During the Cold War, the Navy’s preferred strategy to defend against any potential Soviet attack was to “aim for the archers.”
That’s because stopping enemy “archers” like ships, aircraft and submarines was smarter and safer than striking down their wave of missiles in flight. Though I first learned this concept as a Midshipman back in those days, I’ll never forget the lesson.
After all, it’s just as applicable today.
While the Soviet Union collapsed decades ago, global jihad has emerged to threaten our free societies. Their “archers” are hardline Islamic clerics. Their “arrows” are jihadist terror attacks.
Radical Islamic spiritual leaders are spreading supremacist views and fomenting violence against infidels and kuffars — other faiths and Muslims who don’t conform to their extreme beliefs. They promote worldwide Islamic domination, subjugation of women and girls, death for apostasy and religious conversion — while preaching about 72 virgins in the afterlife for “good” Muslims, martyred while fighting for Allah.
Once their “arrows” are launched like during 9/11, or in San Bernardino, Brussels, Paris, Ottawa, Istanbul and Lahore, they’re near impossible to stop.
How many more innocent victims will be murdered before we stop this insanity?
According to the 2015 Global Index on Terrorism, there’s been a nine-fold increase in terrorism deaths since 2000, surpassing 32,000 in 2014. Most were in five countries – Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Yet despite worldwide attention, including on genocidal campaigns against Christians, Kurds and Yazidis, the jihad isn’t slowing down.
All the drone strikes in the world won’t kill all the terrorists. As long as there’s a powerful, supremacist ideology and lost souls willing to die for a cause, they’ll be an unending supply of recruits among 1.6 billion Muslims, plus countless Western converts.
All the ground troops in the world won’t be sufficient either. A new generation of jihadists will rise once the troops leave. Iraq sound familiar?
All the TSA agents and air marshals in the world can’t keep airports and airplanes safe.
All the police and working dogs in the world can’t guard every bus, metro stop, concert hall, stadium, park, school or shopping mall.
All the intelligence agents in the world can’t monitor every website and internet chat, let alone read encrypted messages.
Now that doesn’t mean we should quit trying to protect ourselves and just bow down to Islam. Yet unless we want police states or the endless slaughter to continue, we must go after the archers. Political correctness be damned.
Nations in the crosshairs of Radical Islam must join forces to defeat it. That means the U.S., European allies, Canada, Australia, Russia and most of all Arab allies like Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, Bahrain and Jordan.
The archers are most often hiding in plain sight. Their Mecca is just that — literally Mecca.
Saudi Arabia must be compelled to reform Islam since their ruling clerics set the tone. From every corner of the globe, Muslims face Mecca to pray five times a day. Plus they’re obligated to visit once in their lifetime during the annual Hajj.
The Saudis say they’re fighting extremism. The Grand Mufti, their nation’s top cleric, issued some press releases condemning the Islamic State. Plus they’ve periodically cracked downed on jihadists. Yet they ignore the $100 billion they’ve already spent exporting and protecting their hardline Wahhabi form of puritanical Islam, which is creating jihadists in the first place.
Their 7th century interpretation of Islam has spawned death-cult terror networks like the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Taliban, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and many more. It’s no coincidence that 15 of 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis. European city slums have become jihadist havens, thanks to radical clerics and the PC culture shielding them. 5,000 Europeans, mostly from North African and Middle Eastern unassimilated immigrant communities, have flocked to ISIS. They’re chopping heads off, just like medieval times.
But it’s not just the Saudis fanning the flames.
The Iranians are advancing the rival Shia brand of Islam, whom extremist Sunnis consider heretics. Since hardline Iranians toppled the Shah in 1979, they’ve exported “Revolutionary Islam.” The Ayatollahs have armed, trained, and equipped Shia state-sponsored terror groups like Hezbollah, a paramilitary force with American and Israeli blood on its hands.
World leaders must start holding the Saudis and Iranians accountable for their clerics, sermons and mosques. A complete overhaul is needed.
Western society must also defeat political correctness. Islamophobia, a term coined by radicals to advance their extreme agenda, belongs in the dustbin of history just like the Soviets.
One day Radical Islam will be defeated. Yet until then, America and Europe must get tough on immigration and regain control of our borders. Countries without borders aren’t really countries – they’re targets. Societies which allow easy access shouldn’t be surprised when they’re hit.
We must stop the archers. From Mecca to Molenbeek to Minneapolis – the clock is ticking.
J.D. Gordon is a retired Navy Commander and former Pentagon spokesman who served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2009. He has also served as a Senior Adviser to several Washington, DC-based think tanks.
