Colorado shooter James Holmes’ mugshot.

No one notices the black bags placed right in front of them. No one thinks twice about asking the person sitting or standing next to them if the bag belongs to them. No one is even slightly concerned. It is a beautiful day and a nondescript black bag on the sidewalk will not ruin their day. Or, will it?

Nidal Hasan is a Major in the U.S. Army stationed in Ft. Hood. He is also a psychiatrist who was born in what is known as Palestine and immigrated with his family to the USA. Major Hasan treats soldiers coming back from combat in Iraq with adjustment problems. He is a Muslim and is vocal about his religion. In his off-duty hours he wears a “dishdasha,” the long usually white robe traditionally worn by men in the Middle East, and walks around his neighborhood. His neighbors see him come and go but do not really pay much attention to this unusual garb worn by an officer of the US Army. He regularly goes shopping dressed this way.

James Holmes in court.

He is about to be deployed to Iraq and he is visibly disturbed. He makes various remarks to his neighbors and fellow officers indicating his personal dilemma about going to war in a Muslim country. No one is concerned. No one reports him to the Army. None of his supervisors in the Army think anything of this behavior.  What harm can one Major in the Army; a psychiatrist by training, do to others around him? Obviously, a lot. As time will show…

It is Friday, July 20, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado, a town designated as an “All-America City” in 2008 by the National Civic League. It is still pretty hot at 12:05 AM Mountain Time. “The Dark Night Rises” starts to play at the Century 16 Movie Theaters at the Aurora Town Center, where crowds have gathered. Some are dressed as characters from the highly anticipated Batman sequel. James Holmes is amongst them. He purchases his ticket and goes into the theater. His hair is dyed bright orange although in this crowd he does not stick out as odd. As soon as the movie starts, he gets up to leave the theater through an exit door in plain sight. He props the door open before leaving.

Many in the theater notice but no one gets up to close the exit door. He plans to return through this door. Somehow, it does not seem strange to them that a young man with bright orange hair has left the theater as the movie started and propped open the door – indicating he is going to return. No one reports this to the theater personnel. He does indeed return, carrying a .22 caliber Smith & Wesson equipped with a drum magazine which can hold up to 100 rounds; a Remington 12 gauge shotgun and a .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun.

The results are deadly.

Could any of these events have been prevented? Could the three victims in Boston be alive today? Could the 13 victims of Nidal Hasan be alive today, continuing to serve their country in their chosen profession? Could the 12 victims in Aurora be with their families and loved ones today? There is no way to tell.

However we, as a society used to freedoms not seen, heard or exercised anywhere else in the world, could be a bit more aware of what goes on around us. And this would save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

“Situational Awareness” is something anyone who has ever served in any branch of the military would know about. By understanding and making ourselves familiar with a minimum level of “situational awareness” and exercising it in our daily lives, without going overboard and falling into a state of paranoia, not only will we make ourselves safer in an environment that is constantly getting more dangerous, but we may make others around us safer as well.

Situational awareness simply means, “understanding what is going on around you.” The world may be a wonderful place but it can also be a dangerous place. Being aware of one’s surroundings and identifying potential threats and dangerous situations is not a skill; it is a “mindset.” Any one of us can exercise situational awareness if we are willing and have the discipline to do so.

In order to practice situational awareness, we must first of all believe that “threats exist.” The people who lined up at the finish line of the Boston Marathon; the victims and neighbors of Major Hasan at Ft. Hood and the moviegoers in Aurora basically did not believe that a threat existed. All three events (plus many, many more; too many to mention here) should prove to the skeptics that apathy, denial and complacency are deadly.

Even though I have adapted myself to the concept of situational awareness many years ago and practice it in my daily life; I have run into many situations where I found myself to be in a totally relaxed and comfortable state of mind; only to realize that I was in the midst of very dangerous and possibly deadly situation. I have been able to get out of these situations by using my situational awareness and by trusting my “gut” feelings or intuition. Over the years I have learned that even though my mind could not quantify or articulate certain signs of danger, my “gut” did. And by obeying my gut feelings I was able to either walk away from threatening situations or avoid walking into them.

Nidal Hasan murdered 13 at Mt. Hood.

The latest example of a lack of situational awareness at every level was the event that took place at the Boston Marathon. If we can stop time and go back and trace the events which culminated in the deaths of innocent bystanders, a police officer and the maiming of many more people; we will be infuriated to see how many mistakes were made because people, in general, lacked situational awareness  did not trust their gut feelings or intuition.

According to published reports and not so far denied; Russian secret service had warned the FBI almost a year ago about the Boston Marathon bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Unfortunately, as a result of a number of bureaucratic mistakes, attention was not paid to this individual and he escaped scrutiny.

It is widely reported that sometime around 2008 or 2009 Tamerlan suddenly stopped boxing (his favorite sport), smoking and drinking. No one thought anything of this. He started talking about 9/11 and was convinced that the CIA planned and executed this event. No one gave this a second thought. He drove around in a Mercedes while not holding a job. It did not raise any eyebrows. His friends and neighbors never questioned it.

If we watch the surveillance videos made available through the internet and news networks, we will notice a large number of uniformed security officers walking through the crowds in Boston. They do not seem to be particularly interested in the events around them. Their presence there is more like a show of force and they seem to play into this role.

And finally, two bags are deliberately dropped off on the sidewalk where many people are lined up and no one questions the ownership of these bags.

For the past few years, I have been writing about terrorism, terrorists, radicals, Caucasus, Mali, Al-Qaida and asking everyone to connect the dots. I am not sure how successful I have been in my efforts to raise the consciousness of those who read my articles.

I believe that there is an imminent threat. I strongly believe that unless we raise our levels of “situational awareness” as a community, as a nation, more bombings, more massacres and more unpleasant experiences will be in our future.

No matter how safe we may feel living right here in Collier County; we should never let our guard down. We should always be aware of our surroundings.  We should not be afraid to report any and I mean ANY unusual activity to our local authorities. We must take precautions whenever and however we can. We just can’t take anything for granted in our daily lives. If we see a person or persons in our area and they look like they do not belong in the environment; we must report it.

Terrorists are specialized criminals and they do not act on momentary impulses. Their actions are planned months or years in advance and executed with precision. When we notice any unusual activity in our neighborhoods, we must report it. When we enter a room, shop, restaurant or a movie theater look around. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings. If you see anything unusual, do not dismiss it.

It is unfortunate and unpleasant that we need to make these adjustments but it is a matter of life and death.

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun turk1949@comcast.net

North Korea

It is getting increasingly difficult to focus on events taking place around the world. It seems like a new story pops up every day in a different part of our troubled globe. Today things are much different from the “good old days” when the world was neatly divided up by the two super powers: USA and the Soviet Union. Whenever trouble started anywhere around the world, one of the two super powers reacted depending on whose sphere of influence covered the country where trouble had started. Things were neatly patched up after harsh words were exchanged, threats were made and retracted and life went on as usual.

It is a new world now… Things have changed drastically and it is very hard to keep our focus and attention on one event or one country at a time. In light of the above statements, I wanted to update our readers on what is going on in key areas of the world where news is being made.

Kim Jong-un and North Korea

Leader for Life Kim-Jong-Un

Towards the end of last week, North Korea’s pudgy little dictator, sensing problems within his own country, decided to threaten South Korea and America with a nuclear attack. While on the surface these threats were dismissed, down deep in Washington and at the Pentagon they were taken seriously. The Defense Department took precautions and sent stealth bombers to South Korea for the first time ever as well as shoring up our missile defenses in the Pacific. In response, Kim escalated the level of threats and declared that North Korea was now in a state of war with her neighbor South Korea and the USA. Where this may lead us and where this may end is anybody’s guess. If we were to judge the situation with the events of the past, financial and food aid will flow into North Korea from China and the West to pacify the angry dictator and his military cronies who actually pull his puppet strings.

We can simplify the North Korean formula as follows:

1. Run out of food.
2. Test weapons (nuclear or non-nuclear)
3. Scare the West and her neighbors.
4. Get money and food.
5. Go back to step one.

The only difference today may be the fact that the young dictator for life may have backed himself into a corner by his belligerence and may be at a point of no return. He may have to do something to save face. We shall see.

Bashar al-Assad and Syria

Street scene in Syria

Civil war continues to wreck this Arab nation with no end in sight. What started as an anti-government action against the tyranny of the Assad family attracted the terror cells of Al Qaida, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and others to the area. No one can guarantee who will be in charge of Syria after the regime falls.  This prospect elongates the eventual fall of the regime as Western countries (including the U.S.) correctly debate whom to help. A government in exile was formed in Turkey but the Texas educated leader of this group had to resign because they could not win the trust of the anti-government fighters. Weapons are flowing from Iran, North Korea, Russia and others into the hands of the various groups fighting against government troops. The world will be a more dangerous place should Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons fall into unpredictable hands. Syria possesses missiles with chemical-tipped warheads and artillery shells, and if Hezbollah or Al-Qaida gets control of any of these weapons, they will surely threaten the Israelis as well as others in the area.

