Beheadings, slavery, and the hellish reality of radical Islam

Erick Stakelbeck joined Glenn on radio and assailed the administration’s view that ISIS can be dealt with like a petty criminal. There is an evil ideology behind this barbarism, ignoring it will have devastating consequences. With another American caught trying to join ISIS this week, it’s time to deal with reality.

Check out Erick's new book: ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam

Below is a rush transcript of this segment:

Erick Stakelbeck is here. He's the author of a new book called Exposed. ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam. This is something that I really wanted to -- I want to talk to you about us getting involved as people. And this is something that I'm working towards on something this summer that I hope to be announcing soon. I want to go to the Middle East and I want to bring this story home to you. I want to meet with the people who have lost their families. I want to show you what is happening. A lot of people say on Facebook, I'll be conversing with people on Facebook, they'll say, Glenn, what is a Coptic Christian? Coptic originated from the Greek word for Egyptian. So all Egyptians were Coptic until -- at the time, Egypt was a Christian nation. It was like 65, 70 percent Christian. Then after a couple of Muslim conquests, Coptic became a derogatory term. Now you're a Coptic Christian, which really basically only means an Egyptian Christian. But this is the oldest church on earth. And there are slaughtering people. And, luckily, the new president of Egypt, which we don't hear anything about, is a really good guy when it comes to Christians.

For the first time, an Egyptian president went and celebrated Christmas and Easter mass at Coptic Christian churches. Can you imagine that? When the Muslim Brotherhood was in, they were burning the churches, and they were slaughtering people. He is standing with the Christians. But he's one of the only people in the Middle East. And, of course, the United States is not standing. And they are now taking children as young as five and sending them off into the sex slavery racket. It is horrific what is happening. And last couple of days, I've been posting some stuff on Facebook. And I've said, you know, when are the Christians going to stand up? And I've made a suggestion, and I was shocked at the heat that I got back from many of the readers saying this was a stupid idea. And we just got to grab our guns and go over there with guns ablazing. I would suggest that we don't -- we are so uneducated on this that we don't know what we're doing yet. And certainly no one in our -- in Washington, DC, has a clue as to what's going on and can't verbalize it. They can't even say that Islam is the problem over there. And it is. There might be moderate Muslims everywhere else in the world, but in the Middle East, they are a rare find.

And the last thing we need to do is just go over and start another war. ISIS, what we need to do first is comfort those who mourn. If you have a Coptic Christian church in your area, find it. Comfort them. Help them. Many of them are terrified of even going to church because they know they're a target even over here. Many of them have fled and come here now or they have relatives who have been slain and slaughtered and beheaded over there. They need our support. They need to know that they're not alone. The next thing I suggested is go to your pastor, priest or rabbi and talk to them about it. And ask them, why are we not as a church standing? Why are we not personally involved in this? At least in real education and real prayer power. There are many things that we can do.

And, yesterday -- we're going to have an interview with the guy at the bottom of this hour. Chris Tony. He is a US Navy veteran who had enough. And he's not the first guy to do it. And said, you know what, who wants to go with me to the Middle East? I'll go over and volunteer and train these people because the Christians have been abandoned. There are many things that you can do. But education is the first. And we wanted to get Erick Stakelbeck in because he's done a lot of research the last couple of years on ISIS and he knows who they are. And this is information that you're just not going to find on mainstream media because they're unwilling to say the things that sound crazy. But these guys are crazy. And they are psychotic. And they are religious zealots. Any doubt in your mind, Erick, that this is a holy war for them?

ERICK: No, Glenn. First of all, thanks for having me. And absolutely. They have declared war, the jihadists against us. Against Christians, Jews. And, by the way, against Muslims who do not agree with them. We are in a war right now. Number one, our government, our mainstream media cannot acknowledge that. Will not acknowledge it. To the Obama administration, this is a big part of the problem, Glenn, they consider this just a criminal action. A minor nuisance that can be handled in federal courts. To the contrary, it is a global jihadist movement. I'll give you an example, Glenn. We had people from 90 countries around the world who have flocked to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS. At least 180 US citizens. 3500 Europeans. At least have all been drawn to this new caliphate. And one day, they may return home. So this is a global movement. And it is a war without a doubt.

GLENN: So here's the thing, Erick, we are now seeing people who are tired of waiting for our country. We used to be leaders. And they are tired of it. And these are military veterans who are going over and saying, you know what, I can help fight. And they are volunteering and they are going over and helping these people fight, not as US military. But just as a private citizen going over and saying, I'm going to help train these Christians to protect themselves.

