Op/Ed - War on Terror: Over or Just Beginning?

By: Erick Stakelbeck 

It was May 2nd, 20ll, the day after the Al Qaeda kingpin was killed by U.S. forces. And CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen was ready to call it a day in the ongoing struggle against Islamic jihadists.

“It’s time to move on,” he continued, telling a radio interviewer that the Islamic terrorist threat to America had been all but eliminated with Bin Laden’s death. Bergen’s CNN colleague, Fareed Zakaria, went a step further, writing that Bin Laden’s demise meant radical Islam’s “existential threat to the Western world” was “gone.”

Bergen and Zakaria, two Obama administration favorites, were echoed by the President’s own Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, who later told reporters that Al Qaeda was nearly defeated.

The message sent to the American people by the Obama administration and their mainstream media surrogates was unmistakable: taking out Bin Laden and defeating Al Qaeda means the age of Islamic radicalism is over.

No mention, of course, of the growing power of jihadists like Iran, Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood, all much greater long-term threats to America’s national security than Al Qaeda. Likewise, no mention of radical Islamists’ stealthy efforts to establish Sharia law in the U.S., infiltrate the highest levels of the U.S. government or of recent calls from American Muslim organizations to re-establish the Islamic caliphate.

Unfortunately for our left-wing elites in the government, mainstream media and academia, the American people are not stupid. Despite the Obama administration’s claims to the contrary, when Americans see the Muslim Brotherhood and its jihadist allies taking power across the Middle East and North Africa, they know instinctively, in their guts, that what is developing is not an “Arab Spring” but an Islamist Winter with dangerous consequences for the U.S. and our greatest ally, Israel.

The alarming truth laid out in Mercury Radio Arts’ new documentary,Rumors of War III: Target U.S.is that the United States is in the radical Islamists’ crosshairs now more than ever. A formidable group of expert insiders, including Lt. General (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, Florida Congressman Allen West, former Department of Justice prosecutor Andrew McCarthy and former FBI Special Agent John Guandolo, among others, take viewers deep inside the Islamist threat to the American homeland, revealing shocking details about our vulnerabilities and our enemies’ intentions to exploit them.

In my 11 years of covering Islamic terrorism and national security issues, I can say without reservation that Rumors of War III presents the most truthful, in-depth and unflinching account I’ve seen of the imminent threats facing America. It contains the kind of unvarnished, politically incorrect analysis and information that is only whispered about in the back hallways of the New York Times, CNN and yes, most conservative media outlets.

In Rumors of War III, you’ll see how:

  •  Members of Muslim Brotherhood front groups that are sworn to the destruction of America have assumed influential positions in the U.S. government. Incredibly, these same radical Islamists are helping to direct the Obama administration’s counterterrorism and Muslim outreach policies.
  •  Hezbollah operatives are attempting to link up with Mexican drug cartels along America’s porous southern border in order to infiltrate and attack the U.S. homeland.
  •  Iran is linking up with anti-American, Marxist regimes throughout Latin America in an effort to establish a forward base to strike at the United States.
  •  Iran’s drive for nuclear weapons and its rapidly advancing long and medium-range missile programs pose an existential threat not just to Israel but to the U.S. as well.
  •  The coming Middle East War will spark worldwide chaos, quite possibly by the end of 2012.

As for the supposedly vanquished Al Qaeda, while its leadership has been weakened, the group now covers more ground geographically—from Pakistan to North Africa, Europe, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and beyond—than it did on 9/11. And the movement it has spawned has sparked a whole new generation of homegrown jihadists—U.S. citizens who are hell-bent on bringing down the country of their birth.

This is the kind of vital information that our leaders and opinion makers are actively trying to suppress. That’s why Rumors of War II: Target U.S. is a must-watch for every American who cares about preserving our security and way of life.

 

Erick Stakelbeck is a GBTV contributor and host of CBN’s Stakelbeck on Terror show. His book, “The Terrorist Next Door: How the Government is Deceiving You About the Islamist Threat,” was released by Regnery Publishing in 2011.

