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Call it inexperience, a lack of historical footing,
or a Pollyanna presidency, this is not the first movement by religious zealots
to try and conquer the world - and history has shown they can be stopped!
Yesterday Pope Francis
condemned the terror attacks on Paris
and warned the seeds of World War III have been planted. Today President Obama ignored his warning and
said his strategy of remote bombing was working, a claim immediately trashed by
experts from the military, and from foreign governments around the world.
Obama, his surrogate
Hillary Clinton, and the media all ignored the warning of the Pope. Even worse, they continue to support a policy
that has failed to stop ISIS and their
terrorist rampage around the globe.
Contrary to popular
opinion expressed by our president and his liberal legions and reinforced by the
news media, this is not the first time this has happened and if we pay
attention to history, we will know our response is dead wrong. In the past millions of people have died
because the dangers were ignored.
On multiple occasions, two
quite different groups have attempted to use religion to justify genocide and
the destruction of freedom and equality on a worldwide scale.
Ironically, both began
within 139 years of each other nearly 1,400 years ago in the same region of the world.
Islamic Caliphate
In 1632 AD the great Prophet Mohammed died after establishing Islam, and two sects within his following claimed the right to succession through the establishment of Caliphates, the Sunni Muslims representing 84-90% of all Muslims today, and the Shi`ite Muslims representing 10-16% of all Muslims today.
Some scholars claim the
caliphate effectively ended in 1258 when the Mongols, the descendants of
Genghis Khan, stormed across the Middle East. But, the Turkish Ottoman empire claimed the
caliphate in 1453 and exercised authority over vast parts of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond until the empire withered and
ultimately collapsed at the end of World War I.
"The position has
been vacant since 1924, when the founder of modern Turkey
abolished the office as a remnant of the Ottoman Empire,
and bundled the last man to hold it, a bookish Francophile named Abdulmecid
Efendi, into exile aboard the Orient Express."
The Holy Roman Empire
In the year 800 AD the
Holy Roman Empire was established when Charlemagne, a successful Germanic
leader, was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo II in order to protect the church from
competition by others in Europe. It was a motley medley of more or less
independent kingdoms, lay and ecclesiastical principalities and free cities.
The Holy Roman Empire is
also called the First Reich, was always Roman Catholic, and its history was
punctuated by often bitter disputes between the Emperor and the Pope, sometimes
involving clashing armies. It remained
under the control of Germanic leaders for over 1,000 years, until Napoleon and France brought
it to an end in 1806.
The Second Reich, or
German Empire, was not officially Catholic, was more clearly German, and lasted
just a few decades, from 1871 to 1918. There
was no claim of global domination, although the Germans had defeated France in 1870 and did build up a set of
colonies, though dwarfed by the British Empire.
Thus efforts to control
the world by the Caliphates and the Holy Roman Empire
for over 1,000 years by combining church and state both came to an end within
six years of each other, just as World War I ended in 1918.
Rise of the Third Reich
We all know the story of
the unfair Treaty of Versailles to end World War I that virtually destroyed any
hope for Germany
which faced dire consequences. For the next
decade German nationalism was fueled by the punishing treaty and resulted in
yet another effort to establish The Holy Roman Empire, better known as The
Third Reich.
In the early 1930s,
the mood in Germany
was grim. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially
hard, and millions of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many
was Germany's humiliating
defeat fifteen years earlier during World War I, and Germans lacked confidence
in their weak government, known as the Weimar Republic.
These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf
Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi
party for short. Hitler was a powerful
and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate
for change. He promised the disenchanted a better life and a new and glorious Germany. The
Nazis appealed especially to the unemployed, young people, and members of the
lower middle class (small store owners, office employees, craftsmen, and
farmers).
The party's rise to
power was rapid. Before the economic depression struck, the Nazis were
practically unknown, winning only 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag
(German parliament) in elections in 1924. In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won
33 percent of the votes, more than any other party. In January 1933 Hitler was
appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans
believed that they had found a savior for their nation.
Key Dates
JUNE 28, 1919
TREATY OF VERSAILLES ENDS WORLD WAR I
In the Treaty of Versailles, which
followed German defeat in World War I, the victorious powers (the United
States, Great Britain, France, and other allied states) impose severe terms on
Germany. Germany,
under threat of invasion, is forced to sign the treaty. Among other provisions,
Germany
accepts responsibility for the war and agrees to make huge payments (known as
reparations), limit its military to 100,000 troops, and transfer territory to
its neighbors. The terms of the treaty lead to widespread political discontent
in Germany.
