Arming Terrorists and Disarming Americans

By Max McGuire

Arming Terrorists and Disarming Americans
Arming Terrorists and Disarming Americans
SanityPolitics
SanityPolitics

New Jersey –-(Ammoland.com)- As a prospective military strike against the Syrian regime dominates the headlines, we are reminded by administration officials that any military action will not include boots on the ground and will not be focused on regime change.

In a turn of events mimicking an episode from the Twilight Zone, once-hawkish Republicans are advocating non-intervention and their peacenik colleagues across the aisle are actually supporting a military strike in the Middle East.

While Congress debates whether to physically attack the Assad Regime, many lawmakers are reevaluating whether to send military aid to the Syrian rebels. A limited military strike “also fits into a broader strategy that can bring about over time the kind of strengthening of the opposition,” Obama told congressional leaders at a White House Meeting on Sept. 3, 2013. This comes months after the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence voted to approve the President’s plan to arm the Syrian opposition.

As the world remains focused on potential airstrikes, few are paying attention to the administration’s plan to arm the rebels. The New York Times has reported that during this White House meeting, Obama told lawmakers that a covert operation to train Syrian rebels is beginning to yield results. The first US-trained unit has moved across the Jordanian border into war-torn Syria. In a Google+ Hangout, Secretary of State John Kerry reported that US military aid to moderate elements within the opposition had been slow to arrive. However Kerry asserts that the small arms and ammunition have begun to flow into the country in a coordinated effort “to get [the opposition] the assistance they need.”

The Obama administration’s plan to provide small arms to the Syrian Rebels was approved by Congress. Good luck finding the transcripts of these committee meetings though… they were classified. When asked about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s vote to arm the rebels, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the committee chair, responded “It’s classified.” (Which is a polite way of saying ‘it’s none of your business’)

That’s right. Dianne Feinstein — the author of the “Assault Weapons” Ban – doesn’t believe that the American people have a right to know who the government is giving small arms to. That oversight requirement apparently only should apply to American citizens. Now, the gun grabbers-turned-hawks have decided to arm “vetted” elements of the Syrian opposition. Yet even the most ‘moderate’ elements of the opposition have shown fleeting moments of extremism. The irony is that while Sen. Feinstein fought so hard to disarm the American people and ban semi-automatic firearms, she is apparently more than willing to gift fully automatic weaponry to so called “vetted” rebel groups who are fighting alongside al-Qaeda.

It is incredibly unsettling that twelve years after 9/11, the United States government is actively supporting and arming rebels fighting alongside Islamic extremists.

The United States has a long history of arming rebel movements around the globe, and an unfortunately equally long history of having these weapons later used against us. The most famous example of this “blowback” is Operation Cyclone, in which the CIA provided weapons to the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1980’s to fight the Soviet Union. This operation was made famous by then-Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-TX) who teamed up with the CIA to deliver automatic and anti-aircraft weaponry to the Afghan freedom fighters (including a young Osama bin Laden). The hypocrisy is that while Rep. Wilson was arming America’s future enemies with automatic weapons, he also voted to take that right away from American citizens through the interestingly titled “Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA)”.

While the American people couldn’t be trusted with automatic arms, we gave AK-47s and anti-aircraft Stinger Missiles to Afghan Islamists (with many unaccounted for to this day).

Obviously, this is a historical example, but the hypocrisy of disarming Americans and arming terrorists remains in congress today.

Since the transcripts of these Intelligence committee votes are classified (and will likely remain classified for years), the committee members are restricted from commenting on the covert operations. However, here is the membership roster the House and Senate Select Intelligence Committees. In these two tables, italics represent the legislator’s support of the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban. Those in bold have expressed support for a new Assault Weapon Ban and/or a ban on High Capacity Magazines. Lastly, an asterisk shows that the legislator voted for the 1986 FOPA to limit civilian ownership of automatic firearms.

2013 US House Select Intelligence Committee
2013 US House Select Intelligence Committee

While the votes remain classified regarding arming the Syrian rebels, there is not a single Democrat member of the House Intelligence committee who did not vote for the Assault Weapon Ban of 1994 or support and co-sponsor a 2013 version of the bill. It is widely believed that passing the President’s Syria agenda in the House would require unanimous or near unanimous support from House Democrats.