Will this SAVE America’s children? SCOTUS upholds trans ban in red states

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

You never know what you’re going to get with the U.S. Supreme Court these days.

For all of the Left’s insane panic over having six supposedly conservative justices on the court, the decisions have been much more of a mixed bag. But thank God – sincerely – there was a seismic win for common sense at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It’s a win for American children, parents, and for truth itself.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s state ban on irreversible transgender procedures for minors.

The mostly conservative justices stood tall in this case, while Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson predictably dissented. This isn’t just Tennessee’s victory – 20 other red states that have similar bans can now breathe easier, knowing they can protect vulnerable children from these sick, experimental, life-altering procedures.

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, saying Tennessee’s law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. It’s rooted in a very simple truth that common sense Americans get: kids cannot consent to permanent damage. The science backs this up – Norway, Finland, and the UK have all sounded alarms about the lack of evidence for so-called “gender-affirming care.” The Trump administration’s recent HHS report shredded the activist claims that these treatments help kids’ mental health. Nothing about this is “healthcare.” It is absolute harm.

The Left, the ACLU, and the Biden DOJ screamed “discrimination” and tried to twist the Constitution to force this radical ideology on our kids.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court saw through it this time. In her concurring opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett nailed it: gender identity is not some fixed, immutable trait like race or sex. Detransitioners are speaking out, regretting the surgeries and hormones they were rushed into as teens. WPATH – the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the supposed experts on this, knew that kids cannot fully grasp this decision, and their own leaked documents prove that they knew it. But they pushed operations and treatments on kids anyway.

This decision is about protecting the innocent from a dangerous ideology that denies biology and reality. Tennessee’s Attorney General calls this a “landmark victory in defense of America’s children.” He’s right. This time at least, the Supreme Court refused to let judicial activism steal our kids’ futures. Now every state needs to follow Tennessee’s lead on this, and maybe the tide will continue to turn.

Insider alert: Glenn’s audience EXPOSES the riots’ dark truth

Barbara Davidson / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn asked for YOUR take on the Los Angeles anti-ICE riots, and YOU responded with a thunderous verdict. Your answers to our recent Glennbeck.com poll cut through the establishment’s haze, revealing a profound skepticism of their narrative.

The results are undeniable: 98% of you believe taxpayer-funded NGOs are bankrolling these riots, a bold rejection of the claim that these are grassroots protests. Meanwhile, 99% dismiss the mainstream media’s coverage as woefully inadequate—can the official story survive such resounding doubt? And 99% of you view the involvement of socialist and Islamist groups as a growing threat to national security, signaling alarm at what Glenn calls a coordinated “Color Revolution” lurking beneath the surface.

You also stand firmly with decisive action: 99% support President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to quell the chaos. These numbers defy the elite’s tired excuses and reflect a demand for truth and accountability. Are your tax dollars being weaponized to destabilize America? You’ve answered with conviction.

Your voice sends a powerful message to those who dismiss the unrest as mere “protests.” You spoke, and Glenn listened. Keep shaping the conversation at Glennbeck.com.

Want to make your voice heard? Check out more polls HERE.

EXPOSED: Your tax dollars FUND Marxist riots in LA

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

Protesters wore Che shirts, waved foreign flags, and chanted Marxist slogans — but corporate media still peddles the ‘spontaneous outrage’ narrative.

I sat in front of the television this weekend, watching the glittering spectacle of corporate media do what it does best: tell me not to believe my lying eyes.

According to the polished news anchors, what I was witnessing in Los Angeles was “mostly peaceful protests.” They said it with all the earnest gravitas of someone reading a bedtime story, while behind them the streets looked like a deleted scene from “Mad Max.” Federal agents dodged concrete slabs as if it were an Olympic sport. A man in a Che Guevara crop top tried to set a police car on fire. Dumpster fires lit the night sky like some sort of postapocalyptic luau.

If you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

But sure, it was peaceful. Tear gas clouds and Molotov cocktails are apparently the incense and candles of this new civic religion.

