Over the Thanksgiving weekend, President Trump went into high gear talking about the necessity of deporting all third-world migrants and of stopping further third-world migration into the United States.
This has been a long time coming — Trump has been saying this for roughly a decade. One of the very first things he did during his first administration was attempt a migration moratorium on a series of countries where vetting was very, very difficult.
All of this is now coming to a head. On Thursday, President Trump said he would permanently pause all immigration from what he called third-world countries.
President Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1994272683387687053">stated</a>:
<blockquote>Even as we have progressed technologically, Immigration Policy has eroded those gains and living conditions for many. I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions, including those signed by Sleepy Joe Biden’s Autopen, and remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.
These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation. Other than that, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL, except those that hate, steal, murder, and destroy everything that America stands for — You won’t be here for long!</blockquote>
This happened in the aftermath of a dual set of stories, one of them being an Afghan national shooting two members of the National Guard, killing one, and the other the unbelievable story of Somali welfare fraud in the state of Minnesota.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem <a href="https://grabien.com/story?id=558818">stated</a>, “The President is absolutely determined to stop all processes at this point in time from third-world countries until we can have a thorough opportunity to go through these individuals, know that they&#8217;re here for the right intentions, and that they even should be in our country to begin with. He&#8217;s putting Americans first, their safety first.”
The State Department then immediately announced it would pause visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports, stating, “The department is taking all necessary steps to protect U.S. national security and public safety again.”
Noem said the shooting suspect, who was let in the country by the Biden administration, was later radicalized through connections already in the country, which is significantly more dangerous than just bringing people in from cultures that are non-communicative and non-coalescing with Western civilization.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2324-the-trump-administration-cracks-down-on-third-world-migration?elementPosition=0&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-974957 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
If there are people being brought in who are initially somewhat friendly to the United States and then become radicalized in the United States, you have to start asking some pretty serious questions about which organizations in the United States are actually radicalizing people.
The real concern then becomes an Islamization problem inside the United States, which would fit with lone wolf attacks, ISIS-inspired attacks, or ISIS-connected attacks. Those range from the Fort Hood shooting in 2009 all the way through to the 2025 New Orleans truck attack, in which an ISIS-inspired person killed 14 people.
It&#8217;s amazing how terrorist attacks like the latter can completely be memory-holed. It happened at the beginning of this year. 14 people were killed, and we&#8217;ve already forgotten about it because the way the media works is this: If someone is inspired by ISIS or a radical Islamic group and they commit a terror attack in the United States, we simply memory-hole it.
The same thing happened in 2016 with the Orlando nightclub shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in American history at that time, in which a shooter killed 49 people. The shooter in that case pledged allegiance to ISIS.
What did we get? A national debate about whether Christians were too intolerant toward gay people, even though it was an Islamic terror attack.
There was also the 2015 San Bernardino terror attack, in which a couple of people who communicated with ISIS via encrypted messages killed 14 people and injured 22 others.
So radicalization in the United States is a massive problem that requires the FBI and the DOJ to actually follow through on what they are supposed to do: Track down the groups doing the radicalizing, follow them around, and monitor the places where the radicalization is occurring.
That is a significantly harder problem to solve than shutting the borders, which is what President Trump is attempting to do. They are not mutually exclusive. You can shut the borders to immigration and mass migration from third-world countries. We should also track down the groups doing the radicalizing.
In the National Guard case, it seems that the shooter became radicalized after he came to the United States.
The New York Post reports that a leading national refugee agency was warned multiple times about him. Apparently, the shooter&#8217;s behavior was so disturbing that a local community advocate reached out to a refugee organization for help.
This connects with another gigantic story that broke over the course of last week, the amount of Somali welfare fraud in Minnesota. Between 1990 and 2025, the United States has seen significant Somali immigration, with estimates suggesting between 140,000 and 167,000 Somali immigrants settling here.
The fraud scandal in Minnesota is staggering. Over $1 billion in taxpayers’ money was reputedly stolen, more than Minnesota spends annually to run its entire Department of Corrections. The reality is that importing gigantic waves of Somali immigrants into Minnesota, of all places, might create some culture clash.
Reports say that when the allegations were first made about welfare fraud in Minnesota, the first response was, “We can&#8217;t look into this. It&#8217;s racist.”
So President Trump has responded to all of this by doubling down on his suggestion that third-world migration be reversed.
Douglas Murray has a great <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/27/opinion/afghan-terror-and-somalia-fraud-shows-why-trump-is-right-on-migrants/">column</a> over in the New York Post in which he states:
<blockquote>You have to be careful with a country. Even a nation as vast in size and huge in population as the United States cannot be endlessly experimented upon. You cannot just leave borders open, or allow in large numbers of people with totally different value systems from your own. That is the mistake many European countries have committed in recent years. They have opened their homes up to people from almost every part of the world where there is civil strife, war or just a lower standard of living.
The results can be seen everywhere. It is the reason why a country like Sweden — that used to be such a placid, decent place — has become one of the most violent countries in the world not actually at war. Grenade attacks, gang-warfare: these things were recently alien to Sweden. Not anymore. It is the same here in the United States — though here the effects are more dispersed, so the problem can be covered up for longer.</blockquote>
He writes that all of this begs the question: Why should a group of people be given sanctuary in the United States, who presumably say they were fleeing from terror, only to use their time in the United States committing fraud to send money to terrorists?
The president of the United States is right about this particular issue.
Democrats, of course, are freaking out about it.
It&#8217;s all coming to a head now, and not just because of the recent shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C., or what&#8217;s happening in Minnesota.
It’s happening all over the West because the West has finally decided to wake up to the reality that — through our niceness, kindness, and civility — we should never have allowed our nations to be eaten from within by people who enter and then take advantage of all the benefits, only to fight and destroy that same civilization.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP-MILITARY-HOLIDAY