ERICK: Yeah. I think it's great, Glenn. Look, number one, you'll see more of it, I think. Number two, we've left the fact that we're supposed to be the leader of the free world. We've left a complete vacuum in the Middle East. Simple as that. That vacuum has been filled by Iran and ISIS.

GLENN: I don't think it's just a vacuum. I think we're actually on the wrong side, Erick.

ERICK: Yeah.

GLENN: Do you? Would you agree with that?

ERICK: We're on the wrong side, without a doubt.

GLENN: So tell me, as you were doing the research for this book, tell me the thing that shocked or horrified you the most that you just -- that you sat back in your chair and thought, good God, we're dealing literally with the powers of hell.

ERICK: Yeah. This is a demonic movement. And, Glenn, I got firsthand accounts from on the ground in Syria in Iraq from Christian leaders there. Who told me, look, there are cases of Christian children being beheaded. Not only that, when ISIS goes into a town, a village, a city, it basically enslaves the vanquished population. And ISIS now has brothels in Syria, in particular, Glenn, where Christian women, Yazidi women, are used as sex slaves. An ISIS fighter will come off the battlefield, and then he will have a brothel full of Christian sex slaves awaiting them. And it's a constant thing.

The videos ISIS releases. You just see men being beheaded, which is bad enough. But people on the ground have told me, look, this is happening to women, children, of all ages. When it comes to slaughtering and butchering, ISIS doesn't discriminate, Glenn. They're making it very clear, like Hitler did during World War II with the Jewish people, ISIS is very up front with what they want to do. They want to liquidate every last Christian from the Middle East from the cradle of the faith, the birthplace of the faith. They're doing it right now in realtime as we speak.

GLENN: They're actually sorting the girls out. They -- they have a cut-off at five. You can go to the brothel if you're five years old. But they categorize them by age. If you're too old, they send you to another Muslim country that is getting I guess the remnants. The best go to the fighters, and if you are -- if you are pretty and you are young, you are put into one of these brothels. And this is all done according to the Koran.

ERICK: That's right. It's done under Islamic Sharia law. You ask about shocking aspects of the book that I found. Here's one for you. One of these ISIS brothels, at least one of them, in Syria, in Raqaa, which is ISIS's capital, is being run by British women. British women, recruits to ISIS are actually running this brothel. We have western women playing prominent roles now for ISIS.

GLENN: Do we have any idea who they are, where they came from, or why?

ERICK: Well, at least one is a medical student from London. So much for poverty causes terrorism. President Obama says, look, lack of economic opportunity is driving this. We've had medical students. We've had business majors. We've had people from affluent communities in Britain and the United States. When it comes to the women, and, by the way, Glenn, just last week, we had three women, US citizens in New York City and Philadelphia all arrested for supporting ISIS. With the women, there's a few things. When you are building this caliphate, this ideal society, you need women. You need to reproduce. You need to keep your fighters happy. That's one aspect of it. But why are the women drawn to it? Online, ISIS does so much on Facebook, on social media, and a lot of times they lure naive, troubled young women. In my research, Glenn, I found, who are desperate and who are drawn to the darkness of ISIS in many cases, then they're the jihadi brides. On the other hand, though, you have women that actually want to go there, pick up arms and kill people. So ISIS is drawing people -- all kinds. Women from all races, ethnicities, genders, they're drawing all kinds of sick, twisted, evil people to this caliphate.

GLENN: We're talking to Erick Stakelbeck. His book is ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam.

Erick, I'm working on a book right now that is -- its working title is Islam is the Problem: The Theology Behind the Army of Armageddon. And I know you well enough to know that you know what they mean about the armies of Rome, and that this is a holy war for them. How -- how deep is the -- the idea that they're going to bring about Armageddon? And how committed are they to that?

ERICK: Glenn, this is a central pillar of ISIS's ideology. They believe that they literally are the army of the apocalypse, as you said. And they believe that they will be the tip of the spear for the end times armies of Islam and the armies of the Mahdi. Which you discussed many times during the show. They believe that there will actually be an apocalyptic showdown in Syria in a city called Dabiq in Syria. ISIS believes that they and the armies of Islam will fight the West in a climactic battle. So in one sense, they're not -- they actually welcome western involvement in the Middle East because this fits into their end times scenario. The whole scenario they will have an end times battle with the West in Syria. If you look at their publications, Glenn, their official magazines, their websites, their propaganda videos, they talk about the end times and the apocalypse frequently. Much like the Iranian regime, by the way, different in some ways. But both the Iranian regime and ISIS, central pillars of their ideology is that we're in the end times. And in the West, my gosh, our leadership cannot wrap its head around that, won't even acknowledge the ideological driving force behind all the terrorism. Terrorism is only a tactic. It is driven by an apocalyptic ideology.

