Readers of this byline have already suffered through the grandes pensées, respectively, of Univision's top anchors Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas. Now meet Enrique Acevedo, anchor of Univision’s late night national newscast Edición Nocturna, and his latest opinion column with such nuggets as these:
As French-American anthropologist Scott Atran states, what inspires the world’s most violent group is not the Koran or Islam’s religious teachings; its potential lies in the promise of a purpose-filled life for thousands of young people who feel that they are lacking one.
For them, jihad is an employer that is egalitarian, fraternal, and much more persuasive than the prospect of a marginalized life.
That little fragment was reminiscent of former State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf and her suggestion that the only way to end ISIS was by finding them jobs, and totally contradicts an earlier paragraph within the post that lays out Acevedo’s view of ISIS’ mission:
Terrorists of the self-styled Islamic state seek to attack a way of life that is very different to the one set forth by their values. The true objective of the ISIS jihadists is to disrupt the democratic principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. That is the victory that they pursue and the strategy has worked before.
Which is it? Is ISIS a threat to Western civilization, or just a bunch of downtrodden kids who would cast aside their dreams of greenie-addled rape jihad at the first prospect of a good-paying job with benefits and a pension? Amazingly, this isn’t even the most offensive part of Acevedo’s screed. You see, our putative geopolitical analyst is also an astute U.S. political historian:
The tragic events that occurred in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania gave way to the disastrous invasion of Iraq, the endless war in Afghanistan, the Patriot Act with its assault on transparency and accountability, the rise of an ultraconservative movement that takes hold of the Republican Party, and the expansion of Sunni radicalism in the Middle East and Africa.
Perhaps that is how Acevedo chronicled the rise of the Tea Party for Reforma or Televisa back in 2009, but there is no factual basis to those assertions. The “ultraconservative movement” that Acevedo decries was born out of dissatisfaction with the expansion of big government and profligate spending during the Bush Administration and through the Republican-controlled Congress.
It wasn’t so much the war - it was more No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D. But facts are inconvenient things that often get in the way of a good story.
If nothing else, Mr. Acevedo gives us a glimpse of the worldview that emerges from a life spent in the aberrant modern cloister that is a liberal network television newsroom. Too bad that Univision’s viewers must also endure these impositions.
Below is a translated version of the referenced article by Univision anchor Enrique Acevedo:
Life In Red
By Enrique Acevedo
Terrorism is the means used by the violent in order to achieve their objectives.
Therefore, although it is counterintuitive to say so, the success of the recent attacks in Paris, Beirut, Ankara, Bagdad and the Sinai desert cannot be calculated according to the number of victims or the magnitude of their destruction.
Terrorists of the self-styled Islamic state seek to attack a way of life that is very different to the one set forth by their values. The true objective of the ISIS jihadists is to disrupt the democratic principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. That is the victory that they pursue and the strategy has worked before.
The attacks of September the 11th changed the United States forever.
The tragic events that occurred in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania gave way to the disastrous invasion of Iraq, the endless war in Afghanistan, the Patriot Act with its assault on transparency and accountability, the rise of an ultraconservative movement that takes hold of the Republican Party, and the expansion of Sunni radicalism in the Middle East and Africa.
It is true that the offensive against al-Qaeda’s leadership and infrastructure has limited the organization’s destructive capability; however, on that September morning the terrorists managed to drag this country into 14 years of conflicts that have drained the planet’s principal economy and have modified the global order.
During these days of anger and sadness, it is easy to fall into temptation and allow fear, or a thirst for vengeance, or both, to take control.
The nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the largest in Western Europe, is rushing towards the Persian Gulf; and the French parliament is discussing constitutional modifications with which they seek to increase police ability to pursue and surveil suspects, to stiffen penalties and to further empower the Executive for exceptional circumstances.
The measures create a false idea of control and contribute very little towards resolving the threat of further terrorist attacks.
Today, France has two options. It can continue to escalate its military presence in Syria, keep its borders closed, perpetuate a state of constant threat and restrict individual liberties in favor of greater security, as did the United States; or it can consolidate its position as a free, inclusive, and democratic society.
The past offers some lessons, but does not have all the answers, namely because the enemy we face is a radicalized version of Al-Qaeda.
ISIS controls more territory and resources than did Osama Bin Laden in his day; and their message has become much more contagious due to the expansion of information technologies. For the terrorists of the Islamic State, this is a struggle to conquer the world and not to eject infidels from its own.
(This is) A cultural war that feeds off of the tension caused by power vacuums in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan; by the demographic revolution that Europe simultaneously needs and rejects, and by the growing anti-immigrant sentiments that accompany it.
All at the expense of the historic conflict between Sunni and Shia, which now unfolds in one of the planet’s most unstable and complex regions.
As French-American anthropologist Scott Atran states, what inspires the world’s most violent group is not the Koran or Islam’s religious teachings; its potential lies in the promise of a purpose-filled life for thousands of young people who feel that they are lacking one.
For them, jihad is an employer that is egalitarian, fraternal, and much more persuasive than the prospect of a marginalized life.