The Trump Administration Cracks Down On Third-World Migration

Afghanistan

Donald Trump

illegal immigrants

Immigrants

ISIS

Kristi Noem

National Guard

Opinion

Radical Islamic Terror

In 1946, not too long after the end of World War II, Winston Churchill famously spoke of a “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States — not only as a bond of history and language, but as a partnership grounded in shared principles and moral duty. That same sense of duty must guide us today as we confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the clerical regime in Iran.
Historically, when facing totalitarian regimes, Britain, the US, and other Western powers have placed local dissidents at the center of any discussion about the future of oppressed nations. Yet Iran remains a glaring exception. For reasons that defy logic and morality, successive governments have marginalized the voices of Iranian democrats.
I am one of a growing number of Western politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who believe this should change and to this end, I will speak at the Free Iran Convention in Washington, D.C., on November 15, where more than one thousand Iranian experts, professionals, and academicians from all over the US, will present their vision for a free, democratic Iran.
For nearly half a century, Western policy toward Tehran has prioritized negotiation over accountability, assuming the clerical regime’s grip on power was unshakeable. Many believed Iran’s rulers would never meet the same fate as the Shah — at least not without chaos in the absence of a viable alternative.
That assumption was flawed from the outset. In the immediate aftermath of the 1979 revolution, the forces that helped topple the Shah — chief among them the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) — remained active, popular, and determined to oppose the theocracy that hijacked the revolution’s promise. The regime responded with brutal repression throughout the 1980s, culminating in the horrific 1988 massacre of around 30,000 political prisoners, most of them MEK members and supporters.
This atrocity was meant to eliminate organized opposition once and for all. It failed. The MEK survived and went on to form the backbone of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a broad coalition advocating regime change and democratic transition. Yet, tragically, the massacre convinced much of the international community that internal resistance had been extinguished — and that engagement with Tehran was the only realistic path forward.
Encouraged by that misperception (echoed by the regime’s protagonists and lobbyists), the regime deepened its repression at home and aggression abroad. It became the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the nation with the highest per-capita rate of executions, and the only non-nuclear-armed state enriching uranium to 60% purity — just short of weapons-grade.
Ironically, by assuming the regime’s permanence, Western leaders helped create a situation where regime change has become essential for global security and human rights. Some progress is evident: the UK, France, and Germany recently triggered the re-imposition of UN sanctions following Washington’s return to a “maximum pressure” strategy.
But it remains unclear whether today’s policymakers grasp how profoundly their predecessors misread the regime’s vulnerability.
That misunderstanding can no longer be excused. Three nationwide uprisings — in 2018, 2019, and 2022 — have shown the Iranian people’s enduring commitment to democratic change. The unity and persistence of their demands reveal the strength of an organized opposition that, despite deadly crackdowns and decades of dismissal by Western analysts, continues to challenge the regime from within.
The Free Iran Convention in Washington builds on this momentum. It follows major gatherings in Brussels and across Europe, where Iranian youth and dissidents reaffirmed their readiness for a democratic transition. The movement’s supporters will call for a coherent Western policy — one that recognizes the NCRI as a credible alternative and supports the Iranian people’s right to determine their future.
Many of us in public life have already joined this cause. In parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic, lawmakers have endorsed resolutions recognizing the NCRI as a legitimate democratic alternative to the current regime and affirming the Iranian people’s right to establish a secular, non-nuclear republic. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, has articulated a ten-point plan as a roadmap for a future democratic republic of Iran. It has gained cross-party support of the majority of members of both the US House of Representatives and the UK House of Commons.
It is time for policymakers to act accordingly. The UK and European Union must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and democratic governments should hold Tehran’s leaders accountable for crimes against humanity. Most importantly, the West must acknowledge the Iranian people’s right to overthrow tyranny and build a democratic future.
Appeasement has never delivered stability. Courage, clarity, and solidarity with the Iranian people just might.
* * *
Rt. Hon. John Bercow was the Speaker of the UK House of Commons from 2009 to 2019.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protest Against U.S. Attacks On Iran

It’s Time To Challenge Tehran’s Illusion Of Strength With Reality

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Democracy

European Union

Great Britain

Iran

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Middle East

Two privileged young men from Montclair, New Jersey, one the child of a United Nations diplomat and one the child of a professor at Queens College, now stand at the center of a hate-fueled terror plot that shattered the illusion of safety in suburban New Jersey.
Nineteen-year-old Milo Sedarat, whose father, Roger, is a poet and professor at Queens College, <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/06/us-news/accused-nj-jihadi-yuppie-teen-spewed-vile-antisemitic-hate-wanted-to-murder-moms-jewish-friends-feds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dubbed himself</a> “the biggest antisemite in America.” His home — a million-dollar Victorian on a tree-lined street — became the backdrop for his vicious selfies: clad in black, sword and knife in hand, dreaming of killing Jews. Court filings allege that Sedarat glorified genocide in online messages, while saying, “Line up like 500 Jews and execute them in front of their wives and family. Then take all their wives [as] slaves. Imma have like 10 yahood (Jewish) slave girls inshallah.”
Prosecutors say he even told his mother her Jewish friends “deserve to die” before she confiscated his swords.
The second suspect, Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, also 19, is the son of a United Nations diplomat focused on women’s entrepreneurship. He, too, reveled in violence, boasting about wanting to stage a Boston Marathon–style bombing that would make him infamous enough for a Wikipedia page. Jimenez-Guzel allegedly offered to lead beheadings for propaganda videos, declaring, “I’ll do it, bro.”
According to federal agents, he was arrested at Newark Airport en route to Turkey, trying to join ISIS forces in Syria.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
⚡<a href="https://twitter.com/nypost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nypost</a> covered the two young men from a wealthy NYC suburb who planned to join ISIS and commit terror attacks on American soil.
Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzal and Milo Sedarat plotted violent, antisemitic attacks and accumulated an arsenal of weapons and ammo. The two were arrested… <a href="https://t.co/DqDmCWgv8I">https://t.co/DqDmCWgv8I</a> <a href="https://t.co/kWdkOAshuj">pic.twitter.com/kWdkOAshuj</a>
&mdash; Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelWarRoom/status/1986800308467466452?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Investigators say their online chats tied them to a wider ISIS-linked network; five others have been detained across New Jersey, Michigan, and Washington in connection with plans to massacre Jews and LGBT clubgoers. Rabbi Yaacov Leaf of Chabad of Montclair voiced the community’s disbelief: “It’s so shocking to see how such a radical ideology can be living in your backyard. It’s frightening to realize this type of hate has seeped into our suburban liberal community … It’s a diverse community where we are open to every type of human being and every type of belief system. To see that hate has found its way into the community is very frightening.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba echoed the alarm, saying that radicalization now spares no zip code. “We can never believe this can’t touch us,” she warned. “We run down every lead, no matter where it starts.”

Warfare

Rich New Jersey Teen Plotted ISIS-Inspired Terror While Living Large

Islamists

New Jersey

Terrorism

U.S.

