About those Syrian refugees

This is a re-post of the blog I wrote shortly after the announcement was made that America was going to host some amount of Syrian Refugees, and the hysteria that followed right after, complete with demagoguery and vilification of the victims of events that America, and several other nations had a hand in creating and are all still doing so now. Several governments are responsible for what made them refugees in the first place, right alongside Islamic State, Al Nusra, and Al Qaeda. Ignorance of these facts means assisting those latter groups in their overall plans. You decide for yourself though.

A number of exchanges online prompted this post. This is mainly directed at my fellow Americans.

And please don’t go digging in my ass for links and references and footnotes. This isn’t something you paid me to do, and you have access to the same search engines I do. Don’t trust a word I tell you, but look it up; all of it. This concerns you as much as it does me.

President Obama has made his intentions clear about allowing 100,000 Syrian refugees to seek asylum here over the course of the next year; reported amounts vary, so I’m going middle of the road strictly for arguments sake and accounting purposes. More than a few of you are very unhappy about this. Those are the people I am writing this for, and while some of you are just towing the line with an alleged conservative ideology and others just hate these people for their color or their religion, I am going to act as if your concerns are genuine as I address them.

This is not about posturing or proving you wrong. I have one intention.

I want you to stop being afraid.

At least about this one thing. Because it’s not just terrorists that want you afraid.

Politicians want you afraid so you look to them for leadership, which affects their popularity, campaign donations, what actions their supporters will condone resulting in financial support and income opportunities.

Large news organizations want you afraid so you stay tuned in, which means ad revenue. As their viewership increases, their ad rates increase as well as the queue for sponsorship. The more horrifying the spectacle or the more menacing the threat can seem, the better. That’s why every time something happens with the weather, it’s an event now and every storm system gets a name to make it personal. This is ignoring that the owners of these organizations have a financial stake in those politicians and their policies.

Smaller news outlets want you afraid so you not only keep tuned in maybe giving their sponsors a few more eyeballs but maybe also visit the website store page and pick up a few essential ‘informative’ books and DVDs.

Bloggers, vloggers and tweeters, and this includes me, just want some of your precious time and attention. I can’t speak for the rest, but I have no profit motive. I’m not looking to build a following or sell you anything. I don’t want your fear at all. I want to see us do the right thing as a group, and be alright with it being done.

So, let’s get started with the lay of the land in Syria.

Syria is a hot commodity.

Syria is a Muslim led country(It’s The Law), sharing an enormous border with Iraq, and alongside Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, they sit directly on Israel’s border. A large section here, Golan Heights, was taken from Syria in 1967 and annexed by Israel in 1981. These neighbors have history.

That Syria is allied with Iran is therefore a concern for Israel and her allies. That Syria is allied with Russia and Iran and China is a political and economic concern for a number of countries, notably the US. That Syria is sitting on 2.5 billion barrels of oil is of great concern to the entire oil industry, hence of great interest to the US again. That their central bank is state run, like their oil industry, is of concern to the Rothschild family, seeing as they have an almost global monopoly on central banking, and by extension, once again, of concern to the US.

Syria is a disaster.

What started as a peaceful protest regarding the political system and civil rights escalated into a full blown civil war during the Arab Spring. The civil war itself become a proxy for the ongoing conflict between Sunni and Shia interests, inviting neighboring countries into the fray. The government is led by Bashar al-Assad, preceded by his father before him. Against Assad are rebel forces, former members of his military, and the Islamic State, among others. Supporting Assad are Russia, Iran and the group Hezbollah, among others. Events during the Arab Spring showed Assad had violated numerous human rights and perpetrated a number of war crimes, which is what allegedly prompted the US to start supporting those opposing Assad, making this also a proxy extension of our cold war with Russia who has been supporting Assad and the Kurds, who are also involved in the warfare there.

America must accept some of the responsibility for their situation.

There’s a whole lot of the globe involved in this one country.

If you’d like a timeline for everyone and everything involved in the last four years, there are many, but I like this one from Vice: You can read that here.

Russia is responsible for equipping, arming and training Assad’s military while keeping their economy afloat. Russia has also directly intervened militarily by airstrikes bombing IS, Al-Nusra and other enemies of the state.

Iran has provided Assad with nine billion dollars(that we know of), combat troops, technical support and arms.

Venezuela ships Assad diesel for his tanks.

North Korea has a standing arms trade with Assad. It is rumored to be the same with Algeria.

