OPINION: First, Hamas comes for Israel; then they will come for us

I have read Richard Eggleston’s Oct. 22 column on the recent slaughter of 1,400 innocent Jewish people in Israel several times. It was well thought out and very well written. I am writing this column to further support his conclusions.

Has everybody forgotten 9/11? The terrible villains who perpetrated this horrific event were living among us, enjoying our God-given freedoms while wanting to kill us and destroy our country. They killed 2,977 innocent Americans and caused horrendous destruction. If you have been paying any attention to the horrible tragedy in Israel, and if you have any knowledge of the terrorist group Hamas, you will understand that our country could soon be facing this same situation, again.

Lorenzo Vidino is an American political scientist who heads the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security’s Program on Extremism. He writes on Islamism in Europe and North America with a special focus on the Muslim Brotherhood. Last month, he wrote, “Hamas Network in America: The Short Story.” His investigation found “FBI records and internal Hamas records seized during federal criminal cases that clearly show the existence of a nationwide Hamas network engaged in fundraising, lobbying, education and propaganda dissemination dating back to the 1980s.”

In 1988, Hamas created the Palestine Committee in the United States, whose sole purpose was fundraising and furthering the goal of terrorism against the U.S. and Israel. The Palestine Committee gradually organized itself and at the same time created numerous Hamas front groups.

According to the executive summary of “The Short Story”: “In 1993, the FBI wiretapped a meeting of top Hamas activists in the U.S., held in Philadelphia. The wiretaps show internal discussions on how to improve activities in support of Hamas within the U.S. and how to shield them from the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. U.S.-based Hamas activists agreed that hiding their affiliation and intentions was the best tactic to avoid negative consequences. ‘I swear by Allah that war is deception,’ said one senior leader, ‘deceive, camouflage, pretend that you’re leaving while you’re walking that way. Deceive your enemy. Let’s not hoist a large Islamic flag and let’s not be barbaric-talking. We will remain a front so that if the thing (the U.S. government ban on Hamas) happens, we will benefit from the new happenings instead of having all of our organizations classified and exposed.’ ”

The U.S. government first designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1987. Since then, government agencies have conducted numerous campaigns to monitor and contain its networks. Hamas front organizations have been shut down. People have been tried and some have been deported. But the organization established many roots in our country and still lives on. The government found that these front groups were created and operated by a small group of individuals, many of whom were related, originated mostly from the same town in Palestine and who shared the same intense hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people.

We must remember that they call us the “Great Satan” and they hate us, too, just like the terrorists on 9/11 did.

The hate masters did their job well. The original Hamas roots of anti-Semitism are alive and growing in our country. There are a growing number of legislators who profess to support Hamas and teachers in major universities who are teaching hate toward Israel and the Jewish people. After the horrific attack on Israel, there were numerous demonstrations in college towns and major cities calling for the destruction of Israel and killing of Jews. This conduct is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in the 1930s, not the United States of America.

Eggleston also brought up the uncontrolled illegal immigration on our southern border with Mexico. By not controlling our border, President Joe Biden has set our country on the road to disaster. We already know that foreign countries are emptying their jails and asylums, and sending them here. Now the illegal drug flow from Mexico is out of control and the number of drug deaths in our country has skyrocketed.

I’ve seen estimates that 6 million to 8 million people known to have entered this country illegally and around 1.7 million fugitives have crossed our border. More than 150 of them caught are known terrorists. But no one knows how many others have made it through undetected. Maybe they number in the tens of thousands.

In his Oct. 31 news conference after visiting our southern border, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., revealed that Border Patrol agents have caught illegals crossing our border who were carrying explosives that he described as “tailor made for terrorism.” It would be easy for these terrorists to move around throughout our country and do what the mass killer just did in Maine, what Hamas did in Israel or even pull off another 9/11.

Have you looked around lately and thought that our world is falling apart? Well, you’re right, it is. And Biden has caused most of it.

Former President Donald Trump had the southern border locked down tight. Now Biden’s policies are bringing us to the brink of disaster.

Iran is considered the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terrorism. Trump put an embargo on Iran’s oil industry. The embargo nearly bankrupted the country and almost completely stopped its terrorism. Biden came into office and immediately dropped the oil embargo. In three years, that has given Iran more than $70 billion to spend on terrorism. He is also giving them $6 billion in ransom money for hostages. That is more than $76 billion — or $76 million multiplied by 1,000.

Wow.

Now, Hamas, a proxy for Iran, is attacking Israel and we are seeing massive death and destruction that could lead to World War III.

Biden’s policies against U.S. oil production has caused the price of our fuel to nearly double. This, and out-of-control federal spending and money printing, has caused raging inflation. So our cost of living and interest rates have skyrocketed to all-time highs.

Another term of Biden as president will destroy our country.

Dugger retired as a journeyman carpenter from Clearwater Paper. He lives in Lewiston.