Federal law enforcement arrested three more Islamic terror suspects linked to an ISIS-inspired plot to attack bars and nightclubs in Detroit on Halloween, the FBI announced Wednesday. 
Last week, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-terror-suspects-plotted-to-target-bars-nightclubs-during-halloween-celebrations-fbi-says?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Michigan+Terror+Suspects+Plotted+To+Target+Bars%2C+Nightclubs+During+Halloween+Celebrations%2C+FBI+Says">the FBI said agents arrested</a> four suspects accused of plotting an attack they hoped would mimic the 2015 Paris terrorist massacre that left 130 people dead. On Wednesday, three more men, two in New Jersey and one in Michigan, were hit with charges. 
The two New Jersey suspects are Milo Sedarat and Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, both from Montclair. Jimenez-Guzel was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport on his way to travel to Syria to join ISIS fighters, a law enforcement official <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/more-arrests-are-made-in-alleged-isis-pumpkin-terrorist-plot-6fe5e4d6?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqfzLC43UvlROLGVKWI6hHud_-UTTKntEYZCGUkC4NKLla1JGlpKm7CYL98meVM%3D&amp;gaa_ts=690c9a87&amp;gaa_sig=bA3S8rI0TsYbEpPSJ1ELJNSb3VfMnBcubWzfYfqmdj-FNYgBKa2Zxz18AlpN8A4p0KXmFfQGEG9mz0xQp04Shg%3D%3D">told</a> The Wall Street Journal. 
Jimenez-Guzel has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization. Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba <a href="https://x.com/USAttyHabba/status/1986190944903803305">said</a> that law enforcement obtained a photo of Jimenez-Guzel posing in front of an ISIS flag with a knife. 
A law enforcement official told the Journal that Jimenez-Guzel was aware of the plans for the Halloween attack in Detroit and had previously visited the suspects planning that attack. Those suspects were named as Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud. Two juveniles have also been charged but have not been named. 
Sedarat has been charged with transmitting threats to interstate and foreign commerce. 
The complaint against him “describes a pattern of antisemitic messages advocating violence, along with images and purchases consistent with preparation for attack, including a knife and sword collection, tactical gear, and images of him practicing at a gun range,” Habba said. 
Habba added that both men had “pledged themselves to ISIS, and were plotting acts of terrorism in our country,” according to the criminal complaint. 
“Protecting the District of New Jersey and the United States, its people, its neighborhoods and its institutions is the core mission of our office. With our partners at the FBI and main Justice, we will continue to move swiftly and decisively whenever terrorism or hate threatens our communities,” she said. 
After the announcement of the New Jersey arrests, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said that another suspect had been arrested on Wednesday. 
“Today [FBI Detroit] and partners arrested a third additional suspect in connection to the alleged foiled terrorist attack in Michigan last week. Our investigation suggests this individual had been providing material support in preparation for the attack, inspired by ISIS,” he wrote on X. “They are now in custody. More to come. Thank you to the men and women who continue to work this case diligently.”
That suspect was identified as 19-year-old Ayob Nasser of Dearborn, Michigan. Nasser has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and having firearms that would be used to commit an act of terrorism on behalf of ISIS. 
According to law enforcement, the suspects were all in a Signal chat together where they discussed ways to support ISIS.
“We will not stop. We will follow the tentacles where they lead. We will continue to stand guard with the FBI against terrorism,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon, Jr.

MixCollage-06-Nov-2025-07-28-AM-45

FBI Nabs Three More Men Tied To ISIS-Inspired Halloween Terror Plot

Crime

Dan Bongino

terrorist attack

Just one day after the first New York City mayoral debate, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani shared a smiling photo with a Brooklyn imam who had been named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing — a terrorist attack that killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and wounded more than 1,000 others.
Mamdani grinned while standing arm-in-arm with Imam Siraj Wahhaj at his Bedford-Stuyvesant mosque.
“Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. A beautiful Jummah,” Mamdani wrote on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century. I was also joined by CM <a href="https://twitter.com/dr_yusefsalaam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dr_yusefsalaam</a> of Harlem. A beautiful Jummah. <a href="https://t.co/4kcN4CGlUk">pic.twitter.com/4kcN4CGlUk</a>
&mdash; Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1979353018589237717?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Wahhaj took the stand in defense of the notorious “blind sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman, the radical cleric convicted of conspiring in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. “After the bombing, the U.S. government recorded the sheikh encouraging further violence against targets in New York and New Jersey,” ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/blind-sheikh-linked-1993-world-trade-center-bombing/story?id=45582741">reported</a>.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Some statements Wahhaj has made in the past:
“I <a href="https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/siraj-wahhaj-on-jihad">pray</a> one day Allah will bless us to raise an army, and I’m serious about this. We were very close, recently. We had made intention to raise an army of 10,000 men in New York City.”
“I’m not telling you, no, don’t pick up a gun, no. Just march. March through the city of New York. Let them hear your voice. Let them hear it at night. Let them hear it 24 hours, until the whole city can’t sleep.”
As Daniel Pipes <a href="https://www.danielpipes.org/77/the-danger-within-militant-islam-in-america">reported</a>, in 1992, Wahhaj stated, “If we were united and strong, we&#8217;d elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him. &#8230; Take my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”
In a September 1991 speech in Toronto, titled “The Afghanistan Jihad,” Wahhaj <a href="https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/10/18/this-photo-should-end-zohran-mamdanis-campaign-n4944999">stated</a>, “Those who struggle for Allah, it doesn’t matter what kind of weapons [you use], I’m telling you it doesn’t matter! You don’t need nuclear weapons or even guns! If you have faith in Allah and a knife! If Allah wants you to win, you will win! Because Allah is the only one who fights. And when his hand is over your hand, whoever is at war against my friends, I declare war on them…. The Americans are not your friends … The Canadians are not your friends … The Europeans are not your friends. Your friend is Allah.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here&#39;s Mamdani&#39;s Imam, Siraj Wahhaj, calling America &quot;filthy&quot; and &quot;sick&quot;, saying it&#39;s an honor to die in Jihad and saying that getting involved in &quot;politics is a weapon in the cause of Islam&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eBR4SoI7X6">pic.twitter.com/eBR4SoI7X6</a>
&mdash; Daniel Greenfield &#8211; &quot;Hang Together or Separately&quot; (@Sultanknish) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sultanknish/status/1979996171759141120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Conservative political figures blasted Mamdani:
Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis stated on X: “If you had told people after the 9/11 attacks on the WTC that, within a quarter century, NYC would elect a mayoral candidate who campaigns with an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of the WTC, you would have been considered to have a few screws loose. Yet, here it is. From fighting jihad to embracing it. What a slap in the face to the memories of those killed in both the 1993 and 2001 jihadist attacks on the World Trade Center.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
If you had told people after the 9/11 attacks on the WTC that, within a quarter century, NYC would elect a mayoral candidate who campaigns with an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of the WTC, you would have been considered to have a few screws loose.
Yet, here it is.… <a href="https://t.co/RHp8FmCzoi">https://t.co/RHp8FmCzoi</a>
&mdash; Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1979981822667960541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) posted: “&#8217;I am not a jihadist.’  [poses arm-in-arm with an indisputable jihadist  💋👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🔥]  You are being LIED TO, and let’s be honest—you know you’re being lied to.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“I am not a jihadist.”
[poses arm-in-arm with an indisputable jihadist 💋👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🔥]
You are being LIED TO, and let’s be honest—you know you’re being lied to. <a href="https://t.co/aJQc1BxRKG">https://t.co/aJQc1BxRKG</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1979654209873256675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Former CBS correspondent Lara Logan chimed in: “Imagine being a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and voting for this?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Imagine being a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and voting for this? <a href="https://t.co/Pk5HwVR268">https://t.co/Pk5HwVR268</a>
&mdash; Lara Logan (@laralogan) <a href="https://twitter.com/laralogan/status/1980078068292268457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Zohran Mamdani Visits “The Story With Martha MacCallum”

