by Robert M. Traxler
The country called 91
1 and the 4th Infantry answered, once again.
The Third Brigade Combat team (Iron Brigade), 4th Infantry Division (Ivy Division) is deploying to Kuwait, not “boots on the ground” but boots on the ground next door. In my opinion, an outstanding move on the President’s part; my friends on the left and right will strongly and I am sure vocally disagree.
ISIS/ISIL is a new and dangerous political, religious and social movement of the type we have not encountered before. ISIS/ISIL is a movement that recruits from the fringes of Islamic society but has the support of many of the 1.6 Billion Muslims. With a recruiting base of more than a billion, ISIS/ISIL only needs to enlist .05% and they are a force larger than the entire active United States Army.
We can only hope President Obama has realized he cannot negotiate radical jihadists back into sanity. A Pew study finds 22% of Muslims, 352 million, are openly and actively supporters of violent Jihad.
We need to look at the ISIS/ISIL Caliphate as an iceberg; we only see the top 10%, and 90% is hidden but just below the surface. Nothing succeeds like success and the Islamic Caliphate is perceived as winning and winning big by the Islamic world.
The most dangerous long-term threat coming out of the Caliphate is the thousands of devout, devoted and dangerous graduates of the terrorist training camps whom they are sending worldwide to recruit and train radicals in most western nations. Estimates go as high as 400 with American or dual citizenship passports and more arriving every week.
The non-Islamic world will be dealing with this threat for decades to come. The longer the Caliphate remains the stronger they become. It requires months to train a soldier, a year to train junior Sergeants, a decade or more to train a Senior Noncommissioned Officer and many decades to train a General officer. ISIS/ISIL has a professional training program for leadership and is developing a military that is well led, trained and equipped.
Much has been made in the media of the burning alive of Jordanian Air Force Lieutenant Muath al-Kaseasbeh and the pending incineration of 17 caged Kurdish soldiers, along with the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians laborers. It’s horrible and shocking to you and I but most supporters of the Islamic Caliphate cheered the arsonists, murders and chanted “God is Great” as the POW was burned alive and others beheaded. We are not dealing with folks who have our view of the world. Religious freedom is a pillar of our democracy and we cherish it; the Islamic world is not the United States and they do not have our Bill of Rights and have less tolerance for religious freedom.
A great deal has been made of Jordan and Egypt joining the war on ISIS/ISIL; not all of the citizens of those two nations support this action, but if they did it would be less than 6% of the world’s Muslims. We should applaud their actions and celebrate the valor of their military but in reality it is not the tidal wave of rational modern Islam the world needs.
Islam has not yet had an “Age of Enlightenment;” for Christians it was approximately 1650 to 1780, a period when the Christian religion was challenged and ancient brutal and unjust doctrine was modernized. Our President blaming Christians for the Crusades should understand Christianity has evolved since then and became more, just, fair and open. Islam is still very heavily influenced by the beliefs of the 7th century and is yet to have an Age of Enlightenment. I have long maintained it must be Islam itself that shuns extreme violence and enters the 21st century.
The 3d Brigade Combat team, 4th Infantry Division is a very capable, task-organized unit. The 3d Brigade has a flag covered in battle ribbons and a list of lineage and honors that is a credit to anyone lucky enough to have served with the 4th Infantry. Capable, expertly trained, exceptionally well led and equipped, they are not deployed in sufficient strength (4,000 along with some 1500 currently in Iraq) to soundly destroy ISIS/ISIL.
Please, Mr. President if you wish to send these warriors into battle, commit sufficient force to defeat the enemy. Mr. President please when you send them into battle you and your Ivy League devotees stay out of the way and let them fight and let them win.
