A few points before we begin: this is, by no means, meant to be an exhaustive list. Additionally, multiple state actors have been known to support terrorist groups, so I am sure there is to be an overlap with who is responsible for a certain event. I am also not doing a lot of "deep" research here - this is stuff one can easily find in a Google search. So no state secrets here. Finally, death of Americans is not the only indicator of the danger from terrorism emanating from a given country.
This post is simply meant to debunk the bull this meme is spreading.
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Iraq: According to the Department of Defense, as of January 27, 2017, 4,425 Americans died fighting terrorism as part of Operation: Iraqi Freedom. Now, say what you will about the Iraq War, but the impetus for the war (aka, what Democrats like then-Senator Hillary Clinton voted in favor of) was, among other things, the war against state-sponsored terrorism. This gruesome tally includes 13 deaths of civilian contractors.
Iran: Of the above 4,425, it has been estimated that state-sponsored action supporting terrorists in Iraq by Iran resulted in the death of at least 1,100 American soldiers. Moreover, Hossein Dehghan, now a Brigidier General in Iran, played a key role in the October 1983 suicide bomb attacks in Beirut in which 241 U.S. Marines were killed. Additionally, Iran is known to be a state sponsor of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which carried out many acts of terrorism around the world that killed Americans.
Libya: I can see how the creator and purveyors of this disgusting meme could have overlooked that little known attack on the American embassy in Beghazi that killed 4 Americans, and the Lockerbie bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 in 1988 that killed 270. There was also the 1986 bombing of a discotheque in what used to be known as West Berlin in 1986 that killed 2 American servicemen.
Somalia: The creator and purveyors of this disgusting meme clearly didn't see Black Hawk Down, or they'd know that the Battle of Mogadishu. And though not a death, on October 23, 2014. Zale Thompson, another self-radicalized Muslim reportedly indoctrinated himself with ISIS, al-Qaeda and al-Shabab–a Somali jihadist terror group, injured two NYPD officers with a hatchet before being shot dead by other cops. There is also a unique history of Somali immigrants attempting and performing acts of terror in Ohio.
Sudan: The third largest African country is known to be a location for several terrorist training camps. A report of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee notes: "Sudan harbors elements of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world: Jihad, the armed Islamic group, Hamas, Abu Nidal, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, and the Islamic Group are all present in terrorist training camps in Sudan. These terrorist groups are responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks around the world that have taken thousands of lives." In January of 2008, Ambassador John Glanville and his driver were murdered in Khartoum by members of Ansar al-Tawhid, a militant Islamic organization.
Syria: Did the creator and purveyors of this disgusting meme forget that one of the S's in ISIS stands for Syria? The same ISIS responsible for 33,000 deaths worldwide and has been fighting with our servicemen and women? If reasonable people can't agree that Syria is a war-torn terrorist hotbed and that we must remain extremely vigilant about granting admittance to those who have lived in or visited that country, then I believe nothing will convince you.
Yemen: Remember the Cole? The USS Cole was attacked while refueling in Yemen in October of 2000. Seventeen American sailors were killed and 39 injured in what was then the deadliest attack against a United States naval vessel since 1987. But let's go beyond that. According to The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, U.S. FBI and NCIS agents sent to Yemen to investigate the bombing were met at the airport by Yemen special forces armed with AK-47s. Speakers in the Yemeni parliament "calling for jihad against America." And while the Yemeni government has since become a partner (some say "in name only") on our war on terror, as early as last year, the U.S. was bombing known terror camps in Yemen.
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Get the point yet? Not only does the meme lie about American deaths, but the meme is deceptive in that American deaths are not - and should not - be the sole criteria in determining whether a refugee from these countries should be allowed inside of our borders. As the liberal media has touted, few American civilians have been killed by terrorism emanating from these countries.
But don't we want to keep it that way? These are countries that are either torn by uncontrollable terrorist actors or are terrorist actors themselves. And it isn't like bans on refugees are uncommon. In fact, the Obama administration banned Iraqi refugees for the same reasons that President Trump is doing the same.
Enough with the false narratives and outright lies. This meme not only denigrates the sacrifice of our volunteer servicemen and women, but seeks to deliberately mislead the gullible to believe that President Trump has no rational basis for this temporary refugee ban.
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