Thousands have already been killed, millions displaced, causing refugee problems in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq and pressuring the governments of those countries. One can’t predict with certainty what Syria will look like after this civil war and who will be in charge. What happens in Syria at the end will more than likely affect the geo-political future of the area. Russians are supporting the regime in order to save and protect their massive port facilities in Tartus which serves as a base for their Mediterranean fleet.

Possible outcomes:

1. A divided Syria under various leaders.
2. Islamic government formed, loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood.
3. Assad’s minority Alawite dominated regime retreats to its heartland in coastal western Syria and continues on.
4. Kurdish minority may make their bid for independence which may cause difficulties for the Turks in the north.

Ahmedinejad and Iran

Iran tests missles

Iran and the US have had a problematic relationship since the CIA helped install the regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi back in the 1960’s. During 1979 Iran took control of the American Embassy and held our diplomatic team hostage for over a year. President Carter’s inaction emboldened the Iranian mullahs and Iran ended up as an ultra-conservative, anti-American Islamic Republic with vast natural resources. Iran has been working diligently and tirelessly over the last few years to create a nuclear weapon and most recently tested a trigger device. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu constantly reminds the world of the red line he drew during a speech to the United Nation in New York last year. A recent development which got my interest was Mr. Netanyahu’s unexpected and sudden offer of apology and offer of reparations for the families of the dead to the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for the killing of nine Turkish citizens when they attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza on board vessel “Mavi Marmara.” It is widely speculated in Turkey that Mr. Netanyahu did this under pressure from Mr. Obama who visited the area recently. Many in Turkey and the countries around the area saw this as a precursor to a drastic Israeli action to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Reliable sources have been speculating that Mr. Obama must have convinced Mr. Netanyahu that it was in the best interest of the Israelis to be at peace with the Turks since they may have to use Turkish air space to get to Iran.

A most recent and significant development is the presence of Iranian Naval ships in the Atlantic. Iran’s 24th fleet which includes helicopter carrier Khark and destroyer Sabalan docked at the Chinese port of Zhanjiang in March.

Iran will remain a problem for the West for as long as the regime of the mullahs continues to rule this country of 76 million people.

And in conclusion…

Chaos around the world continues. Dominoes fall; new dominoes are set up It is a worldwide chess match with diverse players. We continue to experience a lack of real world leadership. In the space allowed, we were able to look at three most active areas. There are many, many more areas where unrest, civil war and terrorist activity prevail. As usual, it is always left to the reader to “connect the dots.”

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

I grew up on the European side of the City.  The Asian side was known to us who lived on the European side as the “other side.”  To us, the other side was almost like another country; a place where you had to go only if you “had to go” and a place we could see in the distance every day but had no idea what it was like to be there. I remember very clearly that some of our relatives lived in small neighborhoods on “the other side.” Our occasional Sunday family visits to these relatives’ homes were small adventures on their own.  There were no bridges or tunnels connecting the two sides of the Bosphorus and visiting aunts, cousins and various other relatives whose relationship to us were unknown to us as kids meant piling into our sky-blue 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air and drive down to the “ferry boat” landing and lining up behind hundreds of cars and trucks to wait for the car ferry to take us across to the “other side.” The car ferry was called “arabali vapur” which meant “boat with cars.” Some of these ships were converted troop carriers from WW II; some were locally built for the occasion. The locally built ships were two sided; you drove in forwards and drove out the same way. The converted ships only had one ramp. If you drove in forwards, you had to leave the ship in reverse.  My mother, not trusting this maneuver would take my sister and me by the hand and walk us out over the safety of the pedestrian plank as my father eased the car backwards onto shore. Then it was a long drive through cobblestone streets squeezed between old wooden houses that dated back to the glory days of the Ottoman Empire when they were occupied by members of the “palace” as their summer homes. Going back home after the visit was always the worst part of the adventure.  After a whole day of running around, visiting, eating and eating some more; we would start for home late in the evening and it would be dark by the time we got to the ferry station.  There would be lines of trucks carrying all kinds of farm products from Anatolia to Istanbul crowding the station. By the time we got on for the ride back home, my sister and I would be fast asleep.

This all changed in 1973 when the first “Bosphorus Bridge “ the fourth longest suspension bridge span at the time and the longest outside the USA was built, connecting Europe and Asia for vehicular traffic. The romance and adventure of crossing the Bosphorus on a car-ferry was gone forever along with a whole lot of other social activities which kept us busy during family weekends.

Then in 1988 the second Bosphorus Bridge was built and aptly named “Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge” named after 15th Century Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror who took Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453 and ended the Byzantine  Empire (a.k.a. Eastern Roman Empire). When it opened, it had the sixth longest suspension span in the world; today it is seventeenth.

Recently, the Turkish Government announced that a Third Bridge will be constructed soon. According to the Guardian “Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, who once said that a third bridge “would mean the murder of the city”, has thrown his weight behind the 2.2 billion dollar project and the bridge is now predicted to open as early as 2015. But environmentalists, urban planners and many Istanbul residents are furious at the plan, arguing that it will create more traffic, increase the number of vehicles in Istanbul and spell an end to the few remaining green areas and urgently needed drinking water reservoirs that have so far resisted the urban sprawl. Then there’s the lack of thorough geological research in a major earthquake zone.”

My feelings about bridges above the Bosphorus are more romantic than all the real numbers and environmental consequences. I think back to a time when I would walk a few hundred yards from my house located on a hill which rose sharply above the Bosphorus on the European side of Istanbul and come to an area locally referred to as “The Pines.”

This area was once the garden of an ancient summer house of one of the daughters of a Sultan, covered with very tall pine trees and remnants of what may have been a grand house. Two lion statutes stood at each end of a pool which was covered with all types of debris. From that point, I could see the Bosphorus clearly all the way to the Asian side where green hills rose up towards the sky and clouds. There were hardly any houses on those hills. The sight of  constant traffic of Russian and Romanian tankers carrying oil to all points around the world or returning from exotic destinations; small fishing boats bobbing up and down; fast moving military vessels and many other types and shapes of boats hurrying along would keep me occupied and fixated for hours at a time.

As a young child, I had always found it most romantic to look over the water to the “other side” and dream about riding a train towards Asia, passing through the great plains of Anatolia, see Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and go all the way to Mongolia and someday reach Shanghai and the Pacific Ocean.

When the first bridge was built and opened to traffic, I was no longer living in Istanbul and upon hearing the news I remember getting sad and melancholic. Then the second bridge was built and two sides were connected forever. In October this year, a tunnel will connect Asia and Europe and the “other side” will get connected by a railroad under the Bospohorus.

The city has grown to 15 million plus and with the coming of the Third Bridge which will also have a railroad; Asia and Europe will forever get closer. One can only hope, beyond the romanticism of the whole thing; that Europe and Asia actually get closer by all these bridges and tunnel; culturally, politically and geographically.

As I sit here on a cool and partially cloudy Sunday morning, feeling somehow sad and melancholic about the third bridge, I fondly remember my mini-adventures visiting distant relatives “on the other side” some fifty-five years ago and feel bad that there may no longer be young men and women sitting on the side of a hill in the “Pines” area and fantasizing about the unreachable and the unknown…

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

“The Senkaku/Diaoyu Island territorial dispute is the greatest crisis in Japan-China relations in 60 years,” reported Stephen Harner in Forbes magazine.

The readers may already know that in the last few issues of the Coastal Breeze, I have been focused on troublesome regions of the Middle East and North Africa (Mali). However, I am also closely watching another dangerous area which is not as well known to my readers; the ever escalating dispute between Japan and China over the sovereign ownership of a cluster of eight small, uninhabitable islands in the East China Sea, annexed in 1985 and finally nationalized in 1985 by Japan; known as the Diaoyu Islands and referred to as the Senkakus in Japan.

Some experts on the disputed area openly profess their worry that the situation may lead to a potentially dangerous all-out war which may include the United States. In addition to our concerns about the ever-growing danger of Al-Qaida franchises in the Middle East and North Africa, the seemingly irresolvable situation in Syria, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, Israel’s very serious security concerns, and of course, the recent nuclear tests conducted by the rogue government of North Korea, we now have to focus and worry about this dispute between Japan and China.

First, a little geography and history lesson. The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands are located roughly due east of Mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa Island, where the U.S. has a very large military base, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands belonging to Japan. After it was discovered, in 1968, that oil reserves might be found under the sea near the islands, Japan’s sovereignty over them has been disputed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan), following the transfer of administration from the United States to Japan in 1971. The Chinese claim the discovery and control of the islands from the 14th century. Japan controlled the islands from 1895, until its surrender at the end of World War II. The United States administered them as part of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from 1945 until 1972, when the islands reverted to Japanese control under the Okinawa Reversion Treaty between the United States and Japan.

