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Responding to Islamist Terrorism: Are We Too Late?
Dearborn, MI Ordinance Officer Amal Chammout.
As I assess the US attitude toward Islamism and terror, I’m concerned that we are deluding ourselves about the dangers of terror in this country, and how soon we may find ourselves in deep trouble. John Kluge wrote an excellent post on how the US assesses Islamism. I believe this post takes his ideas even further, providing evidence that the danger is even more immediate than we realize. My biggest issue, however, is that I’ve had to rely on the mainstream media, whose overall credibility has been challenged to some degree, to counter-balance the information I’ve discovered. For that reason, in two out of three of my major points of evidence, I leave it to you, the reader, to decide where the truth lies.
First, in assessing our terrorism risk, many people claim that once we defeat ISIS, we will be much safer. I’d like to suggest that defeating ISIS is probably a pipe dream. ISIS may eventually be defeated in Syria, but the organization is already preparing to expand its territory. Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reported that as they lose territory, ISIS will return to Europe and their home countries, while other ISIS operatives are sent to join Syrian populations in Germany where they will blend in. Another European counter-terrorism expert is investigating whether they will be able to re-locate to countries where they currently have no presence. ISIS also is adept at using the internet for recruitment, and although authorities continually take down their websites, new sites continue to crop up.
Aside from ISIS, there is also Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. According to a counterterrorism report,
AQAP operates throughout Yemen, primarily in the country’s southern and central regions. In many of these provinces, AQAP governs small pockets of territory with sharia (Islamic law) courts and a heavily armed militia. AQAP attempts to appeal to the Yemeni people by meeting their basic needs and integrating into the local population, including by conforming to the local governance structures. In addition to controlling territory in Yemen, AQAP is believed to pose a major terrorist threat to the United States. (Italics mine.)
There is a likelihood that these organizations will continue to adjust to counter-terrorist activities and find new ways to spread terrorism internationally. I suspect they’re already here.
Second, some people take comfort from the knowledge that we are not in danger of becoming another Europe. Unlike the European countries, we have a history of being successful at integrating our immigrants. That may have been true in the past, but present circumstances, particularly in Michigan, contradict that tradition. I emphasize that not that all Muslims are radicalized or even potential terrorists. But in an effort to provide a well-rounded picture, let me explain a few things.
In the town of Hamtramck, four of the City Council’s six seats are held by Muslims. Politico reports that residents are more afraid of Donald Trump and Republicans than fearing their city will become a breeding ground for radical Islamism. But Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a widely recognized Somali immigrant, is concerned that the City Council will incorporate Sharia into the city’s laws.
Another town dominated by Muslims is Dearborn. In a video produced by Robert Spencer at JihadWatch, a Dearborn resident drove around the city and Spencer recorded video and audio. Again, it’s important to state that not all Muslims are terrorist threats, but a small percentage of that community might be.
Third, there is the issue of homegrown terrorism. Pew Research provides an overview of the Muslim population in the US:
In 2015, according to our best estimate, there were 3.3 million Muslims of all ages in the U.S., or about 1% of the U.S. population. Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study (conducted in English and Spanish) found that 0.9% of U.S. adults identify as Muslims. A 2011 survey of Muslim Americans, which was conducted in English as well as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, estimated that there were 1.8 million Muslim adults (and 2.75 million Muslims of all ages) in the country. That survey also found that a majority of U.S. Muslims (63%) are immigrants.
When we think of terrorists in our country, we prefer to believe radical Muslims are immigrants, misfits, unemployed and alone; Foreign Policy reported on a study that doesn’t confirm those perceptions. The report studied of 112 individuals “who the U.S. Department of Justice indicted for Islamic-related crimes between March 2014 and August 2016.” The report stated:
The average age of the 112 individuals is 27, with almost a third over 30. Over 40 percent were in a relationship, with a third being married. Nearly two-thirds went to college. Three quarters had jobs or were in school. All of this is quite similar to the United States population as a whole.
The other common perception of terrorists is that they come to the United States from abroad. This idea is simply out of date. One of the key findings of the study is that the vast majority of the 112 individuals are U.S. citizens. Nearly two-thirds were born in the United States, and nearly 20 percent were naturalized citizens. This is in sharp contrast to individuals who had been indicted for al Qaeda-related offenses between 1997 and 2011; only 55 percent of those were U.S. citizens. Only three were refugees — two from Bosnia and one from Iraq. The latter came to the United States as a refugee in 2009 and was radicalized sometime thereafter.
Foreign Policy was making the point that focusing on immigration from Muslim-majority countries might not serve our security needs as well as we think it will.
Finally, the last point, and perhaps the most contested, is whether we already have terrorist training camps in this country. PJ Media reported on a project that identified several camps in the US.
The Clarion Project has unearthed Federal Bureau of Investigations documents detailing a 22-site network of terrorist training villages sprawled across the United States. According to the documents, the FBI has been concerned about these facilities for about 12 years, but cannot act against them because the U.S. State Department has not yet declared that their umbrella group, MOA/Jamaat ul-Fuqra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
An article in the Washington Post labels this information as conspiracy theory. I will leave the decision about the credibility of these camps to you.