GLENN: Okay. I have to take a break. I want to talk to you about the chapter in your book called the Islamic State of Minnesota. They are here in the United States. And in particular, there is a huge Somali population in Minnesota, which is being -- which is a target for recruitment. And the southern border. Things that nobody wants to talk about, it is here. And it's very dangerous. Back with Erick Stakelbeck in just a minute.

[break]

GLENN: We're with Erick Stakelbeck. He's the author of ISIS Exposed: Beheadings, Slavery, and the Hellish Reality of Radical Islam. I want to talk to you a little bit about the Islamic State of Minnesota, which is a chapter in your book. Tell people what's going on with the Somali population going on there.

ERICK: You know, this will shock people. The Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, very nice place to live, very high standard of living up there in the great tundra of the upper Midwest. Well, some 100,000 Somali Muslims, more than any other place in North America, live in the Twin Cities. And it has become a magnet, Glenn, for terrorist recruitment. Dozens of young Somali Muslims, American citizens have left their comfortable homes in the Twin Cities, traveled overseas to join terrorist groups like ISIS.

By the way, recently we saw the group Al-Shabaab, the Somali terror group linked to al-Qaeda carry out a horrific massacre at a Kenyan University. Well, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, there's been literally a pipeline going from Minnesota to Somalia with young people joining Al-Shabaab.

GLENN: Are we looking -- are we looking for the recruiters?

ERICK: That's a great question. Glenn, I spoke to a law enforcement source -- actually a few law enforcement sources and Somali community leaders on the ground in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and they said, look, this is how it works with the recruiters. Number one, they'll show up. They'll come on the scene. And then they kind of disappear. But when they do show up, Glenn, what they do is they'll go to a local mosque or they'll go to a local rec center, wherever there are kids hanging out. And they'll target 18, 19, 20-year-old Somali kids. At first, they will befriend them. And then the radicalization process starts. And they tell them, look, come to the caliphate. You'll be a glorious holy warrior. The entire world will know your name. You'll be at the vanguard of this new Islamic empire.

And a lot of the times, Glenn, it's interesting, these guys are in the mid- to late 20s, so they're still young enough to relate to young people. The one guy who showed up last summer in Minneapolis was Egyptian American, drove a fancy car, was showing a lot of cash, dressed in hip clothes. And he was able to ingratiate himself with the young people there. And, reportedly, a few Somalis who he had befriended headed over to Iraq to join ISIS.

GLENN: Did we get him?

ERICK: No.

GLENN: Did we arrest him?

ERICK: No. His name is Amir Meshal. No one knows where he is right now. He was in Minneapolis and St. Paul. And now no one quite knows who he is. Or at least they're not saying that they know where he is or what he's doing right now. In this Somali community, another problem they've had -- now, he was kind of an outsider, Glenn, but another problem they've had in that Somali community in Minneapolis and St. Paul is just people from the community who are recruiting. And it reminds me, you know, I've been there several times over the past few years. On the ground, been investigating, and it reminds me a lot in a bad way of what we see in western Europe right now in the Muslim communities there. In that these young Somalis are not assimilating, they're not integrating into American society. I think the unemployment rate in the Twin Cities among the Somalis is something like 30 or 40 percent. It's not going well.

GLENN: Erick, I appreciate it.

ERICK: If this continues, we'll head down the road they've headed down in Britain, France, Germany, where you have these large restless unassimilated Muslim populations that are breeding grounds for radicals.

The Democrats are turning on Biden

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

The election is over, Kamala Harris has officially conceded, and now the Democrats are doing some serious soul-searching.

After reflecting long and hard (approximately 24 hours), the Democrats have discovered the real reason Harris lost the election. Was it Trump's excellent campaign that resonated with voters? Was it Harris's off-putting personality? Or was it her failure to distinguish herself from the Biden administration's failed policies?

No, it was Joe Biden. All the blame lies on President Biden's shoulders. The Left sees no need to take any real responsibility for the landslide defeat the Democrats suffered earlier this week; just pass the blame on to 'ole Joe.

