Al Queda

Michael Hirsh wrote an excellent article for Newsweek. It explains how al Queda before 9/11 was a group of thugs that got lucky. The administration which allowed them an unexpected success then proceeded to change al Queda from a loosely organized group of extremists into a power created by US policy.

Hirsh's summary paragraph pretty much sums up the so called "war on terror":

The ultimate tragedy of the Iraq war was not only that it diverted the U.S. from
the knockout blow against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan—the deaths of bin
Laden and Zawahiri would likely have persuaded most jihadis it was wiser to
focus on the near enemy—but that Iraq also altered the outcome of Al Qaeda's
internal debate, tipping it in bin Laden's favor. "Iraq ended that debate
because it fused the near and the far enemy," as Arquilla puts it succinctly.
America ventured into the lands of jihad and willingly offered itself as a
target in place of the local regimes. And as a new cause that revived the
flagging Al Qaeda movement. It is, no doubt, bin Laden's greatest victory.

Immigration

Americans don't have a problem with immigrants being here. We are not afraid of them taking our jobs or anything like that. We have a problem with them not accepting our culture, not learning our language. Even in my small community way up here in Michigan, I routinely encounter spanish speakers and their is a spanish speaking grocery store. This is a country known to be the great melting pot. The current generation of spanish speaking immigrants often refuse to melt into the pot. They keep their own culture, their own language, and their own social group. When they protest, they wave the flag of their former country. They want to be here to take advantage of opportunities here but refuse to integrate into society. That is unacceptable by any American standard. If your here, you speak English and do everything you can to be American. Oh, and we'd prefer if you follow the rules when getting here.