Walid Phares, the Natational. Security Expert: Time for ‘Real Resistance’ Against Jihadis
Kathryn Blackhurst/LifeZette/June 05/17
Walid Phares urges western leaders to ‘step forward’ and tell the public ‘we are in a war’
National security and foreign policy expert Walid Phares called on ordinary citizens to form a “real resistance” against the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorists, during an interview Monday on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”
Since President Donald Trump’s election, outraged liberals have labeled themselves “The Resistance,” staging protests and engaging in any effort to undermine the president’s agenda. Phares, a former adviser to Trump during the campaign, said the real and present danger facing the world are the deadly actions carried out by Jihadis.
“Instead of having the national leadership — I’m talking about mostly Europe and other countries in the West — advising the citizens as to what to do, my concern now is that … the government needs to step forward and tell the nations that we are in a war, unlike in the last eight years of the Obama administration,” Phares said. “And that is what Trump has been trying to do over the last few weeks now.”
“Tell the public that we need to resist, be the real resistance against the Jihadis,” Phares added. “And then see what else we can do.”
As a prime example, Phares pointed to reports stemming from Saturday’s London Bridge and Borough Market attacks in the British capital that described bystanders throwing bottles, chairs and other items at the terrorists.
“When one of the terrorists attacked a bar or a restaurant, for the first time we hear that the citizens who threw the tables and bottles at him … that is the spirit of resistance,” Phares said, adding that if the government tells the people that “everything is normal and don’t do anything,” it only serves to demoralize them.
Phares appeared to be alluding to London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s statement following the attacks in which he said, “My message to Londoners and visitors to our great city is to be calm and vigilant today. You will see an increased police presence today, including armed officers and uniformed officers. There is no reason to be alarmed by this. We are the safest global city in the world.”
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May also offered remarks that seemed to dismiss the scale of the threat. “Everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would,” she said, “Our society should continue to function in accordance with our values.”
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Phares urged Europe and the U.S. to steadfastly pursue stricter immigration policies and extreme vetting in order to begin dealing with the increasing global threat.
“Actually at the beginning of civilization, the Romans, they had this saying, ‘First you survive. Then you do all the philosophy that you want.’ We are with terrorism at a similar stage,” Phares said. “The government needs to ensure the survival of the population. Even if these are still dispersed actions, they are growing in numbers.”
“What happened to vetting? We’ve been talking about vetting for the last 10 years. Nothing has happened. And when there is an attempt by government … to begin looking at vetting, it is charged as Islamophobia,” Phares said, alluding to Trump’s blocked travel ban executive order awaiting a Supreme Court hearing.
“So we need to make sure that whatever the policy is on immigration, it be preceded, not followed — we don’t vet after migration. You vet before migration,” Phares said. “And that’s why we need to change that policy. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of opposition to the Trump administration’s attempt to create a re-vetting system.”
