Protest Greets Police Plan to Map Muslim Angelenos by Neil MacFarquhar
Read the Article at NYTimes.com
A plan by the counterterrorism bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department to create a map detailing the Muslim communities in that city, an effort described as a step toward thwarting radicalization, has angered civil rights groups, which say it is no better than racial profiling.
Well, let's think about this. What group of people have announced a holy war against the United States? What religion did a cleric belong to who said, "We don't make a distinction between civilians and non-civilians, innocents and non-innocents. Only between Muslims and unbelievers. And the life of an unbeliever has no value. It has no sanctity. We will use your democracy to destroy your democracy"? (Quote from Omar Bakri Mohammed)
Regardless of the fact that people of Middle-Eastern descent are categorized as white in the United States (an oversight of the civil rights groups, I'm sure), the idea that police can't retrieve information based on factors directly linked to crimes is not only ludicrous, but deleterious. Counterterrorism expert R.P. Eddy states that police "are the best tool the government has for preventing homegrown terrorists"(for full article, go here). If Los Angeles wants to hinder terrorist activities--and, by the way, I'm aware of at least 3 Islamic terrorist attacks planned or executed in California since 2000 (more to come below)-- they need to know where Islamic extremists reside, and what factors contribute to the acceptance of radical Islam. The fact that they happen to be of similar ethnicity and religion are secondary because it is the ideology of hate, domination, and violence that the police want to combat, not their "race."
"The civil rights groups argue that contrary to what has been found in Europe, the scattered cases exposed in the United States have involved individuals with no clear ties to international terrorism groups."
“'Al Qaeda has always operated outside the United States,' Mr. Ayloush said, 'and has miserably failed to gain any support or sympathy among the American Muslim population.'”
The .American Internet Jihadi , who has 500 loyal visitors to his site daily, mostly from the U.S. and U.K.
Even though some homegrown terrorists may not be connected with international terrorist organizations, they still subscribe to the same ideology that is just as dangerous. We should not dismiss this threat.
Also, attacks planned or executed on U.S. Soil by Islamic Terrorists since 2000:
2000 January 1: 2000 millennium attack plots, plan to bomb LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California
2001 September 11: September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda. Islamic fundamentalists use airplanes to destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center and heavily damage The Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed prematurely in Pennsylvania.
2002 July 4: Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a 41-year-old Egyptian national, kills 2 Israelis and wounds 4 others at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport. The FBI concluded this was terrorism, although they found no evidence linking Hadayet to any terrorist group.[16]
October 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks: During three weeks in October 2002 John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo killed 10 people and critically injured 3 others in Washington D.C, Baltimore, and Virginia. An earlier spree by the pair had resulted in 3 deaths in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, California, Arizona, and Texas to bring the total to 16 deaths. No motivation was given at the trail but evidence presented showed an affinity to the cause of the Islamic Jihad.
2003 May 1: Iyman Faris pleas guilty to providing material support to Al Qaeda and plotting to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting through cables with blowtorches. He had been working as a double for the FBI since March, but in October was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
2006 February 21: The Toledo (ok.. this is Canada, but they're right next to us, with lax border control!) terror plot where three men were accused of conspiring to wage a "holy war" against the United States, supply help to the terrorist in Iraq, and threatening to kill the US president.
2006 June 23: The Miami bomb plot to attack the Sears Tower where seven men were arrested after an FBI agent infiltrated a group while posing as an al-Qaeda member. No weapons or other materials were found.
2007 May 7: Fort Dix attack plot Six men inspired by Jihadist videos arrested in a failed homegrown terrorism plot to kill soldiers. Plot unravels when Circuit City clerk becomes suspicious of the DVDs the men had created and report it to authorities who place an informant in the group.
(descriptions from Wikipedia.org)
"The groups were particularly angered that in his Senate testimony, Mr. Downing, discussing the possibility of Muslims’ radicalization, seemed to suggest looking at factors like exposure to the puritanical teachings of the Wahhabi sect, instability in countries of origin and where they get their news."
Firstly, the media they watch is clearly relevant, as seen in the video of Samir Khan, internet Jihadi.
Secondly, the "puritanical" teachings of the Wahabi sect are clearly nothing similar to the Puritans, the group of people imagined because of the journalist's diction even though "puritanical" could alternatively just mean "strict". In fact, Wahabi's " instructions in the matter of extending his religious teaching by force were strict. All unbelievers (i.e. Muslims who did not accept his teaching, as well as Christians, &c.) were to be put to death. Immediate entrance into Paradise was promised to his soldiers who fell in battle, and it is said that each soldier was provided with a written order from Ibn 'Abd ul-Wahhab to the gate-keeper of heaven to admit him forthwith. In this way the new teaching was established in the greater part of Arabia until its power was broken by Mehemet Ali. Ibn'Abd ul-Wahhab is said to have died in 1791."(click here to see full article). This is different from the Puritans because Wahabi's teachings stemmed from Quran verses that explicitly encourage killing, whereas the Puritans' faults were perversions from their religious texts that encourage peace.
