Former chief speechwriter, adviser gives lecture on radical Islam
Former chief speech writer, Marc Thiessen, gave his lecture “America’s Failed Response to Radical Islam” on Monday, March 23. He discussed the three choices that caused the increase in Islamic terrorism, why their was government inaction, and how the Islamic state could be defeated. The lecture was followed by a Q&A.
The University of Tennessee’s Young Americans for Freedom, a part of the Young America’s Foundation, welcomed Marc Thiessen, former adviser and chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, to the Toyota Auditorium of the Howard Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m.
Thiessen held a lecture called “America’s Failed Response to Radical Islam,” which consisted of the state of radical Islam before 2009, reasons why the Islamic state has risen, and how the United States could end radical Islam.
Thiessen said that the Obama administration inherited a “pacified Iraq where the terrorists had been defeated both militarily and ideologically,” militarily through “the Surge,” and ideologically by the Sunni’s acceptance of the Americans.
He further stated that the three choices that allowed radical Islam to gain power again were the removal of troops and intelligence grids, inaction during the Syrian Civil War, and ignoring Iraqi requests for airstrikes against the Islamic state, and that these choices were made because President Obama did not want to admit that removing troops from Iraq was a mistake.
“Obama came to office not to be the president who prosecuted wars, but to be the president who ended wars,” he said.
Thiessen stated that ISIS is eventually going to come to U.S. soil, mentioning that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS’s leader, made an audio message to America saying, “Soon we will be in direct confrontation, the Sons of Islam have been waiting for this day. So watch, we will be watching with you.”
He ended the lecture by stating that radical Islam could be defeated by firm leadership, meaning recognizing who the enemy is, giving forces to Iraq, not killing terrorist leaders, providing a safety umbrella, and countering radical propaganda with our own propaganda.
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Edited by Hannah Hunnicutt
Although he is dual majoring in neuroscience and psychology, sophomore Thomas Delgado has found a passion for photojournalism after only a semester behind the lens. He has gone from an amateur photographer to the assistant photography editor at TNJN in a short amount of time. Now, Delgado changed his minor to journalism and wants to see where it takes him.