We needed to begin more aggressively planning for the threat of Islamist terror years ago. We’ve taken some steps, but many of them appear to be minor. Let’s hope it’s not too late to begin taking effective action now.
Published in Islamist Terrorism
We’re in a l-o-n-g war, SQ…never too late; we’d best wake up, though…Stay tuned.
I will indeed. I guess I should have said, “too late–for what.” We’ve had many years to try to get an edge on this serious problem, and our desire to be politically correct, to ignore things occurring right under our noses, to assume that we are safer than everyone else–it’s just so discouraging. I fear we may suffer a great deal before we feel we are dealing with the situation effectively.
Duly noted, @susanquinn. And well put.
To the extent that people agree with you, perhaps they will also agree that whatever the constitutional merits or demerits of the Travel Ban E.O., it has no particular significance in the War on Islamic Jihadism. (Which, closing the circle, is one of the reasons the Fourth Circuit at least hinted at in finding that the E.O. was actually a sham and a cover for something else.)
“Unlike the European countries, we have a history of being successful at integrating our immigrants.”
In the past, we had sufficient civilizational self-confidence to make immigrants *want* to integrate. This has now been substantially destroyed.
Based on what I’ve learned, I agree with you, @formerlawprof. It has made us feel like we’re doing something significant in going for the ban, but I’m not sure we are. Then again, the profile of the jihadist against this country could shift again, and we will discover that the profile is once again the immigrant. Right now, it seems to be a waste of funds and misplaced focus.
Are you suggesting that because the Left has worked so hard to destroy the reputation of the US, others are believing them? I’m not disagreeing if that’s your point. But I hadn’t thought of that. I’d appreciate your elaborating, David.
Susan, thank you. This is a very interesting and informative piece. I want to comment on the assimilation issue. It’s very true that we used to do this very well. I am the daughter of Irish immigrants. From my first moments of awareness, I knew that the lady next door who pinched my chubby cheek was Italian. Two doors down, the people were German. The main blocks of immigrants in the city were Irish, German, Italian and Polish. We were all different, different foods, different accents. I knew nothing else. But we all went to school together, played together, had sleep overs, were Girl Scouts together, took swimming lessons together and sat at each other’s dinner tables. From the beginning, we heard American stories, sang American songs, and learned the history and geography of the US. We continued in this mode until high school graduation. We were exposed to the cultures of our parents in the home. I can remember sitting on the bottom step of our cellar stairs listening to my uncle recite Irish poetry. In high school I read a poem in my lit book and asked my brother if the poet was Irish. I had the sounds and rhythms in my bones. What prevents us from doing this now?
I wonder if there was any Executive Order of President Obama’s that was not a sham and cover for something else.
A very good question, and what a beautiful testimony to what truly was a melting pot, rich in color and heritage. I think as @davidfoster says, we have destroyed the desire to continue that tradition. We are a bunch of racists, egotists and proponents of hate. Who would possibly want to be a part of this culture?
Substantially, Mr. Foster, still makes me slightly hopeful that we may be able to rebuild it…Any ideas re: this?
There are also other factors working against integration…for one thing, with jet travel, cheap phone calls, and the Internet, changing countries is not as much of a total break as it used to be…but I’d argue that the collective loss of belief in ourselves is a major one. Few people want to join a team that doesn’t believe in itself.
A superb book which treats of the West’s loss of civilizational self-confidence is a novel by Arthur Koestler, written at a time (1950) when the threat was Soviet Communism rather than Islamic Jihadism. It is very relevant to the issue you raise and I recommend it very strongly. My review is here: Sleeping with the Enemy.
Interesting review, including the Kipling quote. Thx. One of the commenters said he inserted a link to the book on Amazon, but I don’t see the link and I also can’t find the book on Amazon.
Never mind. I’ve found both. I confused the title of your review with the title of the book.
I think the difference is that over the last thirty years, the United States has been vilified throughout the world, largely due to our own press and universities. Many of the people coming here blame us, inaccurately and unfairly, for their troubles. That’s a big problem.
Make it 35, Marci, and it might be closer; 40 years ago, there was still room for the Right on campuses…
The late David Yeagley (Comanche), who I quoted in the Koestler book review, also told the following story:
“LOOK, DR. YEAGLEY, I don’t see anything about my culture to be proud of. It’s all nothing. My race is just nothing.”
The girl was white. She was tall and pretty, with amber hair and brown eyes. For convenience’ sake, let’s call her “Rachel.”
I had been leading a class on social psychology, in which we discussed patriotism – what it means to be a people or a nation. The discussion had been quite lively. But when Rachel spoke, everyone fell silent.
“Look at your culture,” she said to me. “Look at American Indian tradition. Now I think that’s really great. You have something to be proud of. My culture is nothing.”
“You’re not proud to be American?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m happy to be American, but I’m not proud of how America came about.”
Her choice of words was telling. She was “happy” to be an American. But not “proud” of it.
On one level, I wasn’t surprised. I knew the head of our American History department at Oklahoma State University-OKC, and I recognized his hackneyed liberal jargon in Rachel’s words. She had taken one of his courses, with predictable results.
