David French:
On Sunday, June 12, ISIS won a dramatic victory. Without risking any of its terror assets and without having to spend one dime of its financial assets, an ISIS volunteer vindicated its strategy of inspiring terrorist acts and launched the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. The act not only shattered the lives of the victims and their families. It no doubt inspired still more jihadists to plot their own attacks both at home and abroad. Facing battlefield reverses in Iraq and Syria, ISIS struck back at its chief enemy.
But the wins didn’t stop there. Incredibly, ISIS won not just in Orlando. It’s winning the aftermath. The American response to the attack has been beyond ineffective, veering decisively toward the counterproductive. We’re doing nothing more to deter or prevent terror attacks and everything to deceive our own people about the true nature of the threat. Rather than unite to fight a common enemy, we’re dissolving into partisan, polarizing stupidity.
First, there is no indication that this latest successful attack is spurring any dramatic or meaningful increase in the operational tempo against ISIS. The attack on Fallujah is progressing at a snail’s pace, ISIS is secure for now in Mosul, and it still holds Raqqa. In the meantime, it’s expanding its presence in Libya, and our counter-terror operations there are just beginning. In short, ISIS looks set to maintain its caliphate for the foreseeable future.
Second, that means that it will still be able not merely to inspire terrorists but to continue to actively infiltrate Europe and, ultimately, America. While the true ISIS strongholds are in the Middle East, it has an undeniable presence in European capitals. France was attacked again this week, and more attacks are inevitable.
Third, to the extent that America is mounting any kind of governmental response, it’s confined to the meaningless (to terrorists) realm of gun-control legislation. Not one proposal currently in Congress would offer anything other than the smallest speed bump to a committed jihadist. Indeed, Congress could reimplement its assault-weapons “ban” tomorrow and any half-competent terrorist could still find an AR-15 or equivalent weapon within hours. Nor would the ban touch the weapon most frequently used in mass shootings: semi-automatic handguns. As with the vast majority of gun-control proposals, only the law-abiding would suffer real consequences. The criminal would be as dangerous as ever.
Fourth, rather than national leaders rallying together in solidarity, the GOP nominee for president hinted that Barack Obama might be disloyal to his own country — that he’s “not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind. And the something else in mind — you know, people can’t believe it.” There’s nothing like implying treason at the highest levels to help unify a nation to confront a vicious foe.
Fifth — and this is perhaps the most astounding aspect of the aftermath — leftist thought leaders are responding to the massacre by condemning Christians.