2013 US Senate Select Intelligence Committee
2013 US Senate Select Intelligence Committee

There is not a single Democrat, on either intelligence committee, that respects the constitutional rights of Americans over the rights of Islamist rebels. That might seem like a pretty dramatic statement to make, but it is true.

There isn’t a single Democrat on the House or Senate Select Intelligence Committees that believe an American citizen has the right to possess a semi-automatic rifle and a “high capacity” magazine.

These weapons are seen by them as too dangerous for civilian ownership. Yet they are more than willing to approve a covert mission to provide fully automatic military grade weaponry to rebel fighters half a world away fighting alongside al-Qaeda and Islamic extremists.

On one hand, this was already common knowledge. It’s safe to say that those who propose restricting an entire class of weaponry based on cosmetic features don’t see constitutional rights as particularly important. Everyone knows that these Democrats believe that the best society is a disarmed society. But it should give you pause to learn that these same people are willing to give fully automatic assault rifles to loosely vetted insurgents whose chief ally is al-Qaeda.

It is also interesting that these lawmakers see the value in owning weapons to resist tyranny and oppression abroad as beneficial, yet don’t understand that logic domestically. I am not advocating the overthrow of the government in any way AT ALL. Anyone who suggests that the United States has reached a point warranting a revolution is an idiot. But that does not mean that the Federal government does not have the capacity for tyranny.

In Federalist No. 51, James Madison writes that “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

The Second Amendment exists to allow the civilian ownership of infantry weaponry so that citizens might defend against enemies foreign and domestic. The Democrats reject this interpretation of the Second Amendment. They instead believe that the founders – four years removed from fighting a war for independence – enshrined the right to bear arms for sporting purposes.

The United States gave billions of dollars to the Afghan Mujahideen. Many of these freedom fighters would later form the Taliban and al-Qaeda. In the mid-1980s, the United States also trained Saddam Hussein’s army and “[made] sure that Iraq had the military weaponry required.” Without a doubt, US service personnel have been shot by weapons once supplied by the United States government. That is a statistical fact. While it is impossible to know for certain, it would be shocking if a US-supplied weapon was not used against an American soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan.

What it ultimately comes down to is who our elected officials trust with weaponry: American citizens or extremist rebels in the Middle East. Since 1934, there have only been two homicides committed with legally registered automatic weapons. Given how we gave billions of dollars’ worth of automatic weapons to the Afghans and Iraqis in the 1980s, one has to wonder just how many men and women in uniform were killed or wounded by a US-provided weapon. Logic would dictate that number would be higher than two.

If you are a law abiding gun owner, you don’t need anyone to convince you that the United States of America is safer with a gun in your hand than it is when al-Qaeda is armed. That should be common sense. But when you hear in the next months about the new gun control pushes that will inevitably come, remember that the elected officials trying to disarm you actually voted to arm Islamic extremists. And they didn’t even bat an eyelash.

About SanityPolitic’ Max Mcguire;
Max McGuire is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Political Science at Villanova University. He graduated from Boston College, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Arabic Studies. Follow him on Twitter@SanityPolitics

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Melissa slack

We do need to clean out the White House… Impeach Obama now! And fire those in the White House who think like he does! Another year of this is only going to further destroy our great country!!! We have impeached other presidents for a lot less… What is the problem… This president and his gang needs to be stopped!

Nam Marine

The chocolate messiah is a complete fraud!

Ed

INCUMBENTS- the “politically correct” endangered species!
Remember in November- vote early and vote often..Oops, only Ds allowed, I forgot…
This message brought to you by dead felons for social justice…

Patriot

Since the Syrian rebels are admitted (by our own Government) allies of Al Queda (if not partially made up of Al Queda soldiers, more likely), a group NO ONE WILL ARGUE is a sworn enemy of The United States of America, whoever voted to send arms and aid to them technically committed treason, according to the Constitution.

We need two witnesses to convict… were there any true patriots in that classified meeting?!

Bobby

Americans are long on talk and short on action. Whether it’s outsourcing of our jobs, insourcing people to replace us at our jobs, millions of foreign nationals, illegally crossing the border and sucking our social services dry, taking our school and university seats, and even dissing us, we do nothing at all about it. We won’t even replace,WHOLESALE, the polticians that are abusing us. WE GET WHAT WE DESERVE. No problem, solves itself on its own.