Then there is Lebanon, whose intelligence agency is rumored to be involved with the disappearance of a number of Syria’s critics and dissenters. Lebanon is also the origin point for Hezbollah.

France and Britain and the US have been supplying Assad’s opposition, namely the rebel forces, with medical supplies, communications equipment and intelligence, while Libya, Saudi Arabia, Croatia and Qatar supply the opposition with weapons(including anti-tank weapons), money and volunteers. Switzerland was unwittingly supplying arms to the rebels, but stopped shortly after discovering the fact.

Turkey has trained defectors of Assad’s military, which have since become The Free Syrian Army, also referred to as the rebel forces.

Jordan is directly engaging IS, who are engaging the rebels and Hezbollah, and otherwise trying to own the entirety of Syria.

Let’s not forget the Syrian Kurds, who are directly engaging Al-Nusra, and also receive their support from Canada, Britain, France and the US.

Ah, the US. We not only support the Kurds there, but the Free Syrian Army, including airstrikes with both manned and unmanned aircraft, which is an interesting parallel to the fact that Al Qaeda and their resulting offshoots Al-Nusra and IS only exist because of our efforts in the Middle East, which include the financing, outfitting, arming and training of these groups. We are in this thing deep, with allies, dependents and enemies on all sides. Remember this the next time you think of complaining about where our tax money goes. If your main concern is ‘welfare queens’ you need to rethink your priorities.

Every one of these countries has some responsibility they must take for the state of Syria. They wanted oil, political and economic leverage? That makes them responsible for what has happened to those citizens and civilians. End of debate.

So, why can’t they stand their ground and fight?

If you now understand the scale of the conflict and what’s at stake, I would hope you understand that all that is left for a civilian there is a death sentence. Every one of those factions operates on a ‘join us or die’ mentality, whether that is from a military, political or religious standpoint. If there were only two sides of the one country involved, that would be a different story entirely. As it stands, the only option is death if you remain, and especially if you want to somehow be neutral amidst the chaos. So that leaves running to survive. Were no country to allow these people in, these people must then join one of those factions or die. It’s that simple and that serious.

You don’t trust the vetting process?

We have had a process in place since 1980, which got overhauled after the 9/11 attacks. First, eligibility is determined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. After that, the UNHCR determines the best fit for a person to be placed, determined in part if they have family someplace, for instance. Then the round of security clearances begin once referred to the US by the FBI, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. After the security clearances, the case is once again reviewed with the findings of the clearances and where they came from, what caused them to flee and their individual experiences. Do your own research on the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Process.

This normally takes between 18 and 24 months but can take up to three years, with DHS constantly revisiting and interviewing them and other constant medical check-ups besides. Only about half of applicants make it through the process.

What part of this is not satisfying enough to you? What more do you need? What would you really add?

Make a special note here too: Not once has a terrorist gotten past this process. Not one refugee has been involved in domestic terrorism out of the 750,000 we’ve taken in. Not one documented case. And this is since 2001.

Are you aware of the other refugees we take in?

Not even counting a humanitarian crisis, we already take in about 70,000 refugees a year. We took in 400 Syrians last year. We’ve accepted a former child soldier from the Congo. Last year we took 758 refugees from Afghanistan. Last year we accepted 19,651 refugees from Iraq.

You’re a little late to the party to start worrying about refugees until now, but then again, this is the first time that the TV has told you to be worried, right? I understand.

And make no mistake, Syria’s situation is a humanitarian crisis. With a population of 22 million, a full half have been displaced, relocated or flat out murdered.

The terrorists are just using the refugees as cover? That one guy involved in the Paris attacks used the refugees as cover. Surely at least one is going to get in here.

Alomohammad Ahmad’s Syrian passport was a fake. Ignoring that, it’s not impossible for that situation to actually happen, but how real is it to expect for a terrorist organization to just plant someone who can be discovered at any time over the next three years, leaving them potentially exposed the entire time? Is it not more reasonable that they would try to recruit residents of that country? That’s what they’ve been doing. No big mystery here. No romantic plot. Nothing that would feature on an episode of 24. Just business as usual, instead of the fear-mongering insanity of sleeper cells in refugee camps sold to you by politicians and junk news entertainment.

What about the ones caught in Greece?

It’s a choice you’ve made to focus on the attempt and ignore that they were caught. No knock on Greece, but they’re not us either.

Choose again.

How about we just take in the Christian ones?

If you don’t wish to be discriminated against personally for your religious views, and if you have even the fleet-ingest familiarity with the first amendment of our constitution, this should be repugnant to you. That it’s not even a real safety measure should go without saying.

