Sebastian Gorka: Have We Defeated the Jihadists?

Twenty-five years ago today our republic suffered the worst terrorist attack in world history. Worse than the atrocities of the first modern terrorists, the Anarchists. Worse than the PLO or IRA during the Cold War. Worse than the violence unleashed by America’s very own left-wing Weather Underground anti-Vietnam war terrorists.

The slaughter of almost 3,000 Americans in 102 minutes in Manhattan, Washington, DC, and the brave men and women of Flight 93 that went down in a lonely filled in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, was followed for decades by the Global War on Terror. Twenty-five years later we must ask: have we won?

Let us start by asking what were the goals of the jihadists, beyond the mayhem and destruction of that one day. Have they achieved any of their goals since 9/11.

You don’t need a Top Secret clearance to know the strategic objectives of groups like al Qaeda or ISIS. All modern jihadi groups are all built on the writings and public pronouncements of key Islamist ideologues, starting with Sayyid Qutb of the Muslim Brotherhood, and through to Abdullah Azzam, S.K. Malik, Osama bin Laden himself, and Ayman al Zawahiri, all who promoted the same objectives to justify their horrific violence. What follows is a short list of their diabolic goals based upon an analysis by one of my smartest counterterrorism colleagues in government.

Whether it is the monsters of al Qaeda, the killers of ISIS, or the barbarians of Hamas, they all wish to topple the Arab monarchies of the Middle East, which they deem to be “un-Islamic,” starting with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, because it is home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In this they have failed.

Thanks to President Trump’s Abraham Accords and the Iranian regime’s drone and missile barrages over the last few weeks, the Gulf States are closer to America than any point since World War Two, partners in our fight against the terrorists.

All jihadi terrorists also want to see the destruction of Israel and the destruction or subjugation of America. In this too they have failed. Israel remains a vibrant and powerful country, the freest nation of the Middle East that despite the horrors of their own 9/11, the October 7 massacre of the innocent, has dealt death on a massive scale to Hamas and their paymasters in Iran.

Modern jihadists has been explicit in their goal to eliminate Western influence in the World. In this they have failed. With President Trump back in the White House, America is the strongest nation the World has ever seen, the shining city on a hill leading Western nations who believe in Peace Through Strength, sovereignty, borders, and Judeo-Christian values.

For all jihadists, the ultimate goal, after all of the above is achieved by means of terror and mass slaughter, is to re-establish the Islamofascist Caliphate, one global theocracy for the Muslim ummah, or community, where all must worship Allah or be second class citizens or slaves. In this, they have also failed. ISIS did establish a Neo-Caliphate in Iraq and Syria under Obama’s watch, but then Donald Trump became President and our military was unleashed and the jihadi Caliphate destroyed within a matter of months.

The objective truth is that with President Trump back in the Oval Office, we are back in the business of counterterrorism, so much so, that I can reveal today, that in the last eighteen months our warfighters have permanently removed 1,081 jihadists from the battlefield. Not only that, President Trump has rescued 110 Americans who were held hostage or wrongfully detained by jihadi sympathizers like the Taliban, some who shared their incredible stories and gratitude to president Trump last night at the RNC Convention.

We are not permanently safe for as long as there are men with evil in their hearts. We must be vigilant and, if necessary, use violence to stop them from hurting the innocent. But the jihadists are losing, and losing badly.

Today we pay respects to the memory of those whose lives they took on that sunny Tuesday morning twenty five years ago. To quote President Trump’s Presidential Proclamation for today: “They sought to divide us — they could not.  They sought to make us afraid — instead, they awakened the mightiest force for justice the world has ever known.” Peace through Strength.

Sebastian Gorka is Deputy Assistant to President Trump and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the U.S. National Security Council.