In September of 2012 Japan unilaterally nationalized the islands. United States’ acquiescence and maybe encouragement of this decision to nationalize the disputed islands by Japan created a direct challenge to China’s claim of sovereignty. Some international experts actually claim that United States enabled this crisis for unknown reasons. Some actually go further and call it a “massive” foreign policy failure.

The entire episode puts the US in a difficult position. While trying to disengage from two wars, looking at massive defense cuts, the U.S. is in no position to enter a new theater of war. Australians are worried because their defense agreements with Japan may also force them into this dispute in a way they would not want to, since they have huge economic interests and trade with China.

Further adding fuel to the fire, Japan last week accused the Chinese navy of twice locking weapons-guiding radar against a naval ship and a helicopter. This is a highly unusual act in peacetime as such action usually precedes actual firing of missiles! Lt. General Angelella, while trying not to endorse Japan’s accusations, said “I think it’s very possible the incident did happen. If it was as reported and substantiated, it was very dangerous and uncalled for. And it should stop.”

This most serious dispute between China and Japan, while rather remote and insignificant to most of my fellow Marco Islanders, is just another one of those dots I have been trying to connect. The United States does have a valid and long lasting treaty with Japan to defend her if attacked. We have a very significant military presence in Japan. Our Pacific fleet is also large and strong. However, China has recently started showing their clenched fists in the area by displaying aircraft carriers and modern destroyers and other naval vessels.

Our foreign policy seems complicated and at times non-directional and confused. We misread the Arab Spring; we let terrorists kill our Ambassador and former navy Seals in Benghazi; we are on the sidelines in Syria; we are nothing but “word merchants making idle threats” when it comes to Iran’s nuclear ambitions; we let North Korea test their nuclear weapons without any consequences; and we now seem totally rudderless in the Pacific during this important dispute between one of our most important allies in the world (Japan) and our single largest holder of our national debt (China). We seem to have put ourselves between a rock and a hard place with no solutions in sight!

I don’t know about our readers enjoying one of the best winters we have ever had on Marco Island (29 years for me); but I am getting more worried every passing day. Someone is going to have to connect the dots and take appropriate action.

Maybe I am too hopeful… But that is my nature…

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

Malian police. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

When I wrote about what was going on in Mali a few issues ago as a follow-up to my earlier story about what happened in Benghazi; many readers emailed me wondering the importance (or lack thereof) and the timing of the story.

The events of last week in Algeria and in Mali brought this important area of Africa back into the headlines again. Whether the general public in our country will pay attention to these events or not is unknown at this moment. The continent of Africa is still too far away for most; the names of countries are very strange and the events that happen there do not interest many here. However, one should pause and remember that Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and other countries in the Middle East were once strange names in faraway places and did not figure in the daily lives of our fellow citizens. Yet we have seen the unfortunate results.

The expression “nip it in the bud” seems to have been forgotten a long time ago. The bud is now a full-blown poisonous tree with multiple branches and is taking root all around the world, causing an enormous amount of danger to the Western civilizations and democracies. After the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 did not wake us or the Western World up about the dangers of Radical Islamist movements, they received the much needed fuel to grow and prosper. This bombing may have been a shot over the bow of this great ship “America,” yet the Captain and the officers of this great ship did nothing to educate the public about the dangers of a worldwide movement which is fueled by the radicalized version of an important religion with a billion and a half followers; approximately 25 percent of the world population. Then the World Trade Centers were hit successfully on September 11, 2001 resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent citizens, our friends, our neighbors and our family members. As a result of this attack red flags went up, alarms were sounded, we sent Special Forces to Afghanistan, defeated the Taliban, invaded Iraq and got rid of the brutal dictator Saddam Hussein. Unfortunately our citizens soon lost interest, got tired of fighting wars and we decided to bring our troops back home. Unfortunately, Al Qaida was not defeated. Yet we declared victory as a matter of convenience, picked up our marbles and came home.

In the meantime, the enemy never stopped training, growing and looking for new targets. After the Arab spring as we all applauded arrival of democracy and freedom to Tunis, Egypt and Libya; they applauded with us because we had managed to get rid of their enemies for them at our expense. Iran continued towards building a nuclear weapon as the world issued meaningless warnings after toothless threats; they armed Hamas and Hezbollah and continued to ship weapons and trainers to Afghanistan to help kill our men and women in uniform. When Syria started to fall apart with an unconscionable civil war raging throughout that troubled country, 60,000 Syrians were killed by their own leader as the world stood by and allowed our enemy to infiltrate the ranks of the so called “freedom fighters.” They outwardly helped the cause, fighting against the regime alongside the rebels. As the saying goes: “To the victors go the spoils/Victory spolia.” When it is all over and Bashar Al-Assad finally joins the “hall of shame of dead brutal dictators” in that special place reserved for them where the temperatures reach 3000 Fahrenheit, Al Qaida will be in Syria celebrating their the victory and Iran will finally have a port in the Mediterranean and will completely surround the State of Israel – the only real democracy and our only friend in the area!

Now, we are looking at another similar situation in Mali; all the elements are there for a repeat of history. Al Qaida, unchecked and unstopped, brazenly took over the northern part of this strategically important African country and started imposing Islamic Law – killing those who opposed them, closing schools, covering women and applying Sharia Law to residents who were unable to escape or, for some strange reason, chose to stay! Soon enough, the general population started to move south and refugee camps started popping up in the surrounding countries.

Satisfied with their victory in northern Mali and noticing the deafening silence of the so-called “leaders” of the world, Al Qaida started their move towards Bamako, capital of Mali. Last week, France started military operations in Mali landing approximately 2,500 troops in the south. The leader of Al Qaida in the Maghreb announced, “the French have signed the death notices of Frenchmen everywhere!” indicating that French citizens are not safe anywhere around the world if France continues to fight Al Qaida in Mali.

For the reader who is not familiar with the term Maghrep, it is usually defined as much or most of the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. The traditional definition is the region including the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunis and Libya. In 1989, the Arab Maghreb included a fifth nation, Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara (mostly controlled by Morocco). During the Al-Andalus era in Spain, the Maghreb’s inhabitants, Maghrebis, were known as “Moors;” the Muslim areas of Spain in those times were usually included in contemporary definitions of the Maghreb—hence the use of ‘Moor’ or ‘Moors’ to describe the Muslim inhabitants of Spain by Christian and other Western sources.

Are you connecting the dots yet about Mali?

If Al Qaida succeeds in taking over Mali, we will be looking at another Afghanistan, this time in the mineral rich continent of Africa where military operations may take tens of years against insurgents and rebels.

I am beginning to lose hope…

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

Tarik Ayasun
tayasun@taray.com

2012 has certainly been a very interesting, confusing and, in many ways, a terrible year. My only wish is that 2013 will not be a repeat performance.

Friday, December the 14, 2012, was and will remain as the worst day of my life. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to get the events of the day out of my mind; I can’t. I dream about them, I think about them constantly and I lose it. I routinely cry when I think about the whole event more than once a day. Talking about it to my best friend over lunch, I see his lips tremble and his eyes well up and I lose it. I have had to pull over and stop my car a number of times during my daily trips to Naples and Ft. Myers to reflect upon that day.

My problem is simple yet complex and will not be resolved any time soon. I just have difficulty imagining how anyone can kill angels. But someone did! Angels are beautiful; they are without sin or fault; they are pure with fast beating little hearts. Little angels who have not yet completely developed; so trusting and loving; who probably never hurt anything or anyone in their short lives were taken away from their loving families and from all of us. Worried about Santa or the Elf-on-the-shelf; the toys they may be receiving on Christmas Day; thinking about what games they will play with their little friends in class that morning, they kissed their moms and dads and boarded the yellow bus that took them to their school where it was safe, warm and friendly. They probably had no idea that this was the last day of their happy little lives. They probably never thought that a monster was lurking in the area. Their world was so small yet so happy and so carefree. They probably did not even dress themselves. Moms or dads carefully and lovingly picked out their colorful little outfits for the Holiday Season, dressed them with warm hearts and utmost care, looked at them proudly and sent them off to school. What an ordinary day that was…

Dad taking kids away from school. SUBMITTED photoS

Then the unimaginable happened. Unimaginable does not really describe it. When I first saw the news on my iPhone, it did not seem like such a huge story. We have been inoculated to shootings throughout the recent years. But as I started to drive to Naples, listening to the news on the radio, the enormity and the horror of the situation started to sink in. Twenty little angels, eight boys and twelve girls and six of their teachers and administrators were shot and killed. Unbelievable! Could this all be a mistake? Could it be a hoax? How can this happen?

