombed Beirut killing 43, took down a Russian airplane killing 224, and this past week in Paris killing 129 were part of an ideology that has hijacked a religion to justify their crimes. Today, the former Secretary of State said that we are in a “battle of ideas” against these radicals. The events above stand as a tragic testament that Daesh is fighting with much more than ideas. We cannot succeed in subverting an ideology unless we first recognize the core tenets of whom we are fighting