US Opinion and Commentary

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Drone Strikes Are Creating Hatred Toward America That Will Last for Generations

Posted December 10th, 2015 at 10:10 am (UTC-4)
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If we want to curb terrorism in the United States, we must stop drone attacks in the Middle East. … ‘The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes … is much greater than the average American appreciates,’ Gen. [Stanley] McChrystal, who led the US counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, said in 2013.

Donald Trump’s Fascist Inclinations Do Not Bother His Fans

Posted December 9th, 2015 at 5:25 pm (UTC-4)
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Trump is Don Rickles with the political inclinations of Francisco Franco.

Demagoguery or Democracy? Trump’s Take on Muslims

Posted December 9th, 2015 at 3:58 pm (UTC-4)
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“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These famed words, written by American poet Emma Lazarus and inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, have greeted immigrants arriving on the shores of New York since 1903. They are the essence of these United States, the foundation of its democracy. So, when Republican hopeful Donald Trump proposed barring all Muslims from entering America in response to the San Bernadino terror attack is he practicing democratic principle of free speech? Or, are these the words of a demagogue?

America’s Angst Over Islam

Posted December 8th, 2015 at 3:55 pm (UTC-4)
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As we learn more details about the Muslim couple who carried out last week’s terror attack in San Bernardino, California, a tortured debate has erupted. Fear has unleashed unvarnished and sometimes ugly and inaccurate statements about Muslim-Americans. Emotions roiled further when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until we figure out what is going on.” The response has been overwhelmingly negative. Bloggers took to their computers and social media to condemn “Islamaphobia.” Between the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, a passionate debate has exploded. Islam itself seems to have become yet another casualty of terrorism.

Rating Obama’s War on Terror

Posted December 7th, 2015 at 3:30 pm (UTC-4)
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President Obama referred to the “evolving threat” of terror attacks during his address to the nation Sunday night in the aftermath of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. That attack and the Islamic State assault on soft targets in Paris symbolizes the president’s worries. Instead of highly sophisticated acts of terror like the September 11th attacks, now heavily armed individuals detonate explosives or fire at civilians gathered in public spaces. Last week, it was a work holiday party in San Bernardino; in 2013, it occurred during the famed Boston Marathon; four years prior, an army psychiatrist began randomly shooting colleagues at his base in Texas. While Obama’s critics condemn what they say is an incoherent and inadequate response to Islamic State militants, many experts agree there is no simple answer or strategy. The intersection of extremist ideology masking as religion, the availability of weapons, a flood of war-weary immigrants and those who might be inspired by Middle Eastern militants have made the war on terror far more challenging than ever before.

From September 11th On

Posted December 7th, 2015 at 11:59 am (UTC-4)
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In the aftermath of last week’s attack in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people, VOA has compiled a timeline of the deadliest terror attacks on United States soil.

The President’s Scary Speech

Posted December 6th, 2015 at 11:53 pm (UTC-4)
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Americans have two things to worry about. One is that ISIS killings in American will continue. The other is that Obama will refuse again to grab the moment and fail to understand the peril and lead us out of it.

‘We Will Prevail’

Posted December 6th, 2015 at 8:52 pm (UTC-4)
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President Barack Obama gave a rare address from the Oval Office Sunday night on last week’s mass shootings in San Bernardino, California – deemed an act of terror – that killed 14 people at a work holiday party. While acknowledging that the U.S. is confronting a terror threat at home, he tried to reassure the country by vowing that “we will overcome” such acts of terror. He called for stricter laws on assault-style weapons, and reiterated his decision not to engage U.S. troops in a ground war against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

‘We Will Not Be Terrorized’

Posted December 6th, 2015 at 8:48 pm (UTC-4)
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In his usual Saturday address, President Barack Obama vowed to fight acts of terror following the deadly mass shooting at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California.

State of Fear

Posted December 4th, 2015 at 5:04 pm (UTC-4)
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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fear as “to be afraid of something or someone; to expect or worry about something bad or unpleasant.” To be terrorized is defined as “to cause (someone) to be extremely afraid” or “to force (someone) to do something by using threats or violence.” So, if someone changes their behavior or alter their thought process because they fear guns and the carnage they can wreak, have they been terrorized?

The Ill-timed Climate Change Talk

Posted November 30th, 2015 at 9:12 am (UTC-4)
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The concern isn’t just that climate change derangement syndrome has such an obsessive grip over this president and other world leaders that they choose to take their eye off the ball. It’s worse than that: the entire global warming agenda is an impediment to the war against terror.

A Great Time to Be an American

Posted November 25th, 2015 at 2:18 pm (UTC-4)
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If you pay attention to the news, you may find it hard to work up much of a holiday spirit … ISIS, our massive national debt, political gridlock, the ongoing presidential campaign; it may seem as if there’s little to be thankful for. But beyond the headlines, most things are actually looking pretty bright …

Thanksgiving Tension Over Terrorism

Posted November 25th, 2015 at 2:13 pm (UTC-4)
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Not since 2001 have Americans entered the holiday season with more trepidation, more nervousness, thanks to the Friday the 13th attacks on Paris. Thanksgiving weekend sends millions of Americans onto roads, into airports and train stations and shopping malls, soft targets for terrorists intent on wreaking havoc. On Monday, the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert, urging Americans to be vigilant in public places and on public transportation, especially during the holiday season. Wednesday, President Obama came to cameras, flanked by his homeland security team, to reassure the public that law enforcement and intelligence services will be on the job through the holiday to secure the country. He said there is currently no specific or credible intelligence of a terrorist plot. Is there a threat? Yes. What’s the likelihood of a terrorist attack in the U.S.? The experts say, extremely low.

The Endless War on Terror

Posted November 20th, 2015 at 3:09 pm (UTC-4)
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Exactly one week after Islamic State militants unleashed a fury of killing across Paris, news came of armed men storming a western hotel in Mali and taking civilians hostage. It is yet another sad reminder that terrorists are in our midst. The so-called “war on terror” officially began just days after September 11, 2001. Fourteen years later, that battle has not yet been won. Increasingly, there is a weary acceptance that this is not a singular war that can be won. Terror comes in many forms and, as the events of the past week show, on many fronts. That realization has not stopped the search for a strategy to smash terror groups and improve security. Experts agree it will be a very long and complex effort.

What If Obama’s Sham War Gets Real?

Posted November 19th, 2015 at 2:49 pm (UTC-4)
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He didn’t become president to wage wars in the Middle East so he’s not going to treat the attacks in Paris or the manifest failure of the campaign he promised to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the group as a reason to change strategies.