How ISIS is Using African Migration Routes to Europe
Libya is emerging as a huge launching point for African migrants who risk crossing the Mediterranean Sea in order to seek a new life in Europe and the West. Unfortunately, ISIS also has a stronghold over much of the Libyan coastline. As a result, the potential for terrorists entering Europe and the west is greater than ever, and there is little that governments are doing to prevent this from occurring.
Lack of Centralized Government
One of the biggest challenges that Libya faces is that it does not have a fully-functional centralized government, is in the midst of a civil war and is dealing with an incursion by ISIS. Consequently, the ability of Libyan forces to stem the flow of refugees into the country is minimal at best. Furthermore, a lack of meaningful assistance from the European Union is making it even more difficult for anyone to get a handle on the situation.
Who’s in Charge?
The other challenge is determining who is in charge and ultimately responsible for stemming the flow of refugees into Libya. There’s plenty of blaming and finger-pointing going around, but there is still no clear solution to the problem Libya blames nations in Africa for not handling their own affairs while Europe is pointing fingers at Libya. However, Libya believes that they should not have to shoulder the financial burden of tackling the situation. Consequently, thousands and thousands of people get into boats and head towards Europe every week while everyone is arguing.
ISIS is Ready to Strike
ISIS controls coastal towns in key locations in Libya. This gives them an opportunity to either take advantage of the inaction of government officials to stem the flow of migrants. They can either court and encourage migrants to flow through the territory they control, or they can embed terrorists into groups as they set sail. Unfortunately, there is still no way of knowing who is who, and this poses a serious challenge for security officials in Italy, Malta and other countries that receive refugees by the boat-load every day.
As sympathy still runs high for migrants, and Europe grapples with the “human-rights” element of dealing with refugees, these sentiments are just what ISIS needs to send terrorists into the west. Don’t be deceived, many refugees that make it to Europe will then head off to the United States and Canada. Furthermore, many refugees are heading from Africa, and Libya in particular, to places like Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba. This brings the problem a lot closer to home, and it is unclear as to whether or not our own government is capable of stepping up to the challenge of protecting our borders.
Trojan Horse
The problem is that the vast majority of refugees are good people who want a better life. However, there is no way that we or our allies can differentiate who is who. Consequently, Trojan horse smuggling should be considered a foregone conclusion. So we have one of two choices. Let people in and hope for the best, or keep them out and let them suffer in limbo on islands in the Mediterranean.
Libya has recently indicated that unless Europe does more to provide material and financial support, soldiers will probably just start shooting migrants dead if they cross the border. However, doing so will probably lead the UN to invoke sanctions against Libya. This will inhibit the ability of western powers to provide assistance in fighting ISIS and helping to bring order and stability to the region.
This is a very messy situation that does not get a lot of media attention, and frankly, our government likes it that way. They don’t want the population at large to know how vulnerable we are to having thousands of terrorists embedded in our towns and cities. In fact, there’s a really good chance that many are already here lying in wait for an order to attack.
As our own government is already colossally-incompetent, it’s only a matter of time before we are hit with a security crisis that we are not prepared to deal with. Couple that with the erosion of our rights since 9/11, limitations on our right to keep and bear arms and the militarization of our police force, we may end up living in a police state sooner than most people think.
ISIS is using Libya against the west, the west is using ISIS to curb rights, and we are caught in the middle. As long as our population remains obsessed with reality television, video games and social media, they will be distracted from the dangers that are knocking on our door. Start preparing now for this looming threat, because it will change our way of life. Get self-sufficient, fly under the radar as much as possible, and be prepared to defend you and your family.