I could no longer drive… Sobbing uncontrollably, I called my wife who became concerned about my well being. She asked me to stop and pull over. “Park the car!” she yelled, “I will come and drive you home.” I could not tell her that little angels were killed and I could do nothing to help them and my life was no longer important.

The newsmen and women on the radio kept speculating as to the name of the shooter, his possible motives, his mother, his upbringing, the weapons he used; on and on and on. I could not care less about any of that. I did not want to know his name or who he was or what made him do it. The scene in that little classroom kept playing in my head over and over again. I knew what it looked like; I could almost hear it and smell it all. What has my country come to? What kind of monsters in human forms lived among us?

Last week, the angels were buried one by one. They left behind wounds larger than the largest craters; rivers of tears more than enough to fill the biggest dams in the world; hurting hearts heavier than tons and tons of bricks. No one can imagine the pain those moms and dads will be suffering for the rest of their lives; feeling the emptiness day after day. I wish I could hug them one by one and absorb their pain, give them a moment of relief. Their angels are gone.

Politicians, pundits, agenda driven heartless individuals will have their moment in the limelight, arguing for this or that, changing laws, making it difficult to do this or that. I don’t care to hear from them. None of that will bring these angels back.

In the lowest moment of my 63 years on this silly planet called “earth” on December the 14, 2012 I thought for a fleeting moment, “Maybe they should get nuclear weapons and blow us all up at the same time. We don’t deserve to be here. I don’t want to belong to a so-called human race containing members who are capable of killing angels.”

My life will never be the same in the remaining days of my life. My heart is irreparably and irreversibly broken.

Please hug your children and your grandchildren. Make sure they know they are loved.

Tarik Ayasun is presently President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School; Board member of the Marco Island Police Foundation and the Marco Island Rotary Club, he has given many years of community service to various organizations.

Events in the Middle East are heating up rapidly and will most probably be coming to a conclusion; one way or the other very soon. In order for the readers to connect the dots and make their own conclusions, I will list my interpretation of the latest events and the countries involved.

AL-ASSAD

SYRIA
By far the most dangerous situation of all is playing out in Syria. Dictator Bashar Al-Assad is taking advantage of the rudderless and leaderless West and has been indiscriminately killing his own people for the last year or so. The latest news as of the writing this article is alarming.

It is being reported that Al-Assad has started moving chemical weapons which he possesses and according to some reports has started mixing them. It is not clear that he has ordered his military to load them into warheads. The chemical he is threatening to use on his own people is Sarin, or GB. It is a colorless, odorless liquid used as a chemical weapon owing to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction by UN Resolution 687. Production and stockpiling of Sarin was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 where it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance. This is precisely the same chemical Saddam Hussein used on the Kurds back in March 16, 1988 when between 5,000 to 10,000 people were killed.

I am one of those who suspected that Saddam moved his chemical weapons into Syria just before the US invaded and Al-Assad must now be in possession of large quantities of this chemical. Sarin has a shelf life of around several weeks to several months after being mixed and it will lose its potency if not used. Will Al-Assad use it on his own people? The consensus around the intelligence communities is that he will if he is cornered and he has nothing left to lose.

Of course, much still depends on if the Russians will either let him or lose control of him. Here is where the wild-cards enters the picture; Mullahs in Iran supply Al-Assad with arms, ammunition, oil and funds. If the Mullahs feel that Al-Assad is going to lose total control his government, this will effect Iran directly and at that point they may go ahead and push the issue. One must remember that the people fighting to remove Al-Assad are Sunni Muslims whereas the Iranians are Shia and they would surely hate to see their neighbor Syria run by a Sunni government. Al-Assad’s family and the rulers of Syria are Alawites (A prominent mystical religious group centered in Syria and control the government who follow a branch of the Twelver school of Shia Islam) and they are close to the Shia in Iran.

TAYYIP ERDOGAN

TURKEY
Turks are most affected by the events in Syria. Tayyip Erdogan, the Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey who had been enjoying a great deal of economic success, was a good friend of Al-Assad until he started killing his own people – mostly Sunni Muslims who professed their respect for the Turkish PM and even referred to him as their Sultan. The relationship totally turned sour after the incident where the Syrians allegedly downed a Turkish Air Force jet over the Mediterranean. Erdogan publicly vowed to take revenge but was subsequently rebuffed as a result of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s intervention on behalf of the Syrians.

Boldened by Putin’s actions, the Syrian’s upped the ante by shelling villages near the Turkish border causing many deaths and over 100,000 Syrian refugees to flood into Southeast Turkey. This is now a very costly economic and political headache for the Turks. To complicate the matters more, PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party); a Communist organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights for Kurds living in Turkey was encouraged and given permission by the Al-Assad regime to move along the Syrian – Turkish border. They immediately started making armed incursions into Turkish towns and military installations along the border, causing death and destruction. Fearing an attack from the Syrians, Turks recently asked NATO to move a number of Patriot anti-rocket batteries along the border and this has been approved. Approximately 300 Dutch soldiers along with a number of American advisers and CIA operatives are now positioned on the Turkish side of the border adding further complications to the situation on hand.

AL-MALIKI

IRAQ
After the American military forces left and Iraq returned to their usual internal conflicts between the Shia majority and Sunni minority as well as with the Kurds in the North who control the oil and gas; they have now picked a fight with their neighbors and friends, the Turks. Iraq is one of Turkey’s most important trading partners and losing good relations with them would be a huge blow to the Turkish economy. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki recently accused the Turks of cutting deals with the Iraqi Kurds in the north led by Kurdish Massoud Barzani without the knowledge and permission of the central government. The Iraqis last week turned back the Turkish Energy Ministers’s airplane in mid-flight back to Turkey citing there was no invitation to justify the trip.

HEZBOLLAH

LEBANON
Hezbollah is in control of south Lebanon and now possesses long range FAJR-5 rockets obtained from Iran which can go as far as Tel-Aviv and cause serious damage if they can successfully penetrate the new Iron Dome anti-rocket systems deployed by Israel. Hezbollah is also suspected of helping Al-Assad in Syria since Al-Assad supplied much of the funds and many of the weapons to Hezbollah in the past.

HAMAS LEADER

GAZA STRIP
Hamas has won the last elections and they are the de-facto government of the Gaza strip. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in a defiant speech during his first ever visit to Gaza, told a mass rally on Saturday December 7, that Hamas would never recognize Israel and pledged to “free the land of Palestine inch by inch.” Hamas also possesses long range FAJR-5 missiles obtained from Iran and have recently showered Israel at will with them causing damage in the outskirts of Tel-Aviv.

KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN

JORDAN
One of the very few friendly Arab countries in the Middle East who in the past cut deals with the Israelis is a Kingdom whose ruling family are Hashemites whereas the majority of their population is Palestinians. Some will recall that King Hussein, father of the present King, Abdullah II was married to an American, former Lisa Halaby, daughter of former Pan American Chairman Najeeb Halaby. She is now called Queen Nour and is liked by many in Jordan. Despite all that, recent developments in Jordan indicate possible trouble for the King soon and in some circles, the idea of a possible coup which may topple him is being discussed. Recent arrest of eleven Al-Qaeda terrorists who were in the country to blow up shopping centers and hotels indicate how difficult things could get in a hurry.

ISRAEL
Israelis are now faced with rockets coming in from the South and the North as well as worrying about the progress of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated earlier this year that the Israelis have a red line beyond which Iran will not be allowed to go in their quest for nuclear weapons at any cost. For the Israelis, this is a matter of life and death. Facing a Syria possibly ruled by either the Muslim Brotherhood, a branch of Al Qaeda or Hezbollah is not going to be acceptable to them.

IRAN
The greatest evil of all in the area, Iran is going full speed ahead trying to develop their nuclear weapons. Having figured ingenious ways to circumvent the US embargoes, they are the major suppliers of weapons to terrorists, insurgents and anti-government forces in the Middle East and Africa. The latest news out of Iran indicated that the Iranians have been selling natural gas to Turkey and circumventing the US embargo by accepting Turkish Lira as payment (they can’t use Dollars and Swift service for funds transfers) and then turning around and buying gold from Turkey using the same Turkish Liras which is a non-convertible currency. When asked how the gold was leaving Turkey (it is against the law to remove gold in large quantities from Turkey without government permissions), the Finance Minister of Turkey said, “We are not sure how the gold is leaving the country!”
At this point in order to help (!) the reader connect the dots, here is a brief summary:

VLADIMIR PUTIN

Iran is exporting weapons to all their neighbors and upsetting the Israelis and the Americans. Israel has drawn a red line indicating that should Iran pass that point in time, Israelis will act. Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations have obtained long range rockets from Iran and are threatening Israel with them. Syria is falling apart and Dictator Bashar Al-Assad is threatening to use chemical weapons on his own people if the insurgency against him is not stopped. Syrian populations have been leaving in masses and over 100,000 of them are now living in refugee camps in South Eastern Turkey as well as another 300,000 in Iraq, Armenia and neighboring countries. Iraq is accusing the Turks of cutting deals with the Kurds. PKK, the Kurdish Communist Party moved their militants to the Turkish-Syrian border. US Government issued another one of the regular, very scary threats to Syria that “if they use any chemical weapons on their own people, there will be severe consequences.”