Mamdani Poses With America-Hating Imam Who Defended Terrorists

Elections

New York

New York City

Politics

World Trade Center bombing

Zohran Mamdani

Just days after the two-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, massacre that sparked the Israel-Hamas war, the Trump administration’s ceasefire deal has brought all surviving Israeli hostages home from the Gaza Strip.
Per the deal, in exchange for the 20 Israeli hostages, Israel was required to release over 1,700 Gazans held in Israeli jails back into the Gaza Strip.
As Israel released the prisoners, “Free Palestine” activists rejoiced in a spectacularly dishonest way by posting a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@plestiio/video/7461915368739704097?q=palestinian%20hostages%20released&amp;t=1760578336542">video</a> on TikTok. The video, which has amassed a whopping 131,000 likes, claims Palestinian “hostages” were released in the deal.
The only issue: Israel was not holding any hostages.
By <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hostage">definition</a>, a hostage is “a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement; one that is involuntarily controlled by an outside influence.”
This is precisely what Hamas did on October 7. As their rifles unloaded into crowds of civilians, the terrorists made sure to abduct over 250 people, who committed no crime, as a means of leverage against Israel and to strong-arm the country into restricting their military response.
<div id="attachment_987281" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-987281" class="size-large wp-image-987281" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240860508-864x576.jpg" alt="RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 13: Released hostage David Cunio (2L) walks with his wife, former hostage, Sharon Aloni-Cunio (L) in front of his brother, released hostage, Ariel Cunio(R), and his partner, former hostage Hostage survivor Arbel Yahud (C-R), after arriving at Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer on October 13, 2025 in Ramat Gan, Israel. The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has brought an end to the two years of war that followed the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. A condition of the deal was the immediate return of 48 hostages held in Gaza, around 20 of whom were believed to be alive. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240860508-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240860508-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240860508-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240860508.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images</div>
By contrast, the prisoners released by Israel in the deal were not innocent “hostages” as the Free Palestine movement wants you to think. They were primarily violent criminals with ties to terrorism.
Here are six examples.
<h3>Imad Qawasmeh</h3>
A senior Hamas <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977732436826939410">Commander</a> from Hebron, Imad Qawasmeh, was captured in 2004 during a targeted operation by Israeli special forces. He personally directed the two suicide bombers responsible for the twin bus bombings in Beersheba on August 31, 2004.
The attack claimed the lives of 16 Israelis and left more than 100 others wounded.
An Israeli military tribunal found Qawasmeh guilty of murder, active participation in a terrorist organization, and illegal weapons trafficking. His crimes earned him a sentence of 16 consecutive life terms in prison.
<h3>Bakr Badr</h3>
A Hamas <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977736448087412966">terrorist</a> from the town of Beit Liqya, Bakr Badr, was imprisoned for his involvement in a Hamas terror network active during the Second Intifada. This cell was responsible for a series of deadly attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Among the attacks were two major incidents: a 2003 suicide bombing near the Tzrifin army base that claimed the lives of nine Israelis, and a 2004 bombing at a Tel Aviv bus stop that killed one person and wounded several others. His capture marked the dismantling of part of the Hamas infrastructure operating in the area at the time.
<h3>Samir Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Nima</h3>
An Islamic Jihad <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977737833549816124">terrorist</a> from Abu Dis, Samir Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Nima, was sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out a 1983 bus bombing in Jerusalem.
The brutal attack murdered six Israeli civilians — Esther Ido, Nurit Peleg Mizrahi, Esther Peleg Mizrahi, Slav Demsky, Yehuda Kaklan, and Shoshana Zussman Galanti — and wounded 46 others.
In addition to the bombing, he played a key role in smuggling weapons to other terror cells and in plotting to rig a gas truck with explosives in Jerusalem — a plan intended to cause mass death and destruction among innocent civilians.
<h3>Mohammed Shamasneh </h3>
A Hamas <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977738959682785785">terrorist</a>, Mohammed Shamasneh, was serving multiple life sentences for a series of cold-blooded murders carried out in the early 1990s. His crimes included the 1990 abduction and brutal killing of two Jerusalem teenagers, Ronen Karamani and Lior Tubul, both from the city’s Ramot neighborhood; the murder of taxi driver Rafi Doron that same year; and the 1993 ambush and killing of IDF soldier Yehoshua Friedberg.
Shamasneh’s actions were part of a wider Hamas campaign of terror aimed at targeting both civilians and soldiers, leaving behind a legacy of grief and horror among his victims’ families.
<div id="attachment_987285" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-987285" class="size-large wp-image-987285" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240432263-864x576.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - Buses carrying Palestinians released from Israeli prisons under a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal with Palestinian factions, arrive outside the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240432263-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240432263-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240432263-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2240432263.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images</div>
<h3>Ayham Kamamgi</h3>
A Fatah <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977740102034944465">terrorist</a> from the village of Dan, Ayham Kamamgi, was serving two life sentences for his role in the 2006 abduction and cold-blooded murder of Israeli teenager Eliyahu Asheri near Ramallah. 
The attack was part of a coordinated effort by his terror cell to target young Israelis and sow fear across the region.
In 2021, he gained notoriety once again as one of the six convicted terrorists who escaped from Israel’s high-security Gilboa Prison, sparking a nationwide manhunt. He was recaptured after several days on the run.
<h3>Ahmad Adel Jaber Saada</h3>
A Hamas <a href="https://x.com/IsraelMFA/status/1977738357355483461">terrorist</a> from Eastern Jerusalem and holder of an Israeli ID card, Ahmad Adel Jaber Saada, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in a Hamas terror cell based in Bethlehem that carried out multiple deadly attacks during the early 2000s.
He played a direct role in the November 21, 2002, suicide bombing in Jerusalem, a horrific attack that murdered 11 Israelis and left dozens more wounded. Saada personally assisted the bomber and drove him to the scene of the massacre, ensuring the attack’s success and maximum civilian casualties.
If “innocent Palestinian hostages” were released by Israel every time a swap occurred, as the activists would like you to think, history would not show that it always comes back to haunt them.
A prime example of this is the now-deceased Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar was arrested in 1988 for serious crimes such as abduction and murder. During his time in prison, Israel graciously tasked its doctors with removing a brain abscess he had, saving his life.
In 2011, he was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, in which Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in return for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Throughout the 12 years since his release, Sinwar rose to become the leader of Hamas in Gaza and served as the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks. He died one year ago while hiding in a tunnel in Gaza.
From <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lin_nichi/video/7527500220242955527?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7215984656980690478">claiming</a> Jesus was a Palestinian to claiming Israel is committing a modern rendition of the Holocaust, the “Free Palestine” movement has always relied on twisted information and blatant lies to gain support. The “Palestinian hostages” narrative is a continuation of this tactic.
Don’t fall for it.
* * *
Jacob Falach is an associate producer at The Daily Wire. You can find him on Instagram at: @jacobfalach.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-16-Oct-2025-02-33-PM-5250

