The convenient charge of “fear mongering” is beginning to take center stage. Rest assured that the charge will be a convenient and consistent theme in this year’s campaign.

Discussions of national security concerns, threat assessments and terrorism are frequently met with the response that it’s nothing more than “fear mongering”. The retort of “fear mongering” is not typically associated with countervailing evidence or analysis; just the charge seems to suffice. 

Perhaps the real message should be, “Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!” Why? A small sampling follows. 

In the past 15 months there have been, according to The Terrorism Knowledge Base, 3,490 terrorist attacks representing 27,690 deaths and casualties. The vast majority of incidents where the perpetrator group is known, maintain an Islamic connection.

Canada’s Supreme Court has struck down a law allowing for ongoing detention of terror suspects based on secret evidence.   

In Britain over 2,000 potential terror suspects and up to 200 active terror networks are under investigation.

Russia has returned to strong man rule and has made a renewed commitment to its military and regional hegemony.

China is engaged in the most significant military buildup the world has seen since the end of the cold war.

Indian and Russian officials have stopped attempts to smuggle uranium twice this year, in January and February of 2008.

Venezuela and Ecuador have moved troops to the Columbian border on the heels of a Columbian attack on a FARC base in Ecuador. Columbia is a U.S. ally, Venezuela and Ecuador are decidedly not.

Jihadist influence grows in Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa just across the way from Iran at the Straights of Hormuz.

The CIA reports a growing number of cyber attacks on Utility systems outside of the U.S. with at least one causing a major outage. The report identifies the suspicion of an “inside job”. The National Threat Assessment addresses the potential of cyber attacks as a growing problem and project more aggressive attacks in the coming year.

The National Threat Assessment states “Al Qaeda is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the United States: the identification, training and positioning for an attack in the Homeland”. The report further identifies the growing threat of “homegrown” terrorism inspired by the growing number of Islamic websites in English.

Reports from ABC news identify a significant number of foreign students without the proper visas enrolled in flight schools throughout the U.S. Up to 8,000 have received pilot training since 9/11. TSA regional supervisors warn of a repeat of pre 9/11 conditions.

Admiral James Stavridis head of the U.S. Southern Command addressing the threats from the southern boarder said in January of 2008 "I fear greatly that the connectivity between narco-terrorism and Islamic radical terrorism could be disastrous in this region,”

The Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security charges that from September 11, 2001, to the present, hundreds of illegal aliens from countries “such as Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan,…and Afghanistan” were apprehended crossing into the United States over the southern boarder.

According to the congressional report, “Venezuela is providing support, including identity documents that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups…The Venezuelan government has issued thousands of cédulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from places such as Cuba, Colombia, and Middle Eastern nations that host foreign terrorist organizations.” These documents can be used to obtain Venezuelan passports and American visas, which in turn allow the holder to elude immigration checks and enter the United States.

FBI Director Mueller, Jr. has testified that a Hezbollah cell had been “dismantled” after discovering that the terror organization was smuggling operatives across the U.S. - Mexico border to carry out terror attacks inside the United States.  Individuals from countries with known al Qaeda connections have changed their Islamic surnames and adopted false Hispanic identities in order to escape detection and blend into American society.

Radical Islamic groups that support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamiya Al Gamat are all active in Latin America.

While there has been very limited reporting of the Latin and South American connection to terrorism in the U.S. media the French media has the story. Agence France Presse took notice that al Qaeda had established a "clandestine travel service," south of the border, to help move operatives into the United States.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood sponsored Muslim American Society (MAS), despite regular and ongoing exposure of anti-American activities and successful prosecutions of leaders and associates continue to enjoy access to Federal government departments and a free pass by mainstream media apologists. After all, we cannot be scaring folks.

In the U.S., the early dynamics of Muslim demands for “accommodation” mirror the early stages of these demands in Europe 30 years ago. The resultant problems that have occurred for Europe are well documented and significant.

Iran has executed diplomatic agreements with Venezuela, Nicaragua and hopes to do so with Ecuador.

Iran’s intent to develop nuclear weapons is clear as evidenced by new U.N. sanctions and ever aggressive rhetoric by its President. The results of nuclear development in Iran will further destabilize the entire region and may lead to a Middle East Nuclear arms race. 

Were the threats against Israel to be executed by a nuclear Iran at least three Middle Eastern countries could expect to be the target of an Israeli nuclear counterattack. Assuming considerable damage to Israel as a result of an Iranian attack, we should expect Syria, Southern Lebanon and Egypt to be a part of the nuclear retaliation. A failure to do so on the part of Israel would leave them open to a conventional attack on multiple fronts. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!!

U.S. officials are quoted as being advised by European counterparts that they are continually uncovering new domestic terror cells.

Pakistan represents, perhaps, the most significant threat to U.S. security as a haven for Islamist radical activity, philosophical support, Taliban safe havens and for transshipment of weapons and funding.

Intelligence sources report that Cuba maintains WMD and has delivery capability.

Immigrant violence by Muslims continues to plague Europe.

And in an analysis of the underlying causality in the U.K. and by extension broader continental Europe The Royal United Services Institute, warns of: “a loss in the United Kingdom of confidence in our own identity, values, constitution and institutions” and paints a disturbing picture of “a fragmenting, post-Christian society, increasingly divided about interpretations of its history, about its national aims, its values and its political identity.” The report continues: “The deep guarantee of real strength is our knowledge of who we are. Our loss of cultural self-confidence weakens our ability to develop new means to provide for our security in the face of new risks. Our uncertainty incubates the embryonic threats these risks represent. We look like a soft touch. We are indeed a soft touch, from within and without.”  

The interpretation here is clear, mindless multiculturalism, lack of immigration controls, philosophical relativism, the absence of an insistence on immigrant assimilation, political correctness, limitations on free speech and what amounts to cultural appeasement will, unfortunately, send our British brothers down a path to ever growing demands by minorities for accommodation, and eventual abandonment of British values and traditions. This same analysis could be applied to almost any Western European nation. The same analysis could be applied to us.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid. Calling it fear mongering does not change the facts.