Government officials have rarely been known for their ability to think in terms of the long game—or at least a game plan that extends beyond their current and prospective terms of office.
As proof of the politician’s proclivity for shortsightedness, today we have learned that sixteen state governors (Oklahoma joined the list as I write) have done their part to help create the next generation of terrorists—those who, by the actions of these elected officials, will be relegated to the isolation and idleness of the refugee camp.
There can be no disputing that one of the prime breeding grounds for extremist ideology and the creation of tomorrow's terrorist is the refugee camp. If you wish to dispute this reality, I highly recommend you read the extensive study done by Amanda Ekey of NYU. If you remain skeptical after reviewing her excellent work, then you simply aren’t paying attention or prefer to operate in the dark.
These camps are places where young people—parked alongside their elders for the immediate benefit of food and shelter—have little to do but think about and discuss who it was in the world that sentenced them to so awful a life. They are robbed of their youth as they watch their parents lose all self-respect as they are denied the opportunity to work to support their family as they once did in their homeland. All of this leads those interned in the camps to belief that there is no hope for a better life in society.
And when that happens, we know that these people all too often find self-respect in extremist religion—bringing them to the point of picking up a gun to fight for Allah rather than picking up a briefcase or the tools of a legitimate trade.
As a result of the reaction of elected officials who should know better, thousands of these young Syrians will understand that it was the United States—along with other Western nations who are now likely to deny these people entry—who was, in some part, responsible for their lot in life. Exacerbating the inevitable problem will be the extremists these young people will encounter in the camps who will remind them that it is America that markets itself through such icons as the Statute of Liberty yet failed to welcome them when any hope for a life, and the lives of their families, were dependent upon America being what America is supposed to be. They will be reminded that—despite the fact that it is America that shares the very same enemy that drove these Syrians from their homes and lives in their homeland—the United States turned it's back on them when they so badly needed the help of a compassionate nation.
Yes, I very much acknowledge the real and genuine dangers that are part and parcel of the proposed refugee plan that would bring thousands-if not hundreds of thousands-of Syrians to our shores and into our cities. I certainly acknowledge that there are likely to be some very evil apples mixed in the bushel of innocents—evil people who mean great harm to Americans.
Am I afraid of these people? You bet.
But when my cousin, for whom I am named, went and died for his country and my future in World War II, he also understood the dangers that were presented when you stand up to preserve the American way of life. I'm pretty sure he was afraid, but he went anyway and he paid the ultimate price.
I think that the least I owe him is some small shred of the bravery he displayed when fighting for what this country is meant to be. And if you have a relative who gave his or her life fighting for the nation, you might want to think about how that person might feel about the country turning its back on innocents in severe need because there might be an element of danger mixed among them. You might wonder if this was the America they fought and died to preserve.
Make no mistake—the fear being expressed by these governors is a complete repudiation of what has always been the American way of life and, ironically, a complete repudiation of the promise engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, a gift to America from France, which reads:
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!
If that does not sufficiently instruct how America is meant to respond to refugees, I truly cannot imagine what would do it better.
Like you, I have children and grandchildren who I very much mean to protect from every danger that lurks out there waiting to ensnare them. But my children and grandchildren are also Americans and as much as I want them to be safe and secure, I also want them to not only understand what it means to be an American but to see American values in action so they know it’s not just a bunch of talk.
When political leaders and popular talk show hosts suggest that the answer is to impose a religious test—Christians only—as a condition for admission to the nation, you should be very afraid for the survival of the American experiment. If we were to follow these heretical suggestions, we would be destroying everything we are fighting to protect, starting with our Constitution.
How this is not apparent to each and every American truly astounds me.
I suppose many want to believe that, were we to accept such radical changes to who we are in the belief that when this war with extremism is all over, we can then return to being the America we are supposed to be.
However, if you believe that you or your children will see the end of terrorism in their lifetime, I have some Confederate money I’d like to sell you. This is a battle that is going to go on for a very long time, leaving us to determine if we are going to give evil a victory by changing what we most admire in ourselves or if we are going to stand up to them and be who we are intended to be—the greatest, most compassionate nation on the planet.
We are all frightened by the potential physical dangers Islamic extremism means to bring to our shores. We wouldn’t be human if we felt otherwise.
But many have come before us who had to summon their bravery in order to protect the American way of life. I'm sure they were also afraid—but they did it anyway. We have the same responsibility. It is part of being an American to assist those who are so badly in need just as it is critically important that we not take steps that will create the terrorists that will challenge our children and grandchildren in the future.
We don't win this war until we win the war of ideology. We don't win this war until we show the world that America is a compassionate nation that lives up to its billing—even if that means we have to take real risks to back up our rhetoric.
It starts by helping a young Syrian boy or girl who will know that when his family was in the greatest of trouble, America opened up to help him.
That is how we win this war.
We surely don't win by selling out our most coveted principals because we are afraid.
Contact Rick at thepolicypage@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Rick can be seen daily on on Newsmax TV and heard on Saturdays at 11am on his radio program, Steele&Ungar, with Michael Steele, on Sirius XM POTUS Channel 124.