Israel Freed Prisoners, Not Hostages — There’s A Difference

Gaza

Hamas

Hostages

Islamic Jihad

Israel

Israeli hostages

Peace Deal

Prisoners

A single moment in time can define the future and impact lives in ways beyond the comprehension of many Americans. For the crew and families who suffered the unimaginable loss of their Sailor, that moment in time came at 11:18 a.m. on October 12, 2000. Those of us who directly experienced that brutal Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on our ship, that moment in time loops back to play over and over in our minds. Now, each of us who was there, along with many in the Navy and the nation, will pause to reflect on the past 25 years of how that moment affected our lives. We live with the crystal-clear memory of those who chose to serve our nation and died for our freedom. Their sacrifice remains paramount in our thoughts and prayers.
USS Cole spent a year training for deployment to the Mediterranean and the Middle East with a clearly defined mission — safeguard U.S. national security through presence operations and maritime interdiction of illicit vessels smuggling oil out of Iraq. The crew was really good, but I knew I could demand better of them and was relentless in achieving more. Ultimately, our standards of performance and training were higher than any ship on the Norfolk waterfront.
Sure, there was the typical Sailor grumbling and complaining that we were spending too much time doing drills and learning watch and combat positions beyond their normal duty requirements. Little did we know that the investment in ourselves would save a $1 billion warship and most of the wounded crew.
On August 8, 2000, with families and friends tearfully waving goodbye, the ship slowly maneuvered off the pier and began a voyage into the annals of history. That day, a new benchmark of performance was set in the U.S. Navy — USS Cole got underway with a 100% qualified all-enlisted crew manning every sea and anchor detail watch position. It was an incredible achievement, never done before and never repeated since. More importantly, that accomplishment left an indelible mark on a crew, now absolutely confident they were well prepared for anything that might come their way, including combat.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="USS COLE: Al Qaeda’s Strike Before 9/11 | Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eTvFDubU86g?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Following port visits in Spain, France, Malta, and Slovenia, we transited the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to enter the Port of Aden, Yemen, for an expected 6-8-hour brief stop for fuel. Three garbage barges were contracted to remove trash. After the first two barges departed, a third boat that looked exactly like the previous two garbage barges approached and came alongside amidship. We had no intelligence, warnings, or indications that this boat was actually manned by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers and packed with explosives built into the hull as a waterborne improvised explosive device.
Suddenly, that singular moment in time occurred. At 25,000 feet per second, the blast shock wave pierced the hull, rapidly expanding as a powerful ball of flame into the interior of the ship. In a split second, metal was rendered unrecognizable, bodies were crushed and mangled, burned by the explosion’s wall of flame. In that instant, heroes stepped in to save lives that were forever changed, and within hours, families would be notified of the worst news possible — their loved one had been killed in the service of our country.
<div id="attachment_987153" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-987153" class="size-large wp-image-987153" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1159689-768x576.jpg" alt="380160 02: (FILE PHOTO) A gaping hole mars the port sidee sustained by the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole after a terrorist bomb exploded and killed at least five people and injured 36 during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen. October 12, 2001, marks the one year anniversary of the attack on the USS Cole. (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Getty Images)" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1159689-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1159689-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1159689.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" />Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Getty Images</div>
Training paid off within an hour as the crew valiantly stabilized the ship, preventing it from sinking and becoming a war trophy for Al-Qaeda. That first day, the crew evacuated 33 wounded off the ship within 99 minutes after the explosion. Ultimately, 32 would survive. While on our own in the immediate aftermath, we were never alone. France deployed a lifesaving medical team, flying 11 wounded to advanced medical facilities in Djibouti. That evening, staff from the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain arrived to arrange for security and get food and water out to the ship. The next morning, the British arrived with a security and damage control team from the HMS Marlborough. Later that day, two U.S. Navy ships, USS Donald Cook and USS Hawes, arrived to provide help and logistics support.
For the next 17 days, the Sailors of USS Cole exhibited initiative and ingenuity as they continually braved equipment failures, system challenges, and, at one point, the loss of our only operating generator on Sunday morning after the attack. The ship began to sink. God love Sailor ingenuity. By late morning, we had cut a hole in the side of the ship near the waterline to pump out floodwater as we feverishly worked to refill our high-pressure air tanks to restart the generator. After a harrowing 22 hours, the generator was started, and USS Cole was saved, again.
<div id="attachment_987149" style="width: 854px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-987149" class="size-large wp-image-987149" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1303030-844x576.jpg" alt="380441 07: U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks during a memorial service for the sailors of the USS Cole October 18, 2000 in Norfolk VA. Clinton attended the service to honored the wounded and dead from the U.S. navy destroyer that was bombed while on a refueling stop in the Yemeni port of Aden. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)" width="844" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1303030-844x576.jpg 844w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1303030-300x205.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1303030-768x524.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-1303030.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px" />Mark Wilson/Newsmakers</div>
Finally, after proudly sailing out of Aden harbor blasting our national anthem and Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” over the loudspeakers, USS Cole was floated onto the heavy lift ship, M/V Blue Marlin, and brought back to the United States for repairs. As a testament to the bravery and tenacity of that crew, USS Cole still proudly serves our nation today. This past Christmas Eve, she returned from deployment after shooting down Houthi anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea and successfully engaging Iranian ballistic missiles being fired into Israel. USS Cole remains in the fight to defend freedom.
As with any single moment in time that can shatter or change lives, the attack on USS Cole should serve as a poignant reminder that our freedom is not free. Twenty-five years ago, the courage of a crew was tested in combat, and the results speak for themselves. As a nation, we remain blessed with those who choose to raise their right hand, swear an oath to defend our Constitution and protect our freedom at the cost of their lives. Today, I could not be prouder of my crew and their accomplishments — they are the true heroes who saved USS Cole and their shipmates. Well done!
* * *
Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.), was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack by al Qaeda in the Port of Aden, Yemen. During his command, he and his crew distinguished themselves by saving the American warship from sinking. This event is widely recognized as one of the most brazen acts of terrorism by al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/episode-1-the-attack?contentProgram=USS%20COLE%3A%20Al%20Qaeda%E2%80%99s%20Strike%20Before%209%2F11&amp;contentType=ShowEpisode&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel">WATCH: USS Cole: Al-Qaeda’s Strike Before 9/11 on DailyWire+</a></h3>

