Do Americans really understand the threat we face with ISIS?

1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:36:30 -0400

My wife showed me a video the other night (link included in this post) that we laughed about at first. Laughed at how idiotic the university staff were.
If you haven't watched this yet, I'll fill you in. A woman poses as a student who wants to start a campus club. She goes on to say that she wants to send aid to ISIS, including flashlights for the "freedom fighters" because they can't see at night to protect themselves because they don't have night vision like we do. She even tells them she wants to have the name ISIS in it. They tell her she should change the name of club to keep the ISIS name out of it, but they still support what she wants to do.

After my initial reaction of laughing, disgust set in. Are we, Americans, so naive that we would let something like this actually go on? While our government spends trillions of dollars to try and keep us secure, something as open as this can go on? And who would the blame if something happened here again?

I believe that sometimes the simple things are overlooked, trying to get to the big picture. We have satellites, boots on the ground, informants, and other types of sources in problematic regions of the world. But how do we watch over our own, here, to ensure that security breach isn't on our own ground?

Bottom line is to always be away of your surroundings...even at home. Keep an eye on what groups are starting in your area, stay tuned in to your community. Be aware.

http://www.projectveritas.com/posts/news/o’keefe-exposes-another-university-sympathetic-isis

Response by 1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 2 at 2015 7:53 PM

1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:53:59 -0400

Response by SSG Michael Underwood made Apr 2 at 2015 8:57 PM

SSG Michael Underwood — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:57:41 -0400

Americans, especially students are clueless.

Response by PV2 Violet Case made Apr 2 at 2015 9:11 PM

PV2 Violet Case — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:11:27 -0400

yes people are clueless. If you even try to get them to wake up they may think you are crazy. I try to tell them most of our men are gone fighting. It is up to us as Americans to report anything we think is out of line. They are crawling everywhere and even some of our own people have turned. This is a very serious matter. I have talked to a few veteran friends here along the border that we may be needed one day I also try to plead with veterans on the stop suicide website on facebook telling them to hold on that there are many people who have respect and love for them and that one day our country may need us again even if we are crippled up. But wake up America.

Response by SFC Collin McMillion made Apr 2 at 2015 9:14 PM

SFC Collin McMillion — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:14:47 -0400

Definitely no! You can try to tell them about the horrors of war until you are blue in the face, no offense intended to the Mar's or another alien population, and still they are incapable of even imagining it. They see it, I think in kind of a movie senario where if they don't want to see they turn their head. They cannot conceive the realities of hearing, seeing, smelling and dealing with the real thing. The gruesome facts of war are too much to absorb, sometimes even if you are there.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 2 at 2015 9:48 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:48:57 -0400

Of course not. The nation doesn't care about what's going on over there. Clueless is going to remain the country's sentiment until some lone wolf who claims ISIS/ or an ISIS member(s) crosses the line and pulls off an attack that is on the level of 9/11 or even worse (I maybe going to extremes) on the level of Newtown.

Response by 1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2015 11:21 AM

1SG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 11:21:25 -0400

Army antiterrorism program asks all to "iWATCH"

http://www.army.mil/article/143199

Army antiterrorism program asks all to "iWATCH"

To help us better understand the importance of identifying suspicious activity and the proper way to report it, the Department of the Army's Office of the Provost Marshal General came up with an anti-terrorism awareness program called "iWATCH".

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2015 1:46 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 13:46:59 -0400

They will only fully understand once it affects them. Once something goes down here, and isn't an isolated event, but one of a numbered attacks. Our attention span has been shortened successfully by the 24hr news cycle. ISIS/L is a half a world away, what do we care?

Ironically, the people who ridicule most our sheepdog mentality vs ISIS/L are the first ones that would be destroyed by them.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2015 5:19 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 17:19:50 -0400

Most Americans don't care.

I'll share a personal story. When I was mobilizing in 2011 for the tail end of OND my mom had a social event with some of her teacher friends. When my mom mentioned I was deploying, one of the women there was just horrified. She said and I quote: "We're still over there? The President said he would get us out of Iraq if he was elected!" Apparently she hadn't noticed the 3 years of war that had been going on since the election.