Other than all the above mentioned on-going events, everything is fine in the powder-keg known as the Middle East. Just watch out before you strike a match. The whole world may blow up.

And what is the “fiscal cliff” anyway?

About The Author

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

BEYOND THE COAST
Tarik Ayasun
turk1949@comcast.net

Roasted chicken is no turkey.

Thanksgiving 1975, will remain as one of the most memorable and strange Thanksgiving holidays for my wife and me. We were living in Istanbul, Turkey while I completed my compulsory military service in the Turkish Armed Forces. My wife and our one year old son lived in the first floor of my childhood home while I was stationed in the small western town of Bornova. Since I could not communicate directly with her from our base, we had to wait until weekends when I could call her from nearby hotels where I spent short weekends.

Thanksgiving was approaching and I was coming home on leave. Celebrating Thanksgiving with my wife in Istanbul, Turkey sounded unique and intriguing to say the least. We planned to have a complete turkey dinner with all the fixings; home-made stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and of course pumpkin pie! We decided on the menu and she was put in charge of ordering everything.

We also came up with a brilliant idea to invite three other officers and their wives to our Thanksgiving turkey dinner. They had all lived in the USA as students at various times and agreed readily to join us to have a nostalgic holiday dinner.

As a young man growing up in Istanbul, I had occasionally seen men in the streets selling live turkeys around Christmas or New Years so I told my wife to look out for one of these “walking merchants” and purchase a big turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner. She wanted to know who would have the “rather grotesque” job of butchering the live turkey for us to cook. I was sure the man who sold her the beast would also cut it up for us! She was semi-convinced but told me she would try anyway.

Turkey merchant in Istanbul.

While I was playing soldier, she went to work doing the real work. After searching all over town asking many people if they had seen the “walking turkey merchant” and being told over and over again that it was not close enough yet to Christmas or New Years Eve, there would be no turkeys available; she settled on going to the neighborhood butcher to order our Thanksgiving turkey. From the butcher’s description, she was a bit worried that a turkey would not be big enough for eight; she decided to order two turkeys to be delivered to our house a day before Thanksgiving Day. The rest of the items were easy to find and she was all set, just waiting for the arrival of the two turkeys.

The day before Thanksgiving Day, the turkeys did not show up. Her various trips to the butcher were not fruitful and she started to get worried and frustrated. The butcher was sure we would get the two turkeys on Thanksgiving morning and she would have plenty of time to cook them. I arrived from Bornova on the eve of the “big day” and helped with getting the house prepared for our Thanksgiving Dinner in Turkey with our friends.

Early in the morning of Thanksgiving Day we both walked over to the butcher who met us at the door with a large package. The turkeys had finally arrived that morning, butchered and cleaned up and neatly packaged in white wax paper according to our friendly neighborhood butcher. We walked home with our prized package in hand, picking up some fresh bread from the local bakery along the way.

We were going to have Thanksgiving turkey in Turkey. Or, were we?

Opening the package in our kitchen, we were shocked to find two good size chickens, partially covered with feathers; necks intact and not looking anything like USA supermarket chickens at all. We looked at each other in disbelief and broke into laughter. We were not going to have Thanksgiving turkey in Turkey after all. We got to work immediately; cleaned, dressed and roasted our chickens in our “thankfully” gas fired oven (electricity was cut off later that morning due to a mild snow fall in the City).

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day 1975, in Istanbul, Turkey with our friends and two large chickens.

Turkey sales in Istanbul.

I wish all Coastal Breeze News readers a happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

A hero is defined as someone who deliberately and courageously overcomes obstacles for the benefit of others without regard to personal consequences.

A coward is defined as a person who shows disgraceful fear and shameful lack of courage or fortitude under difficult conditions at the expense of others.

Ambassador Stevens.

This week, as we learn more and more details of what happened in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012; we as Americans must get to know more about and celebrate the lives of our American heroes and condemn those cowards who let them be murdered by a bunch of terrorists.

Our Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens is a hero. He went to Libya to serve our country and was doing his job when he was murdered. He knew what the dangers were; he was aware of what was going on in Libya yet he chose to go and serve there anyway. He was hoping to help Libyans build a better country for themselves after 30 years of being ruled by a crazy dictator. He was murdered by the very same people he was trying to help.

TY Woods.

Former Navy Seal Ty Woods is a hero. He was part of a small team at the CIA annex approximately a mile from the consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team came under fierce attack from Ansar Al-Sharia terrorists. When former Navy SEAL Ty Woods and others at the annex heard the shots fired, they requested permission to go to the Consulate and help out. They were told to “stand down.” A few minutes later, they asked if they could go and help and they were told to “stand down” once again. Woods and at least two others chose to ignore those orders and went over to the consulate which was on fire by this time. He helped evacuate those who remained at the consulate. Foreign Service Information Management officer Sean Smith was already dead as a result of smoke inhalation. Ty Woods evacuated his body out of the building. The group led by Ty Woods could not locate the Ambassador and returned back to the CIA annex at midnight. While at the CIA annex, a further request was made by Woods for military assistance and it was again denied. Fighting until his last breath, Ty did what he always had; he inspired, led, helped and fought for the defenseless, for our country, and for us. Ty died as he would have wanted – with his sword in his hand. Ty leaves behind a wife and a young child. Ty Woods is a hero and will always be remembered as such

Those who wish to contribute may go to: info@seal-swfamilyfoundation.org and make contributions to c/o Ty Woods Memorial Account, Tax ID 27-1963880)

Glen Doherty.

Former Navy Seal Glen Doherty is a hero. Former SEAL Glen Doherty was sent in from Tripoli as part of a Global Response Staff (or GRS) which provides security to CIA case officers and provides counter-surveillance and surveillance protection. He was helping Ty Woods on top of the annex when they were both hit by a mortar shell at 4:00 AM Libyan time; nearly seven hours after the attack on the consulate began. That represents much more than enough time for the U.S. military to send back-up from nearby bases in Europe, or from any one of the aircraft carriers in the area. Seal Glen Doherty is a hero because he continued to do his job against all odds without regard to personal consequences and he died serving his country with honor. (Those who wish to contribute to his memorial please go to glendohertyfoundation.org.)

Sean Smith.

Sean Smith, Foreign Service Information Management Officer is a hero. Smith was a ten-year veteran of the State Department and was in Libya on a “brief” temporary assignment. He was 34 years old and father of two young children. Smith was an Air Force veteran who had served in a number of posts, including in Baghdad, Iraq and The Hague. He was serving our country proudly and died never believing his country would let him down.

They were all let down. We should not let them down. They are our brothers, our sons, our uncles and our fathers.

And of course for every hero, there are a hundred or more cowards. We don’t need to introduce them to you or even mention their names.

You know who they are.

Tarik Ayasun is President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors and has given many years of service of community service to various organizations.

Tarik Ayasun 

turk1949@comcast.net

Al Zawahiri.

When the last US troops left Iraq, Al-Qaida terrorists were believed to have around 1,000 fighters remaining in the area. The last intelligence estimates clearly indicate that there are now more than 2,500 fighters; and various new terrorist training camps have opened all around the desert areas of Iraq and the numbers of these terrorists are growing daily.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban is re-organizing and getting ready to take over as soon as our combat troops leave sometime during 2014. We will be leaving approximately 30,000 Special Forces and other military personnel behind, however it is not too clear as to what their duties will be. Taliban in Afghanistan is ready to turn the country back to the ninth century, taking away all human rights from women and non-Muslims in the area. Recent execution style shooting of a 14 year old little girl and her friend in a school bus by a member of the Pakistani Taliban only because they committed the inexcusable crime of attending school to learn how to read and write should remind everyone who we are dealing with.

Terrorists are also taking charge in North Africa as well as in other Middle Eastern countries in the absence of a strong and definitive message from the United States and the West. Having successfully hit us twice on September 11 (2001 and 2012) they must surely believe America and the West together have turned into a paper tiger.

As the truth about the terrible events in Benghazi unravel day by day, Americans are getting discouraged; as the man in the street continues to lose trust in his own elected officials’ ability to tell them the truth. We live in a nation of laws and we are proud of that. We do not tolerate lawlessness here and we should not tolerate it anywhere. Just as we shouldn’t tolerate lawlessness, we should not tolerate those elected officials who do not tell us the truth when the evidence is clear and undisputable.