The Cole Bombing

I Commanded The USS Cole On The Day Al-Qaeda Tried To Sink Her

Al Qaeda

Documentaries

Osama bin Laden

Red Sea

U.S. Navy

USS Cole

Yemen

A 25-year-old former member of the National Guard is accused of attempting to provide 3D-printed weapons to someone he believed was a member of al-Qaeda, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. 
While serving in the National Guard, Andrew Hastings of Tulsa, Oklahoma, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-arrested-and-charged-attempting-provide-al-qaida-weapons">allegedly</a> shipped more than one hundred parts for weapons to an undercover agent with the intent of assisting the radical Islamic terrorist group. He is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and illegal possession or transfer of a machine gun.
Hastings first came under FBI scrutiny in June 2024 after he was found to be “discussing committing acts of violence against U.S. civilians in furtherance of global jihad” on a social media app, according to the Justice Department. At the time, he worked as an aircraft powertrain repairer and held a national security clearance.
On social media, Hastings allegedly encouraged others in a group chat discussing acts of terrorism to develop cyberspace skills and start physical training. He allegedly offered to provide Army manuals related to tactics and the manufacture of weapons and expressed interest in creating a nuclear weapon. 
According to the complaint, Hastings then began conversing with an undercover agent who claimed to have ties to al-Qaeda. Surveillance footage cited in court documents reportedly shows Hastings dropping off boxes at a post office to ship 3D printed machine gun conversion switches, two 3D printed lower receivers for a handgun, a handgun slide, and other handgun parts for “al-Qaida for use in terrorist attacks.”
Investigators also stated that he took an overseas trip without reporting it to his superiors as required. Hastings voluntarily left the National Guard on June 6, 2025, as the investigation was ongoing. 
The FBI, the Army, the ATF, and the Tulsa Police Department investigated the case. 
“The successful arrest of this Soldier is a testament to the strong partnership between Army Counterintelligence Command and the FBI,” said Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command, adding that the Army remained committed to ensuring that “individuals who support terrorist organizations are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Trump Increases Federal Law Enforcement Presence, Deploys National Guard In Nation’s Capital

Former National Guardsman Accused Of 3D-Printing Weapons For Al-Qaeda

Department of Justice

Oklahoma

U.S. Army

The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, were a wake-up call for America, and I sincerely hope it is not one we as a nation have forgotten. There are still folks out there who hate our freedoms and our way of life.
We are no longer protected by oceans and geographical distance from potential enemies. We must always remember we are a nation at risk and be prepared for the next attack. I do believe in peace through strength.
I was the Assistant Division Commander for the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division on the 11th of September in 2001. I was in the middle of packing to head to the airport when my wife Sarah asked me to turn on the television. Those TV images are still etched in my mind today, even though the event occurred 24 years ago.
<div id="attachment_971107" style="width: 783px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971107" class="size-large wp-image-971107" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1374462-773x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: (JAPAN OUT) (VIDEO CAPTURE) (Series 1/4) Hijacked United Airlines flight 175 flies towards the south tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The plane is one of four hijacked that morning and is the second plane to be flown into the World Trade Center buildings. (Photo by CNN via Getty Images)" width="773" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1374462-773x576.jpg 773w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1374462-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1374462-768x572.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1374462.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 773px) 100vw, 773px" />CNN via Getty Images</div>
In the past, I deployed to Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Kosovo. Since the attacks on 9/11 I deployed to Iraq three times in varying capacities. And clearly, I am not alone. All uniformed military have had shared similar experiences. As I reflect back on that time, we went from a nation enjoying peace and prosperity to a nation at war.
In order to maintain our freedoms we need a strong military. We cannot afford to let the Department of Defense become a bill payer for programs not directly tied to our national security. We need to ensure all branches of our military are a ready fighting force — well equipped, well trained, and prepared to rapidly respond to any threat at a moment’s notice.
We also must actively support our nation’s veterans and their families because they sacrificed much to ensure we have the freedoms we enjoy today. Less than 1% of our country’s population serve in uniform at any one time, but we all enjoy the freedoms provided by that select few. Unfortunately, 76% of our population acknowledges that they have no idea what our veterans are going through because they just don’t know any veterans. That is wrong and must be addressed.
I remain concerned about the future of our great nation and want to ensure our kids and grandkids enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today. As Ronald Reagan reminded us, freedom is only one generation removed from extinction. Let’s use today to reflect on those freedoms and commit to do everything we can to maintain them for generations to come.
* * *
Rick Lynch was privileged to serve 35 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Lieutenant General. During his time in the Army he commanded at all levels, from a platoon of 30 soldiers to a corps of 65,000. His last job in the Army was commanding all U.S. Army installations, with a workforce of 120,000. He now is the President of R. Lynch Enterprises, focused on building concerned, caring, adaptive leaders across our nation. He is the author of &#8220;Adapt or Die,&#8221; &#8220;Work Hard, Pray Hard,&#8221; and &#8220;We&#8217;re Not Robots.&#8221;
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Correction: A previous version stated that the author had deployed to Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Kosovo after 9/11. Those conflicts took place before 9/11. The correction has been made.

World Trade Center Attacked

I Was An Army Commander On 9/11. I’m Still Concerned About America’s Readiness.

I Was An Army Commander On 9/11. I'm Still Concerned About America’s Readiness.

