Orlando Was A Wake Up Call: An Open Letter To We The People

This is an open letter to the great people of this proud nation. A nation I love dearly and would gladly die for, should it ever come to that.

On Sunday, this country suffered the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. The suspect is now believed to have been an in the closet, homosexual who allowed himself to be radicalized under Islam and pledged his actions to the Islamic State. The Islamic State, rather knowing about it or not, quickly took credit for the attacks.

This attack hurts because it was on our soil, but it is only one of so many around the world that ISIS has taken credit for during the first week of Ramadan.

This month of Ramadan has promised to be the bloodiest ever by ISIS, They seek to turn their own holy celebration into one of blood and terror for the rest of the world. These are truly dangerous lunatics who would rather see the world burn then fail to get their way.

Other terrorist organizations such as Hamas have also vowed to add to the ever-growing violence this month. There have already been estimates of over 500 killed by these attacks in the first week alone.

In addition to attacks during Ramadan, the Islamic State has also called for more of these “lone-wolf” attacks that we saw in Orlando and San Bernardino, where one individual works alone or with very few people to go on a massive killing spree that is hard to predict and prevent. These have been effective and work at creating widespread panic and fear.

Our intelligence communities have been slow to adapt to the lone-wolf attacks after we spent so long learning to identify, infiltrate, and shut down terror cells. We got really good at finding and stopping the cells which is why the terrorist groups changed it up on us.

Gone are the days of having to find, recruit, train, and implant new terrorists into a region. Now groups like ISIS, Hamas, or Boko Haram can find and indoctrinate people online and convince them to carry out these attacks on their own.

That is why we must always stay vigilant and keep an eye out for not just ourselves, but for every member of our community. We are now both the first and last line of defense against further attacks.

These terrorist organizations also get to enjoy how our government predictably responds with gun control. After all of these attacks it is always the guns that were used that are blamed, not the lack of prior knowledge on the part of our security forces.

So instead of taking the blame for failing to protect us, yet again, they will instead blame a constitutionally protected right. Why? Well, it's two-fold.

First, they know they can’t pass any meaningful change to the current laws so they essentially get to beat the drums for change without having to actually do anything. A politician's dream.

Second, they get to keep pushing public opinion towards that of a gun-free nation. Especially among younger voters who are just now becoming politically active. Keep up the rhetoric for long enough and no matter how pointless it seems today there will come a time when they can make the shift.

Orlando was a wake-up call. We will be attacked again, it is only a matter of when and where. So stay vigilant and do all you can to protect you, your family, and your community. Only when we stop acting like good Americans to each other will terrorist have finally won.