The war on terror is not over. It will not be over until every single terrorist is taken out; until every government that supports terror is made to pay tenfold for their dirty deeds; until people everywhere are given a chance to live free and safe lives and until our elected leaders as well as our fellow citizens understand how serious the threat of terrorism is. I don’t care if our leadership is Republican, Democratic, Independent or whatever, I expect them to protect every single one of us wherever we may be around the world. That is their single most important duty.

While I do understand that trying to solve problems around the world diplomatically should always be our first option, we should also remember what Bismarck, possibly the greatest diplomat of modern times, said: “Diplomacy without a credible threat of military force is like making music without instruments.” We need to have a strong military presence around the world and project a posture of strength equally to our friends and enemies.

Using our military option should always be the last option and used sparingly when all else fails. Military action should never be used irresponsibly and without full preparation. We all know that our elected officials sent our young men and women to war in Iraq with less than adequate protection and equipment. They lacked the proper protective gear, hard skinned humvees and a full understanding of the enemy we faced. As a result, we lost some of our best young people to terrorists’ bullets, IEDs and RPGs. These young men and women proved themselves in the battlefield despite these inadequacies and performed brilliantly and beat the enemy in every battle. Despite their heroic performances and sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty, they were denied the final victory by the desk warriors and politicians in Washington. In the latest episode of “how to ignore and downplay the enemy and lose,” our elected leaders sent a brilliant Ambassador to Libya and then totally failed to protect him and three other US citizens two of whom were former SEALS. They ended up being brutally tortured and killed within the confines of our consulate in Benghazi which is, by international treaty, United States territory in Libya. We were attacked and we are yet to respond. That was, is and will be inexcusable at every level.

I hope my readers understand how strongly I believe in everything I write in this column issue after issue. I base my arguments on facts and not rumors, propaganda, hope or wishful thinking. My facts are yet to be challenged, because while everyone has a right to their opinion, they do not have a right to their facts. If we believe that Al Qaida is finished because Osama Bin Laden is dead, think again. When our homeland was attacked on September 11, 2001 and thousands of our citizens were killed, America’s aura of impenetrability as a “fortress” was challenged and it was somehow dented. We now have to be extra vigilant to protect our people and our country. When our territory in Libya is attacked and four of our citizens are murdered in an organized terrorist attack on the eleventh anniversary of September 11, we as Americans must pause and ask our elected officials what they were thinking. Why wasn’t there enough protection despite pleas from the security officials on the ground at the location? When we can no longer travel freely without going through x-ray machines, taking our shoes off, being patted down by security agents and not being able to carry own bottle of water on board an aircraft, there is something seriously wrong that same diligence was not present in Benghazi.

When I came to America and lovingly and willingly became a citizen of this beautiful country, I was filled with pride, joy and an overwhelming feeling of freedom which gave me boundless strength, courage and energy. I felt invincible as I traveled around the world flashing my blue USA Passport which was honored, respected and highly regarded. As an American citizen I felt like I could do anything I set my mind to and be successful at it. And I was.

The enemy of free people all around the world is international terrorism. Today, there are over 110 major terror groups operating all around the world, most of them loosely tied one way or the other to Al Qaida. Iran is a terrorist state rushing towards building nuclear weapons as they support and finance terrorist groups around the world who attack and kill our fellow citizens. Iran’s declared goal is to obliterate Israel (our only ally in the Middle East) and wipe it off the face of the earth. There are Al Qaida terrorist camps in North Africa, Middle East and South America (Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela) training new recruits every day. There are over 100 known Al Qaida cells right here in America. We must take this threat seriously. We can’t laugh or smile about it and hope it goes away.

I am worried for the future of Israel; I am worried about the future of my own country, America; I am worried about my children and the future of my grandchildren. I don’t want to send them to wars we try not to win; I don’t want to send them to work on missions around the world which our elected officials can’t or won’t protect and I don’t want to see them live their lives in a country where they feel less than secure.

I am worried…Period!

Tarik Ayasun is a member of Vice Chair of the Code Enforcement Board and President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors, he has given many years of community service to various organizations. 

Tarik Ayasun

tayasun@taray.com

Al Qaida in Mali. submitted PHOTOS

Most readers may not be familiar with Mali, a landlocked country in interior Western Africa, twice the size of Texas, divided into three natural zones; the Southern, cultivated Sudanese area; the Central semiarid Sahelian; and the Northern, arid Saharan. It is located to the southwest of Algeria, north of Guinea, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, east of Mauretania and west of Niger.

It is important to note the history of Mali in order to grasp the importance of what is going on and what it means to future problems in the region caused by the radical Islamist Al-Qaida terrorists.

The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960, as the Mali Federation. Senegal withdrew from the Federation after only a few months and what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was re-named Mali. Until 1991, the country was ruled by a dictatorship when a military coup brought in an era of democratic rule. From 1992 to 2007, two different Presidents were elected by what were widely recognized as “fair” elections. In March of 2012, a military coup overthrew the legitimate President, claiming that the government was not adequately supporting the Malian army’s fight against an advancing Tuareg rebellion in the North. Tuaregs are a nomadic ethnic group who for many years have been trying to gain independence and were supported by arms and funds coming from Khadafi of Libya. After Khadafi was deposed by western powers and executed by his own people; the Al-Qaida elements from Libya moved into Mali through southern Libya via Algeria bringing with them Khadafi’s weapons. The Tuaregs were soon taken over by their so called “allies”; a local Islamist movement called the “Ansar Dine” (Defenders of the Faith) which is allied with Al Qaida. Ansar Dine now controls the region, in alliance with another radical Islamic splinter group, the MUJAO, or the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa! Furthermore, the presence of “Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)” another very significant terrorist organization in the area, helped spread the radical Islamists movement’s wings all over Mali.

I have been following the events taking place in this locally significant yet internationally little known country since the demise of Khadafi in Libya. The brutal killing of our Ambassador to Libya in the city of Benghazi on September 11, 2012, by Al-Qaida terrorists increased my natural curiosity to look into what may be the next flash point in Africa which involves Al-Qaida or one of their related terror groups.

In September I read with disgust news accounts of a young couple in the city of Aguelhok who were accused of having children out of wedlock being brought to the town square by the local Al Qaida operatives imposing Shariah Law and stoned to death as 300 or so people from the town were forced to watch in horror.

In mid-September, I read the news accounts of the Radical Islamists extending their campaign of harsh Shariah law by amputating the hands and feet of four young men they accused of robbery in the main street at Gao, a principal town in the region.

Al-Qaida opened the previously closed schools in the North, with girls covered in Islamic fashion and seated in the back of the classrooms separated from the boys.

Lately, in the Taliban of Afghanistan fashion, the Islamists started to destroy shrines and tombs of Muslim saints in the region of Timbuktu. The Islamists claim that the shrines respected by local people and declared part of the world’s heritage by the United Nations, are “haram,” or forbidden in Islam.

Northern Africa

To make things even more complicated, since last year, the region has been experiencing severe food shortages, drought and nutritional crisis. This is the third hunger crisis to hit the region in less than 10 years. Officials say more than 18 million people are experiencing hunger, including more than 1 million children. Mali, Mauritania, and Chad are the countries hardest hit.

Western and African political leaders have issued calls for a military intervention in Mali. Several world leaders stressed that parts of Mali were under rebel control and are serving as a haven for terror groups connected to Al-Qaida.

On the other hand, aid officials have warned that any armed intervention would actually make the situation worse and turn it into a huge humanitarian crisis.

“Any intensification of conflict could make it even more difficult for communities to access the aid they need,” said Mamadou Biteye, Oxfam’s West Africa regional director. “There is a major risk that military operations in northern Mali would make an already fragile humanitarian situation much worse.”

In response, the President of France, François Hollande, told the meeting of the world leaders at the U.N. earlier this month “When a territory as large as France is being occupied by terrorist groups … you have a threat which concerns the world as a whole.” He called for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a new resolution authorizing the deployment of a West African military force in Mali.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added: “Now, with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions. This is not only a humanitarian crisis; it is a powder keg that the international community cannot afford to ignore.”

Mali

Earlier this year, the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union made a joint request for the U.N. to support a regional military force in Mali. In response, the Security Council issued a “resolution” in July that condemned the March coup and called for a “roadmap” for the restoration of state authority throughout the country. That does not give me any hope or comfort that something is going to be achieved by issuing yet another meaningless and powerless UN resolution!

In light of all the above and many more incidents I have been following, I am convinced that Al Qaida and the radical Islamic movements are on the march in northern Africa and are looking for weak spots to attack, take over and grow. The leadership crisis in the countries of the Arab Spring, Muslim Brotherhood’s takeover of Egypt, the crisis in Syria, Iran’s getting ever closer to a nuclear weapon, Turkey’s radical shift to returning to an Islamist Republic and the U.S. Government’s seeming abandonment of Israel, our only ally in the region are all playing into the hands of the Radical Islamist Movement and creating a powder keg environment waiting for a spark to go off in the Middle East and Northern Africa very soon.

