Snakes. Most people are at the very least wary of them. However most snakes are not dangerous. In fact many do very good good things where mankind is concerned. They are some of nature’s best “mousetraps”, helping to keep the world’s rodent and insect population in check, at the level nature intended. But some, the poisonous varieties, are very dangerous indeed. Of those, only the “rattlesnakes” give warning of a potential attack. It is no accident that one of the flags used during the American Revolution depicted a coiled rattlesnake with the admonition “Don’t Tread On Me” as a symbol. What the patriots were saying is: “I am dangerous if provoked, beware!”. Rattlesnakes rarely if ever strike without giving warning. If the person hearing it remains perfectly still, the snake, no longer threatened, will generally crawl away. I’ve seen this happen. Other venomous snakes, including the most deadly, give no warning at all. They strike, and frequently kill, in silence. Cobras, Black Mambas, Bushmasters, Adders etc, are among that group.
Let’s translate this to mankind. In “civilized” societies, it is considered necessary to make a formal declaration of war prior to attacking your enemy. If you don’t, as when Japan attacked us on December 7, 1941, or when Germany attacked Russia in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, it is considered a violation of international law, condemned by all but the aggressor and their allies.
What if it isn’t a country that declares war but an ideology or religion? I would propose that the same rules apply. Sneak attacks, especially on civilians, are a blasphemy. Why then are the majority of Muslim nations, and their populations, silent as organizations like ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas, Boko Haram, Al-shabaab, Al-Qaeda, the “Tamil Tigers”, and the Taliban commit atrocities all over the world? The answer is simple. Their holy books, including the Quran, command them to remain silent, and not speak out against fellow Muslims.
The analogy to snakes is obvious to me. Most Muslims are not dangerous. But among that group are some of the most dangerous people in the world, willing to commit acts of terrorism the likes of which the world has never seen…….
Europe is now threatened by children, well under the age of 18, who have been radicalized and trained by ISIS to infiltrate European countries and the U.K. as part of the refugee groups from the Middle East. What acts of terror these “children” will commit are yet to be seen.
On our side of the Atlantic, President Trump recently called for a pause in allowing citizens from seven very unstable Middle Eastern countries to enter the United States. The law clearly allows him to do so. However, a Federal Judge from Washington State has issued a ruling which at least temporarily nullifies that Executive Action because the judge disagrees with Trumps position. Until this issue is decided, there is a mass influx of individuals from these seven countries once again entering our country. The question is, how many of them are harmless, and how many, like the majority of venomous snakes described above, will strike without warning? Until it can be determined how to properly “vet” these people, coming from war torn regions without verifiable documentation, do we really want to find out the hard way?