Paul Revere

It’s time American patriots start making citizen arrests of their treasonous politicians. The gangsters in D.C. fear justice from armed American patriots. If you’re not in a militia; join one now. Assert your constitutional rights.

Ken

https://www.firearmspolicy.org/the-issues/california/2013-2014/askbrown/

agreed on all points in article. Help CA defeat the gun grabbing bills with the link above.

dan

all anti Constitutional ‘terrorist’ should be removed from society…..for the ‘safety of the children’…..ALL

Paul

This American hating Dictator would rather arm the rebels and take our arms away from us. He would rather have armed gangs roaming our streets than have the people of the country armed. He would rather supply weapons to drug cartels than have the people armed. Just who is this DICTATOR working for because he ain’t working for the people of this country. Is this idiot working for the enemy or the drug cartels or who? So far all he has wanted to do is for the mazlam criminals and the thuggish drug cartels that have caused the deaths of… Read more »

Double "D" Edd USN Ret.

Disarming AMERICAN citizens fits right into the BIG PLAN of our Muslim in Chief and party. The Japanese during WWII would not invade the US due to all the armed citizens they would have to fight and the men they would lose. The MinC is just clearing the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to take over the GREAT SATAN with little lose of Jihadist Soldiers.
Welcome Comrade to the new Sharia Order!

Mick McNulty

Those Muslims will be planning years ahead and I suspect many of those heavy weapons the US government has supplied them with, such as truck-mounted machine guns, will be making their way across the Atlantic. Not just in containers but small boats, from Africa to South and Central America, ready for when the dollar collapses and they can move north. The US may end up like Syria is now, and without weapons you’ll be murdered en mass.

seanoamericano

This is what happens when a community organizer is selected. Insert drug cartels in place of regime and there is another example of his anti American agenda.

dave

The screaming HYPOCRACY and utter STUPIDITY in Wash is staggering !!! Diane FRANKENSTEIN is the epitome of hypocracy. That ELETIST witch is a classic example of why we need TERM LIMITS !! Also, I’m sure most Americans have NO clue that the US Gov armed the TERRORISTS that our military hass been fighting for over 10 years now (Mujahideen, Bin Laden). NUTS !!!!!

Ranchman

I’m sorry but, I stopped reading when I was told that those who think the country is nearing the point of revolution are idiots. I believe that we’re all entitled to our opinions, right? I don’t think that, just because someone feels we’re nearing that point that they think it’s a good thing. Personally, I have no belief anymore whatsoever that my govt is willing to listen to my point-of-view, they couldn’t care less what ANY of us think. When an elected class puts on a cloak of superiority such as that, and feels they are above the law and… Read more »

Mindy Robinson

No, I don’t think we should overthrow our gov, I think we should as Americans, go to DC and arrest all those who have invaded our nation and our gov. I would suggest it is time that we reestablish our gov, I would also suggest that we be armed. We are under the rule of tyranny and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot.

Johnny Geetar

“Anyone who suggests that the US has reached a point warranting revolution is an idiot?” Oh; ok…. So putting our children 17 trillion dollars in debt that they can never pay back, trying to do away with our rights to defend ourselves, destroying our education system, enslaving half our population on government largesse and handing us the bill for same, rendering the ballot box completely worthless via fraud, destroying the best healthcare system in the world, and sanctioning immorality that is destroying the moral fabric of this nation; THOSE are just meaningless hiccups, right? What kind of a limp-wristed, gutless,… Read more »

senior74

And isn’t it amazing the ones Obama is helping are the ones trying to wipe Christianity off the map. And even here in America the same thing is happening. There is an aricle at WND.com saying Egypt has evidence Obama is a member of the moslem brotherhood so no wonder!!!

John

calling democrats scumbags out of line on this site? then my money is out of line also!

John

Those scumbag democrats know too well how dangerous armed patriots are going to be when they finally make their move up overthrow the Republic.

uzziel

So WASTE both the Islamofascists *and* the .gov officials arming them! This isn’t frigging ROCKET SCIENCE, people!