I am worried…

Tarik Ayasun

tayasun@taray.com

The Embassy after the attack. submitted PHOTOS

Exactly eleven years to the day, primitive savages in Libya attacked the American Consulate in Benghazi and assassinated our Ambassador Christopher Stevens along with three others; two of whom happened to be former SEALS. Earlier in the same day more primitive savages in Cairo, Egypt attacked the American embassy, climbed over the walls, entered the embassy grounds, shredded our flag and burned it. Further attacks followed on September 12 and 13, in Yemen and Tunis as well as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Morocco.

Official reason given was the showing of an obscure movie; a 15 minute trailer of which was posted on the internet back in June and as of September 11, 2012, it was viewed by less than two thousand people. The movie allegedly made fun of Prophet Mohammed and showed him in a bad light. Let there be no mistake; this stupid little movie had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks. If anyone believes that story for a fleeting moment; I have a bridge that connects Australia to Malaysia I can sell them.

The attack in Benghazi was conducted with military precision by members of Al-Qaida in Libya to get revenge for the killing of Osama bin Laden. I am further alleging that all the attacks on all US Embassies and Consulates in Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East are not individual events but well planned and well coordinated acts of terrorism by true primitive savages. I have stopped calling these animals “radical Muslims” a long time ago because they have gone above and beyond that title. Anyone who would kill an ambassador who helped them get rid of a brutal dictator can be nothing but a primitive savage.

America must wake up and smell the gunpowder that lingers in the air. As I have written in this column over and over in the last two years, we continue to be our own worst enemy. Our leaders see the world through rose colored glasses and continue to live in la-la-land. When are they going to realize that these people hate us; they never loved us; they never liked us; they only tolerated us because they were afraid of us and they wanted our money. Since we decided not to flex our muscles but to apologize to these brutes at every turn; they no longer fear us but truly hate us. They want us all dead. What is so difficult to come to grips with this reality? Friends, Americans and my countrymen; wake up! Our embassies and consulates are our territories in these countries protected by international treaties and local laws. When they attack our embassies, when they kill our ambassadors and citizens; they are declaring war on us and the only response should be to return the favor!

Last year when I wrote that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over in Egypt, I received some mail accusing me of being anti-Muslim, bigoted and being an Islamophobic! Ladies and gentlemen, the Muslim Brotherhood is now in charge of Egypt and already threatening their neighbors.

My last article in this spot was named “Your best friend, your worst enemy”. We have been the best friend of the Egyptians as we helped them remove Hosni Mubarak; we were their best friend when we helped them remove Kaddafi in Libya; we were their best friend in Tunis when we helped them remove President Ben Ali. After they burned our flag, killed our ambassador and our citizens; it is now high time we become their worst enemy.

We must as a nation understand that there could be no diplomacy without any show of power. No one will listen to our romantic concepts of Islamic Democracies and “friendly” primitive savages unless we couple our diplomatic efforts with show of shear power.

These savages are no longer afraid of us; they do not respect us. We should take immediate and decisive action against the perpetuators.

Americans must never, ever allow a bunch of dirty handed savages tear down and burn our flags, attack our embassies and kill our ambassadors and citizens. Our government must immediately freeze all financial aid to Egypt, Libya, Tunis, Pakistan, Bangladesh and others.

It is now time to be their worst enemy…

Tarik Ayasun is presently President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School; Board member of the Marco Island Police Foundation and the Marco Island Rotary Club, he has given many years of community service to various organizations.

B

Tarik Ayasun

turk1949@comcast.net

I am visiting my family in Northern Virginia. Sitting by a small spring-fed lake in this very peaceful neighborhood on the outskirts of our Nation’s Capital, I am reading the local papers, following international news on the internet and talking to some of my old friends on the phone as I catch up on world news. Hearing and reading the almost daily news stories about Afghan soldiers killing our troops who are there to train them for a better future; hearing the fascist leader Ahmedinejad of Iran hatefully declaring “The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumor. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists.” As I deeply worry about what is to come in the next few months, I keep thinking about the motto of the First Marine Division I am personally familiar with; “No Better Friend; No Worse Enemy”.

It is said that General James N. Mattis, the current commander of the United States Central Command popularized this slogan for his command which was originally coined by Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (c. 138 BC – 78 BC), known commonly as Sulla. He was a Roman general and statesman with the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice as well as that of dictator. He is said to have written these words as his own epitaph in 78 BC. His original words were “No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full.”

What does it mean to be someone’s “No better friend?” As far as I am concerned, no better friend is someone who will do everything to protect you; someone who will not be afraid of giving his or her own life for you; someone who will always be there in your times of trouble, caring for you and your problems and will sacrifice himself or herself to make sure you get through your problems.

What does it mean to be someone’s “No worse enemy?” In my opinion, no worst enemy would be someone who will not hesitate to go after wrong-doers because they have harmed him, his friends or his country. He may end up destroying himself or herself in the process but will not hesitate to go after the wrong-doers to the ends of the earth.

For many years America and Americans enjoyed unusually good and friendly relations with the peoples of most nations around the world who themselves aspired for the freedoms we enjoyed here. America willingly and generously shared the wealth and knowledge she possessed with these nations and peoples. American people, as citizens of a young nation of only a hundred or more years, had accomplished more than the rest of the world did in a thousand years. We were the envy of the world. When people from many nations asked for America’s help, she gave it willingly and without any reservation. Americans shed their blood in the process of freeing millions from the hands of ruthless dictators in far-away places. America was their best friend, they could find no better. When friends of America were ever harmed and they asked for her help; Americans were there to help with all their might. Those who harmed America’s friends found out very quickly that we were their worst enemy, bar none! The world trusted America and the Americans without any reservation.

Take a look around the world now. There are trouble spots everywhere; it looks like we are on the verge of a worldwide conflict and only a handful of countries consider us their friend and trust our word. What happened? Why we are not trusted anymore? Could it be because we entered into a number of conflicts to help our friends but left in a hurry without finishing the job? Could it be because we shed our enemy’s blood, lost many of our own in the process, yet rushed home prematurely, leaving our friends in the hands of their enemies to be tortured, maimed or killed?

Today, a Syrian dictator is murdering his own people by the hundreds without any nation or leader around the world lifting a finger to stop them. The government of Iran, which is very close to producing a nuclear weapon under the noses of an apathetic Western world, is declaring their desire to “wipe Israel off the face of the world” is helping this Syrian dictator. As America and the rest of the Western nations watch feebly, other dictators are once again emerging and ruling all over South America; Chavez in Venezuela, Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado in Ecuador, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina and the ever present Castro family in Cuba. There seems to be a complete lack of leadership around the world. America is no longer considered to be the “No better friend…No worse enemy…” to resolve conflicts and give comfort and aid to those in need. All of a sudden America and Americans seem tired of helping those who do not seem to help themselves.

For nearly twenty years, Iran has been working feverishly and openly to get a nuclear weapon. Other than the occasional lip-service from a weak and ineffective United Nations and seemingly unenforceable sanctions from the United States and the leaderless West, nothing has been done to stop this mad and furious march towards Armageddon in the Middle East. Our one and only real friend in the area, Israel is left wondering what happened to their “No better friend…No worse enemy…” In reality, Israel may have already decided that they are their own best friend and their adversaries’ worst enemy and they may have to take care of this one alone. After all it is their lives that are at stake; it is their children’s future in question and it is the very existence of their country in the balance. Israel may take decisive action in Iran within the next few months, most probably before our November 6 elections for political and geopolitical reasons. The consequences and end results of such an action are completely unpredictable at this point in time.

PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) terrorists have taken positions in Northern Syria along the Turkish border and are supported by Iran. Director of National Intelligence Agency, James Clapper while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee has acknowledged that blasts in Syrian cities since last December “had all the earmarks of an Al-Qaeda-like attack.” Al-Qaeda and some of their local operators are now part and parcel of the Syrian rebel groups. The murderous government of Syria is being propped up by the mullahs of Iran and despots of Russia. The area is now a highly powerful explosive powder keg as it has never been and a match is getting ready to be struck very soon. Maybe sooner than we all think.

As I sit under these old and graceful oak trees by the shores of this peaceful lake early this morning, only ten minutes away from the center of the world where critical decisions are being made or not being made; I am anxiously wondering if I will be sitting here same time next year pondering what happened, why it happened and if it could all have been avoided.

I do miss America being “No better friend… No worst enemy…” of everyone around the world.

Tarik Ayasun is Vice Chair of the Code Enforcement Board and President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School Board of Directors, he has given many years of community service to various organizations. 