Here are the leading excuses the Left is spinning up to explain Harris's crushing defeat:

"Biden should have dropped out sooner."

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This is the crux of the left-wing media's argument against Biden. They claim that if Joe Biden had dropped out earlier, Harris would have had more time to campaign and would not have had to carry around the baggage of Biden's abysmal debate performance. This could make sense, but what these commentators are conveniently forgetting are the years of propaganda these very same people promoted arguing that Biden's declining mental acuity was nothing more than a right-wing conspiracy theory. If Biden had been as sharp as they had told us, why would he have dropped out?

Also, if a lack of time was Harris's biggest issue this election, she sure didn't act like it. She was practically in hiding for the first several weeks of her campaign and she took plenty of days off, including during the last few crucial weeks. More time wouldn't have helped her case.

"Harris failed to distance herself from Biden."

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

This is media gaslighting at its finest. Yes, Harris failed to distance herself from Biden. However, that's because she, along with the rest of the Left, publically went on record defending Biden's policies and his mental acuity. By the time Harris became the nominee, she had already said too much in favor of Biden. Don't forget Harris's infamous “There is not a thing that comes to mind,” quote after being asked on The View if she would do anything differently than Biden. In a way, Harris couldn't separate herself from Biden without drawing attention to the greatest flaw in her campaign: if she knew how to fix the country, why hasn't she?

"Harris did the best anyone could have done in that situation."

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

But did she really? As mentioned earlier, she was noticeably absent for much of the campaign. While Trump was busy jumping into interviews, events, and rallies non-stop, Harris was MIA. Whenever Harris did manage to make an appearance, it almost always did more harm than good by highlighting her lack of a robust policy platform and her inability to string together a coherent sentence. Notable examples include her aforementioned appearance on The View and her disastrous interview on Fox News with Bret Baier. The point is, even considering the limited time to campaign she had, Kamala Harris wasnot the best person for the job and there are undoubtedly many other Democrats who would have run a much more successful campaign.

Glenn: I'm filled with hope. And you should be, too.

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The election was a major blow to draconian globalist organizations. Now, we could have a true rebirth of freedom and the American dream.

Millions of people around the world were holding their breath on election night. I've talked to Europeans to try to get a bead on what’s happening over there. There are Europeans like you and me who are frustrated with their own globalist, tyrannical bureaucracies telling them how to live and what to believe. If Donald Trump didn’t win, where in the world would they look to for hope that this madness would stop? Which leader could they count on to stand in the gap against their globalist elites? They, too, had a lot on the line in our election last night.

But today brings hope, not only in America but for freedom-loving people worldwide.

We need to restore the balance of power in the federal government — the way America’s founders intended.

We know Trump is going to stop the madness at the southern border. He is going to deport serial criminals and sex offenders who entered our country under Biden and Harris' watch. The media will try to convince you that deportations are something akin to Hitler, but they turn a blind eye to their Democratic predecessors who have deported even more illegal immigrants than Trump. In fact, Bill Clinton deported more illegal immigrants than any president in U.S. history, shipping 11 million out of the country in the 1990s. In contrast, Trump deported less than a million during his first term, which is even less than the 1.8 million under the Obama administration.

Deportations of criminals who are in our country illegally is critical to protecting the safety of the American people, a practice that has been exercised by presidents for decades.

Our friends across the pond have been witnessing the destruction of their societies since EU globalists opened Europe's floodgates to immigrants in 2015. Crime is rampant, communities governed by Sharia law are multiplying, and their social programs are being pushed to a breaking point. Tuesday night gave them reason to hope. America is going to say, "No more," and perhaps this will be the rallying cry for our European brothers-in-arms to stand up as well.

The election was also a major blow to draconian globalist organizations. The United States will no longer be beholden to the Paris Climate Accords. Our nation will no longer give credence to the World Economic Forum. We won’t give the World Health Organization a single penny more. All these very well-planned globalist initiatives are going away.

But Trump can't act alone. Thank God we won the Senate. This is an incredible step forward, but for these big plans to come to fruition, we need the House. If the Republicans — actual freedom-loving, Constitution-abiding Republicans don't have the House, you’re not going to be able to get things done except by executive order, which we don’t want to do. One reason things were so bad during the last four years is that Joe Biden simply signed executive orders to reverse everything that Trump accomplished, completely bypassing Congress. We have to do it the right way. We need to restore the balance of power in the federal government the way America’s founders intended.

