HUMANITARIAN CRISES? NOT SO FAST!

Okay, I get it. I really do. The Syrian refugee crisis is a tragedy on a monumental scale. The picture of the dead child on the beach, the long lines, barbed wire fences and all the scenes reminiscent of the worst of WWII movies and documentaries, all work to pull and tear at our collective heart strings. But as with almost any story, there is always more than meets the eye.

It is a little difficult writing about this but alas, I feel the need to. Before someone reading this opines that I am a racist, let me remind them that Islam is not a race. What I believe has nothing to do with prejudice, bigotry or hate, but rather the cold, hard stuff too many people run away from. That stuff? Reality and truth. So buckle your seatbelts, here goes.

For starters, how about you guys putting the paper down for a second and going to your computer or iPad. Go ahead and "Google" something like "Refugee photos." Take a look at dozens of photos of refugees from the last 100 years and tell me what you see. Obviously you see very sad, tired, and destitute people. Fear clearly grips the faces of many. But what else do you see? When I look at those photos, I see mostly old men and women, families, a lot of children with single parents and young kids. Now "Google" something like, "Syrian refugee photos." Now, what do you see? Yes, you are going to see some of the same kind of images but you also see photos with hundreds and sometimes thousands of mostly young men; men of military age rushing the borders of southern Europe. Odd? You better believe it.

In wars past, most young men stayed behind to fight whatever was threatening their existence. Here, they are fighting to get into Europe. "Hey Rob, you can't say that." Okay, let's look at some numbers. According to several sources, only 1 in 5 immigrants wanting to storm into Europe actually hails from Syria. 1 in 5 people. Although common core math has made cheese out of many-a-brain, that leaves 4 in 5 or 80% who are NOT refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria. Of the 213,000 refugees who arrived in Europe from April through June, only 44,000 were from Syria. Guess what, of those 213,000, 27,000 of them came from Afghanistan. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3240010/Number-refugees-arriving-Europe-soars-85-year-just-one-five-war-torn-Syria.html

The cold hard reality is that the majority of the "refugees" who risk their lives trying to break into Europe are not seeking political asylum but rather seeking better economic conditions. This, people, makes the plight of many of these people a completely different ballgame. It is a ballgame in which countries in the EU have EVERY right to sit back and judge every entrant with special scrutiny. The protection of their people and the survival of their societies clearly outweighs the discomfort of any refugee. On top of this, if economics is the real reason for many of the immigrants, the EU countries clearly have the right to deny entrance to a swarm of people who will invariably disrupt the economic and social structures of their countries. The bottom line is to say every "refugee" is escaping the civil war in Syria is a lie.

For grins, let's just say all of these people are legitimate war torn refugees. Please explain to me why in the heck most of the Muslim countries that are much closer (look at a map of the region) to Syria are not taking in ANY of these people? Why? Too be fair, Jordan and Lebanon are taking many of the Syrian refugees but the other nations in that region are remain silent and closed off. Also, if not for economic reasons, don't you think most of these people would want to go to a place that is not just closer but to a place where the people think as they do, speak as they do and worship as they do? You would think people would seek out those who they have much more in common with than the Western European countries they are demanding entrance into. But who am I kidding here? You tell me why countries like Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are not welcoming these people with open arms while they are demanding the EU take them in. Saudi Arabia did however offer to build 200 new mosques in Germany to handle all the new refugees. (http://www.ibtimes.com/amid-muslim-refugee-crisis-saudi-arabia-vows-build-200-mosques-germany-2090905/ http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/saudi-arabia-offers-to-build-200-mosques-in-germany/)

Pretty altruistic of them huh? The battle cry that we in the West are not doing enough is smothered by the reality that most of their own people are doing nothing. Not only that, but it seems clear to me that once this "humanitarian crises" is over, these people have absolutely no plans to go back home. Seems a little suspicious to me.

I read one article about the five-member Habashieh family. At one level, like many refugee stories, it is sad. At one level you truly feel sorry for some of these people. But then you read further and you shake your head. Pull it up and read it for yourself. Initially they were sent to Berlin and then eventually sent to an area outside of Dresden in a city called Chemnitz. They hated it there because they wanted to be in Berlin. Yes, on one level I understand but on every other level the hair on my neck stands up. As a refugee, you really have no right to demand where you are going to placed. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nadda. Be grateful that the German people have opened up their doors and allowed you to come in at all, which by the way, is the right thing to do if they are actually refugees. http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-refugee-family-meets-rude-welcome-german-home-145719190.html

Now let's talk about that pesky little thing called National Security. ISIS has already stated that they would exploit this refugee crises in order to infiltrate Europe. Some estimates are that over 4,000 have already done so. Why wouldn't they? These guys are not stupid and if we are willy-nilly going to let tens of thousands of people enter our borders unchecked, why in the heck wouldn't they do so? I would. Especially after they have said they would!

Without a doubt, this situation is troubling. On one hand we have to ensure the safety and security of those legitimately fleeing the civil war in Syria. I believe we have to. I believe we should. At the same time, however, we have to be willing to look at those who are fleeing solely based on economic reasons and say, "Not so fast." We are at a point where the West's natural compassion for human life is coming face-to-face with the need for national security. To be sure, it is a difficult balancing act that must, however, be pursued.