Letter to the President

1 November 2016

Persuasive Letter to the Next President of the United States

To the next President of the United States of America. First off congratulations! You’ve been elected to take command of one of the greatest nations on Earth, and the people of the United States have voted and trust that with your guidance you can make this country better than what it previously. However, with terror cells like ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hamas threatening the American and way of life, we cannot allow them to slip under the radar and cause another catastrophic terror attack, whether it be on domestic or foreign soil. These groups, especially Hamas and al-Qaeda, are Islamic extremists that use the justification of the Quran, to target anyone that opposes them and their beliefs, even Muslims. Their fundamentalist ideology threatens the peace of the world with recent attacks such as shown in Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino, Orlando and Nice. These ways to deal and suppress these threats, are either with military force or regulation of firearms in the United States.

Recent Attacks & Correlation with Islam

In the past month in September, 201 terror attacks have been recorded around the world and 1,167 people have been killed [1]; there are no signs of it slowing down. A huge majority of these attacks a carried out by radical Islamic jihadists, who say that what they do is justified in the Quran’s words, however there is no literal evidence to prove so. Being a resident of Minnesota, Somali immigration has increased in the past two decades because of the ongoing conflicts there. Although I do not see anything wrong with people seeking refuge from a war torn nation, recent events have shown young Somalian men attempt to fly to Saudi Arabia or Iraq to join ISIS. Most of these men are affiliated with links to ISIS, whether to join them for their cause or being instructed to cause harm here. Albeit it is very hard to speculate the information presented with young Somali men who believe in Islam and have connections with ISIS, there still remains no reason for history to repeat itself. Yossi Melman is a writer for The Jerusalem Post, and has this to say about ISIS. “World leaders know very well how to eliminate, or at least substantially weaken, the most barbaric and dangerous movement modern civilization has witnessed since Nazi Germany was defeated. They are fully aware of, but refuse to employ, what is needed because they lack the political will and statesmanship that are essential for the task. They refuse to do so because they are convinced that the public in the West is not ready to make the sacrifices – namely to see its sons and daughters sent to the battlefields ‒ and killed for this cause” [2] (Melman 1). What Mr. Melman is alluding towards, is that the only way to remove the threat of ISIS, is to use force with soldiers and tanks, not tactical airstrikes. He makes the comparison of ISIS towards Nazi Germany in the 1930’s, a small radical group that was slowly growing by the day and becoming a true force to be reckoned with. Melman also says that world leaders know how to get rid of terror organizations like ISIS, but lack a political backbone to go through it. In a somewhat ironic mood, World War Two saw many nations join the ranks of other nations. It saw the United States and the Soviet Union joins sides to fight against a common enemy, just as the U.S led coalition with air strikes sees joint ops with the United Kingdom, France and Saudi Arabia command air strikes over Iraq and Syria.

However, most airstrikes that have taken place in the past year have been ineffective, due to the potential of targeting a civilian location and causing unnecessary casualties. Mr. Melman once again gives evidence to suggest the use of infantry forces against ISIS is the only logical way to remove them.“But what is needed is not more of the same – empty promises of politicians to “fight terrorism” or ineffective air strikes – but a real conceptual U-turn backed by strong military measures. The world needs a revolution in the readiness to really fight the devilish forces of ISIS and its malignant metastases, which have spread to Africa, Sinai and Western Europe”[2] (Melman 2). Mr. Melman’s solid testimony speaks truth about every word he is saying. ISIS is the definition of evil, by executing hundreds of innocents based off of their beliefs and political values.

Gun Control and Restrictions

Speculation on whether gun control and restrictions on firearms, is a boiling topic in today's society and government. With mass shootings like Sandy Hook, Aurora theater, San Bernardino and Columbine have all been indicators that terrorist use weapons that are deemed controversial. The most infamous weapon involved in these shootings, is the AR-15 rifle, which is the civilian variant of the military's M16/M-4 style rifles. The weapon can also hold up to 30 rounds of ammunition, more than enough to cause massive damage to people and property. According to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who may or may not be President), gun safety and control measures are the only way to prevent terrorism. “But I’m looking at violence broadly. … It’s also why I’ve advocated gun-safety reform, like comprehensive background checks, closing the gun-show loophole, closing the online loophole—because, you know, it’s not only terrorists we need to be worried about. Terrorism is part of it, but gun violence kills 33,000 Americans a year. … We’ve got to get serious about stemming violence and terrorism in every way we can” [3] (Clinton 2). Hillary Clinton makes a statement surrounding the idea that gun control and terrorism both go hand to hand with each other. Whether there is a certain loophole in Gun shops and shows around the country, it is certainly gaining attention with Hillary mentioning this as a way for citizens and people with a record of criminal or incriminating activities to acquire firearms.

There has also been an increase in firearm usage by terrorist than explosives and bombs in recent years. Many say that lax measures on background checks are why this problem is reacurring.“Experts say the increased use of guns in terror attacks is an alarming trend. Arie Perliger, director of terrorism studies at the U.S. Military Academy, said that ‘U.S. terrorists are turning to guns because since Sept. 11, the federal government has monitored the use of explosives and the trade of materials that can be turned into explosives. People on the terrorism watch list aren’t barred from buying guns, by contrast, although such a ban probably wouldn’t have stopped the Charleston or San Bernardino shootings, because the suspects weren’t on the watch list.’” [4](Bialik 1) Although the United States government has done a good job making sure that illegal devices and explosives are not brought into the country, they still need to make sure that the background check system is up to par on how to prevent firearms from ending up in the wrong hands. We are making steps in the right direction with safety and regulation over firearms, but we need to be very thorough and professional on how we go on about this manner.

CONCLUSION

Through the ideas of using military forces to combat insurgency in the Middle East and other foreign lands, to reinforcing background checks with more investigation work and information being used, we can challenge anyone that wants to cause harm to everyday law abiding citizens in our great nation. It was the ideas that this nation for the people, and by the people could generate great minds and ideas to strive us toward future goals and greatness. However, controlling guns and using brute force to vanquish our nation’s enemies is one thing, but also knowing that we cannot control or predict when people want to carry out these heinous acts of terror.

Works Cited

[1] "List of Islamic Terror Attacks." List of Islamic Terror Attacks. N.p., 28 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

[2] Melman, Yossi. "How to Stop ISIS, the Most Dangerous Movement since Nazism." The Jerusalem Post. The Jerusalem Post, 24 Dec. 2015. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

[3]@BreitbartNews. "Hillary Clinton: We Cannot End Terrorism Without Gun Control." Breitbart News. N.p., 2016. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.

[4] Bialik, Carl. "Terrorists Are Turning To Guns More Often In U.S. Attacks." FiveThirtyEight. N.p., 2016. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.