Steven Kurlander: Banning Refugees could diminish American exceptionalism

The sensationalized attacks by ISIS terrorist in Paris and the allegations that one or more had entered Europe as  “Syrian refugees”  suddenly awoke shaken (and clueless) Americans to an enormous, ongoing humanitarian disaster that’s changing the world as we know it.

The Parisian attacks got Americans nervous again about Islamic terrorism. ISIS effectively took the fight to Europe, and Africa too last week. Now, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll taken after the attack, most Americans (81 percent) think it’s only a matter of time before they hit a U.S. city.

Sadly, there’s been a reaction arising from such fears about allowing any beleaguered Syrian refugees from resettling in the US. In that same poll, a slight majority said they were opposed to taking in refugees from Syria.

The issue has been framed mostly in terms of a lack of resources to properly  “vet” incoming Syrian refugees to weed out potential terrorists.

While the Obama Administration wants to continue allowing Syrian refugees in, the House of Representatives responded by passing a resolution that would ban Syrian refugees from entering the country.  Also, many governors also sought to head off resettlement in their states.

New Jersey Gov. and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie argued that establishing a no-fly zone in Syria and setting up a safe haven territory for refugees could help stem the tide of Syrians leaving their country.

“This is not even an issue we should be addressing in the United States,” he said.

From the beginning of the Syrian civil war and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the Obama Administration has failed to correctly address the situation from a military and humanitarian perspective. Instead, it has allowed the situation to deteriorate to the point where Syria, and Iraq too, no longer exist as nations. Many other nation-states stand a serious threat from Islamic fundamentalism.

As a result, since the advent of the “Arab Spring” that spurred a anarchic revolt against various brutal Arab dictatorships, there’s been callous attitude by the Obama Administration toward both a steady relocation of masses of brutalized war torn civilians and an irreversible redefinition of the borders of various countries in the region.

And now, allowing Syrian refugees into the US should not be the focal point of discussion to the problem.

This movement of people and the establishment of the ISIS Islamic Caliphate is just not yet another Middle Eastern dilemma as Obama would like us to believe. It is, however, a threat to to destabilize ancient European cultures and religious and national identities.

Because of the lack of a coherent American foreign policy, and the continued wrongful adaptation and integration of failed internationalism policies that now defines U.S. reaction to this crisis, the basic tenet of the American experiment that has allowed countless generations of immigrants to become Americans also now stands tested

As the Syrian refugee debate intensified, a united group of religious leaders proclaimed their opposition to limiting Syrians from resettling in this country, and like many of our ancestors, taking part in the American Dream.

“The problem is not the Syrian refugees,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, who noted how his state has welcomed a large number of Cuban refugees over the years. “This is falling into the trap of what the terrorists wanted us to become. We shouldn’t allow them to change who we are as a people.”

Christie, despite being wrong in his insistence to not allow Syrian refugees into this country, has the right approach in terms having America begin to finally properly address the historical changes taking place in the Middle East.

The Syrian refugee issue also should be properly framed and debated not only in terms of our national security, but also in terms of keeping our American exceptionalism intact as the world changes around us.

Steven Kurlander blogs at Kurly’s Kommentary (stevenkurlander.com) and writes for Context Florida and The Huffington Post and can be found on Twitter @Kurlykomments. He lives in Monticello, New York. Column courtesy of Context Florida.