The media expects us to play along — to nod solemnly while cities burn and to call it “activism.”

Let’s call this what it is: delusion.

Another ‘peaceful’ riot

If the Titanic “mostly floated” and the Hindenburg “mostly flew,” then yes, the latest L.A. riots are “mostly peaceful.” But history tends to care about those tiny details at the end — like icebergs and explosions.

The coverage was full of phrases like “spontaneous,” “grassroots,” and “organic,” as if these protests materialized from thin air. But many of the signs and banners looked like they’d been run off at ComradesKinkos.com — crisp print jobs with slogans promoting socialism, communism, and various anti-American regimes. Palestinian flags waved beside banners from Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and El Salvador. It was like someone looted a United Nations souvenir shop and turned it into a revolution starter pack.

And guess who funded it? You did.

According to at least one report, much of this so-called spontaneous rage fest was paid for with your tax dollars. Tens of millions of dollars from the Biden administration ensured your paycheck funded Trotsky cosplayers chucking firebombs at local coffee shops.

The same aging radicals from the 1970s — now armed with tenure, pensions, and book deals — are cheering from the sidelines, waxing poetic about how burning a squad car is “liberation.” These are the same folks who once wore tie-dye and flew to help guerrilla fighters and now applaud chaos under the banner of “progress.”

This is not progress. It is not protest. It’s certainly not justice or peace.

It’s an attempt to dismantle the American system — and if you dare say that out loud, you’re labeled a bigot, a fascist, or, worst of all, someone who notices reality.

And what sparked this taxpayer-funded riot? Enforcement against illegal immigrants — many of whom, according to official arrest records, are repeat violent offenders. These are not the “dreamers” or the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. These are criminals with long, violent rap sheets — allowed to remain free by a broken system that prioritizes ideology over public safety.

Photo by Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg | Getty Images

This is what people are rioting over — not the mistreatment of the innocent, but the arrest of the guilty. And in California, that’s apparently a cause for outrage.

The average American, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, is supposed to worry they’ll be next. But unless you’re in the habit of assaulting people, smuggling, or firing guns into people’s homes, you probably don’t have much to fear.

Still, if you suggest that violent criminals should be deported or imprisoned, you’re painted as the extremist.

The left has lost it

This is what happens when a culture loses its grip on reality. We begin to call arson “art,” lawlessness “liberation,” and criminals “community members.” We burn the good and excuse the evil — all while the media insists it’s just “vibes.”

But it’s not just vibes. It’s violence, paid for by you, endorsed by your elected officials, and whitewashed by newsrooms with more concern for hair and lighting than for truth.

This isn’t activism. This is anarchism. And Democratic politicians are fueling the flame.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

On Saturday, June 14, 2025 (President Trump's 79th birthday), the "No Kings" protest—a noisy spectacle orchestrated by progressive heavyweights like Randi Weingarten and her union cronies—will take place in Washington, D.C.

Thousands will chant "no thrones, no crowns, no king," claiming to fend off authoritarianism and corruption.

But let’s cut through the noise. The protesters' grievances—rigged courts, deported citizens, slashed services—are a house of cards. Zero Americans have been deported, Federal services are still bloated, and if anyone is rigging the courts, it's the Left. So why rally now, especially with riots already flaring in L.A.?

Chaos isn’t a side effect here—it’s the plan.

This is not about liberty; it's a power grab dressed up as resistance. The "No Kings" crowd wants you to buy their script: government’s the enemy—unless they’re the ones running it. It's the identical script from 2020: same groups, same tactics, same goal, different name.

But Glenn is flipping the script. He's dropping a new "No Kings but Christ" merch line, just in time for the protest. Merch that proclaims one truth: no earthly ruler owns us; only Christ does. It’s a bold, faith-rooted rejection of this secular circus.

Why should you care? Because this won’t just be a rally—it’ll be a symptom. Distrust in institutions is sky-high, and rightly so, but the "No Kings" answer is a hollow shout into the void. Glenn’s merch begs the question: if you’re ditching kings, who’s really in charge? Get yours and wear the answer proudly.