Yet, I was still stunned. Her words disturbed and offended me in a way that I could not quite enunciate.
and
As I lay awake that night, I thought of an old story by Kay Boyle, written in 1941, called “Defeat.” It’s about the French women in the German-occupied village of Pontcharra. All the French men were away at war. It was the 14th of July, Bastille Day, when Frenchmen were usually proud to be French. The village women, however, chose that day to give in to the German men.
They did it innocently enough. The women just wanted to wear their fancy holiday dresses. They wanted to drink and dance. And the Germans were the only men around with whom they could do it.
So they gave in.
The Cheyenne people have a saying: A nation is never conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground.
and
When Rachel denounced her people, she did it with the serene self-confidence of a High Priestess reciting a liturgy. She said it without fear of criticism or censure. And she received none. The other students listened in silence, their eyes moving timidly back and forth between me and Rachel, as if unsure which of us constituted a higher authority.
and
By giving in to the German conquerors, those French women in the Kay Boyle story had betrayed their men. But it was an understandable betrayal. Their men were gone. The Germans were in command.
Who had conquered Rachel’s people? What had led her to disrespect them? Why did she behave like a woman of a defeated tribe?
Your timeline is about right. I was working for a university until a few years ago, but 30-35 years ago it was possible to have hallway discussions that later became impossible. It was when people couldn’t help but take things personally and make them personal that I quit having those discussions.
Hmmm. I think you’re scaring me dear Susan.
I suspect the Muslim population numbers are a little low or I just happen to know a much larger percentage of Muslims than I should based on these numbers.
I have recently been pondering if converting to Islam might be a good career / life move. It is still a little early but it seems that the West and Christianity are surrendering the field. I see no indication that the Catholic Pope is going to do anything but surrender and appease. The only fight in the West is Trump and he is on his way to being tossed out of office. The US had a good run. It seems that it’s time is over. Getting in good with the winning side is good for business.
It’s never too late because we’ll continue to battle with a mix of just old fashion always present evil, and we’ll have to deal with Islam. We shouldn’t confuse those two things, they are different. Islam was a successful trading culture but couldn’t adapt to modern industrial production which required the rule of secular law, property rights, and freedom. That failure has produced perversities. There is nothing we can do to change the religion, the cultures, and so far Islam seems resistant to evolving the cultural legal characteristic that could lead to human flourishing, but we have to deal with it as we always have, one way or another. Normal people, whether Jews, Christians, Muslims or various stages of secular belief respond to incentives, to costs and benefits, to risks and rewards. We must keep that in mind.
America was, and is, more successful at integrating immigrants than Europe because it is a more open culture. It had no defensive language or cultural knowledge tests before immigrants became Americans – and as a result immigrants took up the language and Thanksgiving and made both their own.
I truly fear that by setting up these tests of similarity for people to pass before they are accepted you will destroy what makes America uniquely successful in taking immigrants and making them Americans Americans Americans.
You resile from what makes you great and embrace smallness. I don’t understand it.
It could be a misplaced focus but I’m not sure. If we think that it solves anything by itself, then, yes, we are settling for taking comfort in gestures. But if it is part of a reassertion of will and a symbolic laying aside of pc timidity, it could have been a good thing. I think that the courts and popular media have largely sabotaged that effort. Too bad. It kind of makes me depressed a little. It seems to be more evidence that we have, in fact, lost our civilizational confidence and will resist any efforts to revive it. Symbolic or not.
Not sure exactly which ‘tests of similarity’ you are referring to…but let me ask: do you think we should want/accept immigrants who are ‘dissimilar’ to most Americans in that they (a) favor female genital mutilation (and will carry it out of they think they can get away with it (b) believe that blasphemy against their religion should be punished with death?
This is fascinating! People truly had to start all over again, on their own, when they arrived. Although they might feel connected to other immigrants in their community, they knew there relocating was a brand new start.
They used to point fingers at each other, Marci. With the EU, they are looking for a new scapegoat to blame. And with our own population criticizing our country, we just join in and help them.
Well, I’m scared myself, GWW! Especially because I see no easy answers. I feared in doing this post that people would think I’m a paranoid nutcase (maybe some do and just haven’t said so!), but credible people and sources are telling us to pay attention. We need to use the energy behind our fear and find new and creative ways to deal with our current situation and the future challenges.
Oh, John, I didn’t want people to react so dismally! I suspect you’re writing facetiously. You are too principled to give in; clearly conversion is more than “good business”! We have to figure this out . . .
I appreciate your comment of courage and optimism, I. But we also must get beyond just talking about it and actually taking steps that make a difference. Since this is a whole new ballgame, I think people are at a loss about how to respond.
Zafar, I don’t know what you mean by “tests of similarity.” Could you elaborate?
Good points, Poly. I especially appreciate your comment about reassertion of will and laying aside PC timidity. I guess I don’t want us to overrate the impact of that kind of action. I think people forget, too, that the ban is temporary, until we figure out effective ways to screen–assuming the courts reverse themselves. Thanks for chiming in!