What's probably more frustrating is those of us that do pay attention are often dismissed as "extremists" or "nutjobs." In my opinion it would take something along the lines of the 9/11 attacks before Americans start paying attention again.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2015 6:06 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 18:06:08 -0400

That was project Veritas, from Jame O'keefe.

People don't want to deal with the big picture, never have never will. We have been in active war since October 2001, when our troops deployed to OEF, and so forth. To this day 90% of the population including congressmen/women, MSM, pseudo intellectuals, rabid communists university professors can make ill assesment about what is a sunni, a shia, what is the geopolitical divide in that area, the have NO CLUE to this date, and is not because we have not given them time to get it, but just because we carry the burden to deal with it in a personal manner, while life in the states remains uninterrupted. It is the dumb down, pervasive laziness of the first world not to know who we deal with and we are having inbreds here at home who get offended because a) you wear an american flag t shirt to school, b) if someone simply states with words that they don't agree with your choice of lifestyle (freedom of religion thingy) then you are the worst bigot in the history of mankind, while ignoring the hanging of all the LBGT over Iran, and those Islamic countries.

Kind of a sad state of affair, we just need to keep pushing and educating them whenever we have a chance. Knowledge is power, and if you have to set someone straight, well just simply state it, and you would have done a great service. I keep on my phone all those Saddams videos cutting tongues, and all sort of sick stuff, as well as taliban women's stoning, and acid burning, and cutting of ears and noses, as well as those iranian gays hangings at hand. It makes for a shock revelation for those know-it-all chairborne rangers that never have to deal with it in person.

But don't take my word for it. It is just my 2 cents, based on what I have experienced in person.

Response by SGT Frank Leonardo made Apr 3 at 2015 9:59 PM

SGT Frank Leonardo — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 21:59:29 -0400

I don't think most civy's understand the situation in hand

Response by SFC Mark Bailey made Apr 4 at 2015 2:39 AM

SFC Mark Bailey — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 02:39:51 -0400

I think some do
...but there are far too many that close their eyes, switch channels, walk out of the conversation, or just come right out and say "You are such a Cruel Man"...

It can be very disheartening to listen to someone think WE are the bad guys...
...and I have to admit, I was disgusted at the be-headings... but when I reminded people about those horrific abuses they at least stopped saying I was the Bad guy...

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Apr 4 at 2015 4:15 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 04:15:23 -0400

Really doesn't surprise me. Think about it, many have never been out of the country. We all know the media will tell them what the media wants them to know. I really believe there are people who think this way. Living OCONUS has really shown me things. We military are more in touch with the world situation, but face it, there are many who've got the thinking of a bartlett pear!

Response by CPL Floyd Reese made Apr 4 at 2015 11:57 AM

CPL Floyd Reese — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 11:57:09 -0400

It's a thing that only matters to people when it hits close to home. When I was doing my recruiting duty after basic here in kansas I saw a lot of disgust for war among the youth. Everything is just fine when it's not in their own backyard. I think there should be mandatory 2 yrs of service before college so people in this country will better understand the turmoil our world is in.

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Apr 4 at 2015 12:13 PM

SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 12:13:38 -0400

It's easy to blame "the media" for not "telling us" this or that.

But the truth is, it is an individual's responsibility to stay informed and to show an interest on what's going in the world around us.

If our society has decided they want to get lost on reality tv instead of watching "real news", then I guess we're doomed.

By "real news" I mean foreign news outlets (BBC, Der Spiegel, etc), giving you actual news of the world. Our local networks are almost 100% devoted to their own political agendas (left and right) and the local news outlets are all about potholes and local corrupt politicians or some investigative reporter harrasing some contractor, etc.

With that said, what really horrifies me is that college students seem to be equally ignorant of the world around us, they are supposed to be the inquisitive minds of the future, yet all they care about is getting enough good grades to pass any given class rather than actually engage in nurturing knowledge. For the curiosity of it.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs.
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