But they’re Muslim! Islam is full of hate and evil! Those people have no respect for our ways!

A lack of familiarity should not be conflated with a lack of respect. Between our entertainment and food and points of conspicuous consumption, not to mention things that actually deserve a description of culture, and completely ignoring an idea like right to expression or freedom of worship, immigrants and refugees alike take to living here really quick. Ask a neighbor.

Am I defending Islam? Not on your life! I have no use for any religion, and that affords me a unique perspective from you believers out there, and you’re not going to like it, but it’s very simple. ‘Those people’ are just as fanatical about their holy books as ‘you people’. They lead their lives by it, in exactly the same measure as you. They read as much of their texts as you do. They listen to their spiritual leaders as much as you do. Their choices are dictated by their faith just as much as yours are.

Now pay very close attention here:

Your holy books have just as much hatred and intolerance and violence and destruction as theirs.

And they ignore theirs as much as you ignore yours.

They’re not that different at all.

Time to grow up.

What about the Fort Hood shooter?

I’m not sure if Glenn Beck created that meme, or just passed it along, but it’s bullshit. It’s focus is on stopping refugees from being accepted.

Nidal Hassan was born in Arligton, Virginia.

He wasn’t snuck in as part of some elaborate plot. Just another asshole American with bad ideas who acted on them.

But they were the ones cheering after 9/11!

I’m not giving those people a pass, but you’re mixing two very separate groups of people together, and I bet you don’t have a good reason for doing it, other than you never thought it through in the first place.

Although, if you consider that those cheering loons and the flag burners, not only have a right to express themselves, which you should recognize, even though you don’t like the messages, and that our government has been doing things that harm their relatives and loved ones in foreign lands, so that those messages are justified, we kinda have to just live with it if we are unable to even speak out about those bad things ourselves. Isn’t that what we say about Muslims when they don’t come out and verbally express their disgust or anger of people using their religion to do bad things, that they should? learn to appreciate that people have a diversity of perspectives and not everyone focuses on everything the same, at the same times or in equal measures.

The world does not revolve around only you.

On second thought, I am giving them a pass, precisely because I love the freedoms they are using to curse the land that give them those freedoms in the first place.

You can do the same. Or argue with them. I’m fine with both. I do both.

Our veterans/homeless/students/taxpayers should come first!

None of these need precedence over any of the others. Our government is designed to take care of each equally, at the same time. Sadly, our government doesn’t operate at peak efficiency, but you already knew that, yes? That one group is not being taken care of to your satisfaction is not a good reason to ignore any of the others, unless you’re that childish, petty or selfish.

But they’re just lazy bums, here to leech off the system and steal our jobs!

If a lazy person is able to steal your job, you should be ashamed. Very very ashamed. Doug Stanhope does a great bit concerning this; you should look that up.

Seriously though, this is something in the way of disaster capitalism. The so-called conservatives are just using a humanitarian crisis to sell their usual political nonsense. It’s shameless and base really. It doesn’t deserve more of a response than that.

But if it makes you feel better, our laws and programs concerning refugees are in place specifically to make them self sufficient, law abiding tax-payers. Think real hard about the people you have around you that don’t fit that bill, and they’ve been here their whole lives.

But where are we getting the money for this?

How about our defense budget? Work the figures accordingly, and do your own math.

100,000 people at a projected 60k apiece for the five years of education, culturization and job training they’ll need comes out to six billion. That’s a lot of money to you and me, but you’re not thinking at the same level as our military. I’m not going to go through line items, or to consider that it would just mean cutting back on x amount of a certain drone or jet or tank for just this one year that would pay for all five. But I can go with just one example, like the f-35 Lockheed Martin sinkhole that since 2006 has netted an expense of nearly 400 billion and not produced a single plane. Maybe I should just point out that if we cut back on our activities in these foreign lands, a few less bombings, and double taps, and maybe not have 700 military bases all over the globe and maybe if we would stop creating and participating in terrorist groups, their attacks and the responses they create a need for, we would start to experience a monetary surplus again instead of an endless deficit.

Want to save some cash? Stop supporting wars; especially the unjust, unlawful and unnecessary ones.

The money’s there, for the refugees, and our veterans, and our students.

Stop making excuses.

Start paying attention.

Stop being afraid.

This is supposed to be the ‘Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave’.

Start acting like it America.

That original post was here: http://plantthem.blogspot.com/

Disagree? Make your best arguments.
Agree? Pass it along.

Thanks.