One of the most hopeful things Trump said Tuesday night is that we’re going to enter a new golden era in America. I believe him. He could have said that in 2020, and I wouldn't have believed him as much as I believe him now. That’s because Trump now has a team of people that's not exclusively comprised of politicians.

Bringing in somebody like Elon Musk is one of the most hopeful things for our country I've witnessed in my lifetime. I know that guy can cut spending. I know he will find the waste in our government because he's not a government guy he's a businessman. He's going to slash all the redundancies that have been justified by career bureaucrats for decades. We have a chance of cutting our budget and creating a reasonable one.

Trump’s promise to cut regulations also spells hope for our country. He cut more regulation in his first term than any other president, but Biden and Harris have since added a mountain of rules. He will have his work cut out for him, but he will get it done. He must if this economy will roar again.

We could have a true rebirth of freedom and the American dream, and I find that really hopeful. So many Americans are tired of worrying about their kids struggling and seeing Bidenomics and regulation yank from their children's hands the possibility of the American dream that they attained. Donald Trump is the biggest chance of bringing it back.

Today, I’m filled with hope. Real, tangible hope. And you should be, too.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

TOP FIVE liberal meltdowns to Trump's victory

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Conservatives are celebrating Donald Trump's election for what feels like the first major conservative victory over the past four years. But how are our liberal friends holding up? Has anyone checked on them recently?

Some of them aren't doing too well, and quite a few have an inexplicable desire to share their anguish with the world on social media. We've waded through a torrent of liberal tears to bring you the top FIVE best responses to Donald Trump's 2024 victory:

The Car Screamer

This first one is in a category we've dubbed, the "Screamers." These include people who have been so overcome with rage that they have lost the ability to communicate with words. Instead, they revert to a more primitive form of communication, usually composed of some combination of screams, shrieks, sobs, and wild gesticulations. There are dozens of "Screamer" videos across the internet, but this one takes the cake for the most animated and over-the-top.

Sunny Hostin's Meltdown

Just to prove that the daytime talk show "The View" is completely out of touch, host Sunny Hostin tried to rationalize Trump's victory using identity politics. Hostin dismissed the idea that Harris lost due to her less popular policy and instead suggested it was because of her race and gender along with the religion of her husband. She clearly forgot about JD Vance and his mixed-race family.

CNN Watches the Election Crumble Around Them

In this clip, you can actually hear the defeat setting in as the CNN host realizes that Kamala Harris is losing. When asked to see a map of the counties where Harris was over-preforming Joe Biden in 2020, Jake Tapper was flabbergasted when the map came up blank.

The Calm Coper

At least this guy isn't screaming. Instead, he regurgitates the lies and propaganda fed to him by the media with a strangely robotic cadence. He's trying to project calm intelligence, but all he is really doing is coping and seething.

The Screamer Compilation 

Just in case you didn't get enough of, the "Screamers," here is a handy compilation that perfectly sums up the liberal response to Trump's victory.

Biggest takeaways from Trump's HISTORIC election

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"Too big to rig" was the 2024 Trump strategy, and it was proven true on election day.

President Trump declared victory early in the morning on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, after securing the required 270 electoral college votes, marking an exciting end to a historic campaign. Since then, more electoral college votes have trickled in for Trump and he has secured 51 percent of the popular vote. There is no space for the Democrats to contest his election.

Trump's victory is just the beginning! Here are the top takeaways from election night:

Trump sweeps the swing states

Andrew Lichtenstein / Contributor | Getty Images

Seven swing states were poised to make or break the election: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. At the time of this article's publication, Trump had won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina and was poised to win Arizona and Nevada in what could be a total sweep of the swing states. The "swing state sweep" is a stunning victory for Trump.

The GOP takes the Senate

TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Contributor | Getty Images

The presidential race wasn't the only important election yesterday. Approximately one-third of the Senate was up for re-election. At the time of this article's publication, Republicans had officially clinched a majority in the Senate, flipping three seats from the Democrats in Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia, giving the GOP 52 of the 100 Senate seats. In addition, Republicans are poised to win a seat in Pennsylvania and Nevada, which would further cement their lead.

Republicans lead in the House

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Seats in the House of Representatives were also up for grabs as Republicans fought to keep control of the House. The race is currently too close to call, but at the moment, the GOP is holding the lead with 201 seats — only 17 seats away from a majority. This means there is a real possibility that the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate could all be held by Republicans.