9/11

Pentagon

U.S. Military

It’s difficult to believe that 24 years have passed since that fateful September morning in 2001 when a group of radical Islamic terrorists slammed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a rural field in Pennsylvania, murdering 2,977 innocent people.
So much had changed in New York City in the years leading up to that day. The city had been rescued from the throes of an unprecedented period of violent crime and disorder, fueled by a crack epidemic that ran from the early 1980s into the early 1990s. But in the decade leading up to September 11, 2001, the Big Apple had blossomed into the safest big city in the world. Businesses were flourishing. Tourism was booming. There was an atmosphere of safety and law and order in the streets. New York City was once again the mecca of the western world. I saw it happen and it was a beautiful thing to watch.
Under the leadership of Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton the NYPD was transformed from a rudderless, leaderless, reactionary force of report takers with no direction into an organized army of crime fighters who identified and attacked high-crime areas with a zero-tolerance policy, targeting hardcore crooks and putting them behind bars where they belong. I was a proud member of that army. It took a lot of blood sweat and tears to reduce crime to levels no one would have imagined just eight years earlier.
The city was like a shiny, old, classic car. It had a few dents and even a few ugly rust spots but the engine was humming and millions of citizens, tourists and businesses were riding around with the top down enjoying the sweet music and the cool breeze blowing through their hair. And then, on 9/11, when those planes smashed into our city, it felt like a cinderblock crashing through the windshield of that classic car.
I was at home that morning, getting ready for work when the first tower was struck at 8:46 AM. I was a Detective Lieutenant in the NYPD’s Intelligence Division. My first thought was that the plane striking the North Tower was an accident. Then, 17 minutes later, the second plane struck and there was no doubt we were under attack. I grabbed my suit jacket and raced toward the city.
I met up with a few members of my team on the side of the highway. We piled into one car and headed for Manhattan. There was no conversation. We drove in silence, listening to the frenzied traffic on our portable radios and the haunting, gut-wrenching transmissions of our fellow officers already on the scene pleading for help, some coughing and wheezing in the rubble, perhaps taking their last breaths. It was heartbreaking.
<div id="attachment_971053" style="width: 857px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971053" class="size-large wp-image-971053" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1376061-847x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 11: (FILE PHOTO) (PUERTO RICO OUT) This is a view from West Broadway Avenue of the downtown Manhattan area of the World Trade Center towers after they were hit by two planes during a terrorist attack September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora via Getty Images) ***PUERTO RICO OUT ****" width="847" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1376061-847x576.jpg 847w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1376061-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1376061-768x522.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1376061.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 847px) 100vw, 847px" />Jose Jimenez/Primera Hora via Getty Images</div>
As we approached the Queens Midtown tunnel, we saw the North Tower crumble and disappear from the skyline. It was another cinderblock crashing through the windshield of our classic car. I was seething.
We raced down the FDR drive headed south toward the Trade Center where we came upon a ghostly parade of terrified people covered in grey dust running north in the opposite direction we were headed. One of the guys in the car with me mumbled, “I think we’re going the wrong way.” I turned to him and snapped, “No. We’re going the right way.”
We eventually came to a stop just south of the Brooklyn Bridge because the FDR Drive had become an apocalyptic parking lot jammed with abandoned cars. We set out on foot crossing over from the FDR Drive to the side streets where we flagged down an empty ambulance and asked the driver to take us as close to the Trade Center as possible. We climbed into the back and slammed the door shut. As we moved through the narrow streets of downtown, the small rectangular window in the back of the ambulance only grew darker and then the ambulance stopped. This was as far as the driver could take us.
When we spilled out onto Broadway, it was like landing on another planet. Dust was flying everywhere. There was a 6-inch layer of ash, papers and personal belongings blanketing the streets. There was a ceiling of toxic smoke hovering over downtown like a London fog. The carnage was all around us. But the thing I remember most were the shoes. Maybe because I knew they were once connected to people. I wondered if they had run out of them and escaped or if their owners were crushed and burning in the rubble. As we wandered aimlessly in a pack, toward what was once the North and South towers, it was hard to fathom what we were seeing. In some places there were 10 story sections of buildings leaning up against other buildings. Fire trucks and cars were crushed beneath the smoldering rubble. We came upon a turbine from one of the planes near the corner of Murray and Church Streets. Further down the block was a piece of the landing gear.
As we wound through the streets, we could hear and feel the rumble of explosions beneath our feet. I imagined it was gas tanks of buried cars exploding beneath the fiery rubble until we encountered a pack of dust-covered firemen wandering around like we were. They warned us the explosions were manhole covers being blown up into the air by the pressure and heat of the fires raging below us and urged us to stay on the sidewalks to avoid being killed. So, we heeded their advice, breathing in the dust, trudging through the debris looking for survivors or people in need of help but only the dead beneath the rubble remained.
<div id="attachment_971055" style="width: 841px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-971055" class="size-large wp-image-971055" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1201348346-831x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: The streets of downtown New York are covered in debris after both World Trade Towers collapsed from a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)" width="831" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1201348346-831x576.jpg 831w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1201348346-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1201348346-768x533.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-1201348346.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 831px) 100vw, 831px" />Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</div>
As the afternoon wore on, and communications began to settle down, we got more organized. We eventually helped set up a makeshift morgue in the lobby of a building a few blocks north of the smoldering Trade Center. I don’t recall how many bodies came in. It wasn’t more than a few. But the one I remember most was Father Mychal Judge, the Chaplain of the New York City Fire Department. Five brave, somber, exhausted firemen carried his limp body into the lobby. They knelt down and prayed over him. It was a very moving. He had been struck by debris in the Lobby of the North Tower when the South Tower had collapsed.
By the afternoon, we were deployed up to Greenwich Street, several blocks north of Building 7 where we helped set up a perimeter to keep unauthorized people out of the area. We had a clear view of the 47-story building 7 and the fire raging halfway up inside. At 5:20 PM the building began to tremble. The windows popped across it like bubble wrap. The mighty building shook one last time and then fell straight down into itself sending a cloud of dust tumbling in our direction. The worst of the cloud dissipated before it could reach us. Watching that building fall was the final gut punch. I was so angry and so sad. It was hard to wrap my head around everything we had seen and heard that day. It still is 24 years later.
Every year, when this tragic anniversary rolls around, we hear the common mantra “Never Forget.” And it is true, we should never forget. But for the other 364 days of the year, many of them, especially those on the left, wake up every day trying to find new ways to divide us.
That’s why I prefer the phrase, “Always Remember.”
Always remember the sense of patriotism and unity we felt in the days, weeks, months and years that followed this tragedy.
Always remember how people from all different walks of life, strangers, came together and rallied around each other in ways I had never seen in my lifetime.
Always remember the caravans of civilians and first responders from all over the country who poured into the city with trucks, saws, and heavy equipment or just their hands and hearts begging to help with the rescue and recovery operations.
But most importantly, always remember the heroes, first responders and civilians alike, many of whom lost their lives, rushing into those buildings to save their fellow human beings, never for a second considering the race, religion, creed or sexual orientation of those they were trying to save.
Hate lost that day. 24 years later, however, it’s making a comeback. But if we just take the time to remember those things that united us, hate doesn’t have a chance.
* * *
John Dove is a retired NYPD Detective Lieutenant and the former co-executive producer of “CSI-NY” starring Gary Sinise.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Septmber 11, 2001

I Was An NYPD Detective On 9/11. This Is What I Saw.