Adolf Hitler gains support by promising to overturn them.
OCTOBER 24, 1929
STOCK MARKET CRASH IN NEW YORK
The plummet in the value of stocks
that is associated with the New York
stock market crash brings a rash of business bankruptcies. Widespread
unemployment occurs in the United
States. The "Great Depression," as
it is called, sparks a worldwide economic crisis. In Germany, six million are unemployed
by June 1932. Economic distress contributes to a meteoric rise in the support
for the Nazi party. As a result, the Nazi party wins the votes of almost 40 of
the electorate in the Reichstag (German parliament) elections of July 1932. The
Nazi party becomes at this point the largest party in the German parliament.
NOVEMBER 6, 1932
NAZIS LOSE SUPPORT IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
In the Reichstag (German
parliament) elections of November 1932, the Nazis lose almost two million votes
from the previous elections of July. They win only 33 percent of the vote. It
seems clear that the Nazis will not gain a majority in democratic elections,
and Adolf Hitler agrees to a coalition with conservatives. After months of
negotiations, the president of Germany,
Paul von Hindenburg, will appoint Hitler chancellor of Germany in a
government seemingly dominated by conservatives on January 30, 1933.
As Hitler began his reign
of terror under the guise of rebuilding The Holy Roman Empire the next few
years, from 1933 until the beginning of 1939, would be the last chance for the world
to stop him until World War II ended with his death and the collapse of Japan.
Lessons we failed to learn today
The failure to stop Hitler
would result in over 60 million deaths from the war.
Movements like the early
Caliphates and the Third Reich were efforts to ignore geopolitical boundaries.
Religions were compromised
in order to justify empires that ignored sovereign claims and geographic
boundaries.
Substantial lists of
enemies of the state or empire identified target population segments for
liquidation.
The ISIS Caliphate
of today
The Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS) has now officially become a global Islamic caliphate. It took
14 months for its leader, who is known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to set himself
up as a ruler “by order of God.” He is not only the “commander of the faithful”
now, but also the caliph-at-large, and the “successor” of Prophet Mohammad. The
historical declaration took place on the first day of the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan of the year 1435 AH (2014 AD).
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani,
spokesperson for ISIS, declared the creation
of the Islamic caliphate, “the jihadis’ long-running dream.” This marks the
first time the caliphate has been “restored” by anyone since Ataturk abolished
it almost 90 years ago.
According to Salafi
clerics, the caliph is required to rule a territory in every sense of the word,
and not in a provisional manner. They argue that ISIS staked its claim to the
caliphate on the basis that it controls vast swaths of territory, in addition
to having funds, an army, and a population under its control, though ISIS did not take into account the fact that each era
should have a different concept for what a state should be. Adnani had
specified the role of the state as being to release prisoners, appoint governors
and judges, collect taxes, and disseminate religious education, among other
functions.
Stopping the Rise of the Caliphate
Throughout history, there
were several attempts to build Caliphates and the Holy
Roman Empire. In each case,
force destroyed the movements although the delay in taking swift and decisive
action came too late to save millions of people.
Have we learned anything
in history? These movements are
dedicated to killing their enemy, taking no prisoners, and wiping out the
conquered culture. So far, they are well
on their way.
Contrary to Obama and his
foolish attitude of "containing" ISIS,
and the failure to build the worldwide network of nations needed to stop the
proliferation of terrorism, there is no end in sight.
Pope Francis warned Obama
and the world we are on the verge of World War III and this time the enemy will
be terrorism, the almost invisible cancer spreading throughout the western
world.
Unlike previous enemies of
the USA, ISIS has a reach
far beyond the borders where they live and they have demonstrated to Paris, Beirut,
and others the power they have to strike fear into the hearts of the world.
Do we have the power to
act to protect the world?
If Obama, Clinton, and the
media continue to disregard the extent of the threat to our existence and
believe we are really on the right track, we will see the face of ISIS in our face and watch as they terrorize us within
our borders.
We must demand action
before we allow another rise to power of the Dark Side, and millions of people
suffer the terrible consequences of our political paralysis. Our military are disgusted at not being able
to fight to defend us and rid the world of terrorism.
It is up to our leaders to
unleash the incredible power, fury, and righteous rage of the American people
so that Syrian refugees can go home and the people of the world can find peace
and freedom.
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