Let's examine the shocking facts first...
Paris, Nov 13, 2015 - 128 souls died
San Bernardino, CA, Dec 3, 2015 - 14 deaths
Brussels, March 22, 2016: 32 people perish
Orlando, FL, June 12, 2016: 49 die in nightclub
Nice, France, July 14, 2016: 84 killed, 434 injured
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Jan, 2017: 5 deaths, 36 wounded in airport
All of these attacks are being attributed directly to or "inspired by" the terrorist group called ISIS.
When you hear the word terrorist what do you think? Do you envision an Osama Bin Laden type, a bearded, robed cave dweller tucked up into the hills of some far away desert like country?
Do you think of a white supremacist type, a brooding Timothy McVeigh who’s willing to give it all up for the cause? Whatever your perception of terrorists are, realize that your view of them might be significantly out of date.
In fact, what most Americans think of when they envision a terrorist is about 14 years out of date, and getting older by the minute.
Why is it so important to have the proper mindset when thinking of – and identifying terrorists?
Simple, really; you might be the very first person to come in contact with one! What if on 9/11 you were a passenger on one of the ill-fated flights, seated next to a quiet, Middle Easterner who would later in the flight produce a box cutter, kill the flight attendants, and hijack the plane? Would you have been able to identify this person while he was still an innocent passenger? If the answer is no, you need to read on!
Today, almost 15 years after 9/11, the face of terrorism has changed permanently. Realize that terrorism and terrorist tactics are constantly changing and as such, so are the very people that perpetrate these crimes.
Terrorists are being hunted by every government in the World, but they're not being caught. No, they just change, adapt and new terror groups pop up every month.
Groups like ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, for example, are the terrorists du jour nowadays. Just 2 years ago, most people thought ISIS was an Egyptian goddess, not a threat to the American way of life.
Now, we are constantly exposed to frightening evening news videos of beheadings, towns being sacked, women being raped, and dissidents being crucified.
ISIS does something that the terrorist groups before it didn’t. They are an adaptation, a refinement of Al Qaeda. Almost like a more powerful strain of the same virus.