Tarik Ayasun 

turk1949@comcast.net

United Nations peacekeepers. SUBMITTED PHOTOS

After two issues where I did not have my column, I am back. There are so many things to write about, one needs to be choosy, not by choice but by circumstance. One of the most important events of the past two weeks was the Syrian Government’s shooting down of a Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet. Syria claimed that the jet was violating their territory and Turkey claimed it was not. Nevertheless, the plane was shot down and two young Turkish pilots were killed. Their bodies were retrieved by an American company (Nautilus) and their nationally televised and emotional funerals took place on Friday, July 6. The argument shall go on as to where the jet was when it was shot down. For those who do not follow these events closely; Syrian situation is getting worse by the hour. There is no solution in sight as the belligerent President of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad is walking in the footsteps of his murderous father Hafez Al-Assad who killed over 20,000 of his citizens without remorse and without much condemnation from the nations of the world. Supported by Iran, Russia and to a degree by China; Assad feels strong as he is surrounded by his local supporters and puppeteers in Damascus who use him for their self-interests.

I don’t want to take too much time discussing the Syrian issue as the premise of this article is a much larger one.

Syrian protesters.

The major question is where is the United States? Are we going to intervene to stop the carnage and the genocide in this strategically vital country? Can we really do anything now? Is it too late? At this very moment, it looks like the United States has sub-contracted the solution for this problem to the ever-inept United Nations. Readers may remember my earlier pieces concerning the activities (or non-activities) of the United Nations; an organization whose usefulness to world peace has come and gone a long time ago and my constant questioning of the continued existence of this useless organization which we support with our hard earned tax dollars to the tune of $ 890 million dollars per year or 22 percent of the UN budget.

So what are the subcontractors doing in Syria now? Well, as usual the UN has re-activated the services of one Kofi Annan and sent him off to Syria to come up with a plan to stop the killing and make way for passage to some sort of a Democracy in a country ruled by despots. Kofi Annan traveling with his entourage of over a hundred arrived in Syria, presented a totally unacceptable and unworkable plan to Assad which was rejected immediately. The officer commanding the U.N. monitors in Syria, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood of Norway said that “violence there has reached unprecedented levels, making it impossible for his unarmed observers to resume their work, which was suspended last month.”

Kofi Annan.

President-for-life of Syria, Bashar Al- Assad, in an interview with the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet claimed that “the aim of the international community is to break up Syria or trigger a civil war. The fight against terrorism will continue decisively in the face of this. Everybody was calculating that I would fall in a small amount of time. They all miscalculated. And we will defeat terror.” I guess we all misunderstood the good intentions of Mr. Assad who wants us to believe that he is “fighting terror” as he continues to kill his own people; civilians, women and children by bombing his own cities indiscriminately! He wants the world to think that these people are actually terrorists! Well, they may be. We really don’t know for sure who the opposition is because instead of having intelligence on the ground, we subcontracted the world’s most inept and corrupt organization, the United Nations to do our work in Syria. This is unbelievable! And it is unacceptable.

This is the same United Nations that sent in “peace-keepers” to Rwanda in 1994, to keep the Hutus from raping and killing the Tutsis. After the genocidal killing of between 600,000 to a 1,000,000 people (statistics are not clear, numbers change), finally in 2000, the UN explicitly declared its reaction to Rwanda was a “total failure.” Then Secretary General Kofi Annan said of the event “The international community failed Rwanda and that must leave us always with a sense of bitter regret.” Here we are, 12 years later, United Nations sends Kofi Annan to solve the problem in Syria. They must be kidding us or they take us all for idiots! Or they must have forgotten, like the massive amounts of parking tickets they forget to pay in New York City.

The Syrian issue will resolve itself. Bashar Al-Assad will be removed, most likely killed by his own people and the regime in Syria will fall. What replaces it will be very important and unfortunately, as it happened in Egypt, we will not have a say in this decision either.

For those of us who glance at a map of the Middle East once in a while, it will be clear as day that Syria will become an Iranian port into the Mediterranean and the Russians and the Iranians will have a lot to say about the future of a new Syria; and the State of Israel will have to deal with a belligerent new neighbor with possible access to nukes!

United Nations.

If one takes a look at the roster of the United Nations, one will note the following members; Albania, Angola, Argentina, Benin, China, People’s Republic of Congo, Cuba, North Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan, Lao People’s Democratic (?) Republic, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Not necessarily the bedrocks of democratically elected governments! To further the pain, United Nations Security Council for 2012 is composed of five permanent members; China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States and Azerbaijan, India, South Africa, Colombia, Morocco, Togo, Germany, Pakistan, Guatemala and Portugal as non-permanent members.

I think time has come for the United States to insist on abolishing the United Nations charter as it stands now and begins fresh with a new charter for a new UNITED DEMOCRATIC NATIONS. Countries ruled by non-elected, self-appointed dictators like Syria, Venezuela or Equatorial Guinea; they should be ejected until they hold fair and proper elections acceptable to international norms for fair elections. Until such a new organization is formed, the present so called “United Nations” will continue to be run by representatives of countries ruled by despots and dictators and we will all be relegated to hope that men like Kofi Annan will resolve problems in a country where a ruthless, brutal dictator is killing his own people.

I say dismantle the United Nations and build a new organization with a new charter to meet today’s needs. Let’s all hope for an organization called United Democratic Nations.

Tarik Ayasun is presently President of the Marco Island Charter Middle School; Board member of the Marco Island Police Foundation and the Marco Island Rotary Club, he has given many years of community service to various organizations. 

By Donna Fiala
donnafiala@colliergov.net

Shirlee and Brian Barcic report that they went to the new, upgraded and upscale Sam Snead’s Tavern located in Lely Resort! They were so impressed with the service, the atmosphere, the cleanliness, the prices and the great food that they will invite their friends to go with them the next time. They tell me the Creamed Mushroom and Spinach soup was just fantastic, but they only serve it on Monday, I guess. They have different home-made soups every day of the week, so call ahead to ask what their soup of the day is. Shirlee said their hamburgers are out of this world! Brian is a seafood lover and he was surprised at the many choices he had. The Crab Cakes sounded particularly special. And can you imagine your own individual Ghirardelli Chocolate Cake with a huge scoop of ice cream along the side? Oh YUMMM. There were also other selections for dessert, but Brian stopped there.

Let’s see – right in that area there is Erin’s Isle (wonderful Mike Ward – that guy continues to give of himself and his restaurant whenever asked), and Carrabba’s – which is always crowded, winter or summer, and the outstanding Eurasia Restaurant where I continue to see Marco people all the time. Things are beginning to improve in east Naples! Just consider Fiddler’s Creek building again, Copper Cove selling regularly, and Treviso Bay doing very well under the new ownership of Lennar Homes. The fabulous Lely Resort and Verona Walk have always attracted home buyers along with Reflection Lakes. New communities are moving forward, Sabal Bay and Hacienda Lakes, with an expected announcement about a new plan from another developer, it really looks like that part of town is coming alive with good things, and we all benefit!

What a pleasure it was to assist your most wonderful principal, Jory Westbury, a short time ago! How I wish I could have stayed longer, but I loved every minute of being there. These young people looked so eager to learn, so happy with life and with their school. I wish you could have seen their happy faces. They were beautiful. Let me just say the whole school looked like a page out of a book of “Happy to Learn”. The teachers were kind and caring, the janitorial staff couldn’t have been friendlier, and the parents coming and going looked very proud that their children were at this terrific school. Remember though, it all starts at the top! Hats off to Jory Westbury! ! ! It all starts there.

Well folks, it’s that time of year again. Yup, you get treated to my little lecture on hurricane preparedness on a personal basis. Every year I tell you to start preparing, whether we need it or not, just don’t get caught at the last minute without any supplies. I always clean and bleach my nine, five-gallon water jugs, then fill them with fresh water to use in case we have a major storm and we have no water for five days (Remember Wilma!) Next I buy six gallons of drinking water to keep on hand, and buy new batteries in the sizes I need for my radio and flashlights. I set the flashlights in a prominent place, and the batteries right along with them. Set a few candles with matches or a lighter in convenient rooms, just in case.

I shop for non-perishable foods like tuna fish, peanut butter, mac & cheese in a box, etc. Then it’s time for my son to come over and fire up the generator to make sure it runs well. I fill my gasoline containers with fuel for my car and for the generator, and store the containers on my back porch so the fumes don’t permeate the garage. I pull one or two of my storm shutters closed – the hardest ones to manage – so the hard work is done and it keeps my house a little cooler during the summer. Keeps my air conditioning bill a little lower, too.

I put the hurricane preparedness booklets by the flashlights and batteries so everything is in one place. It makes me feel so much better to know I am prepared. When summer is over and there are no storms, we eat the food, use the batteries for Christmas villages and such, use the six gallons of water to make coffee, and pour the nine, five-gallon jugs in the pool during dry season, and of course put the gasoline in the car. There now! Everything is recycled, and I feel better that I was prepared.