Always Remember: A Former NYPD Officer Reflects On 9/11, 24 Years Later

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More than 40 Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were killed by Islamic militants early Sunday morning, according to reports from multiple Christian organizations and the United Nations.
The victims, including at least nine children, were holding a prayer vigil as part of a summer holiday session in the early morning hours in the city of Komanda when they were attacked by the Allied Democratic Forces, a radical Islamic rebel group with ties to the Islamic State, <a href="https://www.churchinneed.org/dozens-killed-in-another-church-massacre-in-dr-congo/">according</a> to Aid to the Church in Need.
&#8220;The attack occurred at around 1 o’clock in the morning. The rebels entered the church and murdered a large number of children, both inside the church building and in the compound,&#8221; said Fr. Marcelo Oliveira, a longtime missionary in the Congo.
Islamic militants set fire to homes and shops in Komanda before fleeing. The terrorists were gone by the time the government forces arrived. According to the United Nations peacekeeping mission, 43 people were killed in the attack, including 19 women and nine children, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ezjg34lw4o">reported</a>. The Congolese military said that the insurgents used machetes in their attack, adding, &#8220;These terrorists have decided to take revenge on defenseless peaceful populations to spread terror.&#8221;
The attack is yet another example of the extreme persecution faced by Christians at the hands of Islamic extremists in the Congo and other African nations. In February, 70 Christians were found <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/70-christians-beheaded-in-congo-church?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=70+Christians+Beheaded+In+Congo+Church">beheaded</a> in a church after they were attacked by militants with the Allied Democratic Forces. Last month, around 200 Christians in Nigeria were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/terrible-massacre-hundreds-of-christians-killed-by-jihadists?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Terrible+Massacre%E2%80%99%3A+Hundreds+Of+Christians+Killed+By+Jihadists">killed</a> by jihadists who stormed a predominantly Catholic farming community and set fire to homes.
Christian persecution in Africa receives little to no <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=a19e3038bac685ef&amp;rlz=1C5GCCM_en&amp;q=congo+christians+killed&amp;tbm=nws&amp;source=lnms&amp;fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZrjP_Cx0LI1Ytb_FGcOviEiTm5uW1q0uNfK7KsnoL8hUyUYUJLZ_b-p0lT09DIkR7RtNt-9R1f9Pbq4mdMMyxSelEHHADgzBCNx7-1ORi0KJWiwbiRKhaJlqpDHUl2dNr8G5XPk2ywt6RaMo8S7jdrN1-wsMK-NpRx3wHhwRUuCDXYdA01GXeONWxb0oGcT8AZCQ6oA&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjq1cau0-KOAxXnk2oFHV7JBBkQ0pQJegQIFRAB&amp;biw=1440&amp;bih=778&amp;dpr=2">coverage</a> in the legacy news media despite the constant threats and violence faced by people of faith. According to the Christian group <a href="https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/drc-attack-church/">Open Doors</a>, 355 Christians in the Congo were killed in 2024, an increase from 261 in 2023.
The Congo remains a completely volatile political landscape with factions and rebel groups fighting for control of multiple regions. The fighting has resulted in more than 100,000 Congolese people getting <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160006">displaced</a>, the United Nations reported in February.

Christians in Congo

Islamic Militants Slaughter Dozens Of Christians During Prayer Vigil

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World

President Donald Trump&#8217;s counter-terrorism operation has been humming in the first three months of his second administration, taking out 74 terrorist leaders who were planning attacks on United States soil, according to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Among those neutralized in Trump&#8217;s airstrikes were terrorists from al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, and ISIS. None of the 74 terrorists taken out by Trump-approved strikes were being pursued by the Biden administration, Waltz told <a href="https://justthenews.com/government/security/wedtrump-has-killed-74-leaders-terror-groups-hoping-strike-us-homeland-mike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just The News</a>. Waltz said the Biden administration&#8217;s failure to find these terrorist leaders and its lack of border security created an &#8220;incredibly dangerous&#8221; situation that the Trump administration is seeking to fix.
“I can tell you, from ISIS to al-Qaeda, to groups like Al-Shabab, all have plots and plans to hit the homeland once again, And if you look under the Biden administration, with a wide-open border, that was incredibly dangerous,” he said. “President Trump has eliminated 74 named terrorist leaders that the Biden administration wasn&#8217;t going after. You add to that 45 Americans who are being held hostage by various regimes and groups around the world that he&#8217;s brought home and that is just an incredible achievement in just a couple of months.”
In March, a top ISIS leader was killed in a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. A senior military leader of a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda was taken out in a separate strike in Syria in February, and on February 1, a U.S. Africa Command operation took out 13 high-ranking Islamic State operatives, along with an attack planner.
&#8220;Americans should sleep better at night,&#8221; Waltz added. &#8220;We&#8217;re only three months in, and look at the results President Trump is getting. The mainstream media doesn&#8217;t want to talk about those.&#8221;
Trump has also ramped up strikes against Houthi terrorists in the Middle East, vowing to protect U.S. military and commercial ships. On Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-orders-troops-to-middle-east-to-counter-houthi-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that he was ordering more U.S. forces &#8220;equipped for combat into the Middle East to enhance the defensive capabilities available to United States forces and facilitate necessary military actions.&#8221;
The continued pressure on the Houthis — and other radical Islamic terrorists in the Middle East — comes as the Trump administration is also seeking to negotiate a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-saturdays-nuclear-talks-between-the-u-s-and-iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nuclear deal</a> with Iran, which funds the Houthis. The president is hoping to bring more stability to the Middle East after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage.

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Trump Strikes Have Killed 74 Terrorist Leaders Planning Attacks On U.S. Soil: Mike Waltz

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